Jídlo

(Translation: Food)

I'll give a quick update on the activities of the last few days, and then I will tell you about the food situation here in the CR.

This week was a pretty lazy/relaxing week, meaning that I only did one or two things a day instead of a million. Thursday I had a class trip for my financial crises class, and we went to the Czech National Bank. It was an interesting little tour, and I even impressed the guy by being able to pick out the counterfeit bills. All you, Dad. The best part of the tour was when we got to hold a real solid gold bar. They're much heavier than they appear in movies!

Thursday night we tried to go to this cute place, Orange Bar, but it's tiny so we ended up spending some time at a place called Radost. This was my second time at Radost, but the cool part about Radost is that it is actually where Rihanna filmed her music video for "Please Don't Stop the Music." (Nikki and Katie might be the only ones that will find that interesting.) If you click here, you can see the music video though. The other cool part, which you can kind of see in the video, is that the wallpaper in the place is the same as the wallpaper on this blog. Funny coincidence.

On Friday my program hosted a tour of Josefov, the Jewish quarter of Prague. We toured a million synagogues and saw the Jewish cemetery. Later last night we went out to dinner at a microbrewery called Pivovarsky Dum. This was actually one of my first dinners at a restaurant with traditional Czech food. They had a bunch of flavored beers (banana, coffee, wheat, sour cherry, nettle(GREEN!), etc.) which were fun to try. It was nice 'cause the restaurant was non-smoking which is VERY rare in Prague. It was great to get back last night and not have to hang my clothes outside my window to avoid the smoke smell!

Last night's dinner was very atypical of the meals that I have been having here in Prague. As I have shown some of you on Skype, my cooking situation is not ideal, so I end up making eggs for breakfast and Ramen, soup, or rice noodles for dinner. That part is getting kind of old, but it's cheap and easy so it works. The part that I am getting spoiled from is lunch. I had been kind of nervous about being vegetarian here, but it is actually very easy. There are more restaurants here that are solely vegetarian than in the whole state of Rhode Island, and all four are walking distance from Old Town Square. Two of them, Lehka Hlava and Maitrea, are owned by the same people and are nice restaurants with AMAZING food and reasonable prices. They aren't all hippie vegetarian either-they don't use weird meat substitutes or try to tell you you're eating "steak" or anything. One of the others is a vegetarian Indian buffet where it's kind of like a cafeteria and they weigh your plate. That one is my favorite to get lunch at, and Alexa and I go way more than we should because it's pretty cheap. The last one is the slightly more out-there one. It's called Country Life, and it is the same cafeteria, weigh-you-plate style, except that it's vegan and I sometimes wonder what the "cheese" that I am eating really is. Overall though, I am getting spoiled by the vegetarian options that I have here. Even when I go out to Czech restaurants there is a section labeled "Vegetarian" on the menu, which is more than I can say for most restaurants at home. Add another to the list of reasons why I'm not coming home!

Dva Svátky v Jeden Den!

(Translation: Two Holidays in One Day!)

Today is a VERY big day for several reasons. First and foremost, JENNY IS TWENTY ONE! Scary to think that we are already that old! Granted we are all basically twenty-one when we're in Europe, it is still exciting none the less. Jenny is spending her birthday in Barcelona, so I just want to wish her an amazing birthday!

The next reason that today is a big day is that it is the "Den Vzniku Československa," or Czechoslovakian Independence Day, which is a National Holiday here. (Even though they are no longer Czechoslovakia, they still celebrate this as their national day). This all means that I DON'T HAVE CLASS TODAY! Yes, my two day week of classes has been reduced to one. Tough life. (I DO have a class trip tomorrow for one of my classes to make up for the missed class, so I guess I don't totally have the week off!)

I can't believe that I am going to share this, but I have reverted to my high school habit of sleeping through my alarm clock. I have had several close calls with making it to various things, but none as close as yesterday morning. I have class at 9:00 in the city on Tuesdays, and yesterday at 8:35 I was awoken by a text from Karen asking if I had left for class yet. Apparently I had slept through all three alarms that I set! I threw on some jeans and ran out the door, forgetting to brush my hair, put on a different sweatshirt than the one I slept in, and totally forgetting the previous night's makeup. I was out the door by 8:40, and the train-wreck that I was arrived at class at 8:58. Not very classy, but hey, I made it! I blame it all on the Halloween party I went to Monday night and the trauma of the crazy tram driver.

Once I had showered and generally pulled myself together after class yesterday, it was a good day. Blair's parents are in town, so we all went out for drinks with them after my night class. Made me excited for the arrival or Marc and Michael, which is about ten days from today!

Anyway, Happy Czechoslovak Independence Day and have fun in class/at work! (I am allowed to rub it in-I didn't get Columbus Day!)

Tramvaj

(Translation: Tram)

If this were America, I could sue.

Less than ten minutes ago the tram driver stopped the tram completely, came out of his little compartment, and wound up and smacked me because my legs were on the seat next to me on the tram. Apparently I wasn't supposed to do that, even though the tram WASN'T EVEN FULL.

Ironically I think it makes me love Prague more.

Jsem Směšná

(Translation: I Am Ridiculous)

I am sitting here in a Halloween costume decorating my Christmas tree. I bought one today. It is beautiful.

Copenhagen: Ta Cesta Oprah

(Translation: Copenhagen: The Oprah Way)

Yes, I just referenced Oprah. Kind of pathetic, I know, but it will make sense soon.

Before I start I just want to throw it out there that here in Europe we changed the clocks this weekend, so it is now a five hour time difference from the East Coast.

Back to my weekend. I feel like my trips thus far have been good in that I am getting a little bit of each region, and the only way that I can really describe Copenhagen is Scandinavian. I honestly don't know how else to describe it. I am going to defer to Oprah on that. Lauren showed me these videos of one of her recent shows, and she describes it pretty well. Here they are:





Basically that gives a much better picture of Copenhagen than I can give. Some of the things may seem like Oprah is exaggerating, but it is true. They really did leave their children outside. I saw the unattended strollers quite frequently in my two days there!

Anyway, Lauren and I basically just wandered Copenhagen. I think that was the best way to experience it. We saw most of the major sites. I got to see the palace (they have the longest consecutive monarchy that still exists, I think), the Opera house, the Little Mermaid statue, the famous street with the boats in the middle (whose name I can't remember), and a bunch of other things that are slipping my mind right now.

If you watched the Oprah videos above, you might be interested to know that we went and got that same type of bread (that is hard to say) from the same bakery where she bought her eight loaves. We also warmed up on Saturday by having a cup of tea at The Royal Cafe where Oprah went with the Danish women. The bread was amazing, and the cafe was quirky and cute.

Lauren and I cooked homemade pizza for dinner, and it was nice to have a real homemade meal. What I have been making definitely doesn't count as homemade, but we even made the dough ourselves, so it was true homemade pizza.

I'm really glad that I visited Denmark because it was a nice relaxing weekend after a busy week, and I was able to experience a Scandinavian country.

Random Thoughts:

• It dawned on me on the way home that I just about doubled my Student Agency bus time this weekend with a weekend total of about 25 hours and a fall total of 52 hours. THAT'S MORE THAN TWO DAYS IN EUROPE THAT I HAVE SPENT ON A BUS!
• With the absence of the apple and pumpkin and general New England autumn festivities this fall, I have had to resist the urge to jump right into the Christmas season. I'm not going to lie, I did break down and listen to a few songs on the bus ride back.
• Have you ever heard of Marzipan? I had never heard of it before but it is EVERYWHERE here. There is so much candy with marzipan in it, and in Budapest there was even a marzipan museum, which I find so strange.
• Dad, ask Santa for a new black backpack, because I think yours may die in Europe. It is getting much more use than I had ever expected.
• Copenhagen is on the kroner, which sounds a lot like the Czech koruna (crown), but don't let it fool you. koruna > kroner. I love the crown.
• I made my schedule for PC this spring. Most depressing part of my weekend. Or of the last two months.
  
• I really really enjoyed the ferryboat rides that I had this weekend. It is probably just the influence of Grey's and my love of McDreamy, but I really did enjoy it. (Dad and Grandpa, I don't expect you to understand that reference, so don't bother.)
• I am really jealous of how much of a running city Copenhagen is. Whenever I go for a run here, people give me strange looks. I have only seen two other people running in general when I was here, not even just when I'm on a run. In Copenhagen I think 1 out of ten people on the street was running or in workout clothes!
  

As for at home, I saw the headlines about Obama declaring a flu emergency. If you ask me, that is an excellent reason for me to stay in Europe and never come home.

And finally I just want to congratulate my cousin Kate (not Katie, she's a sophomore now), on her amazing tennis season! Her team made it all the way to the state finals, and she was the only one to win her match in the finals. Great job!

Autobus do Dánsko

(Translation: Bus to Denmark)

I made it to Denmark! I will tell you about the sightseeing and all of that after tomorrow, but my bus ride was pretty interesting.

Earlier this week I decided to book a bus to Copenhagen, Denmark this weekend. Most of my friends in my program were going to Istanbul for the weekend, so I decided to go somewhere while they were gone. I got on a Student Agency bus (I feel like I live on them) at 6pm. It was delayed for a while, but finally we were on our way to Copenhagen. I watched movies and read for a few hours, and then around 10pm I decided to take some cold medicine to knock me out (and get rid of my cold), and I went to sleep. Around 3:30 the bus attendant woke me to tell me that I had to get off the bus 'cause we would be getting on the ferry. THE FERRY. I hadn't even known that there would be a ferry. This was an interesting little twist. I got off the bus and hung around on the ferry for an hour while we crossed. When I finally got back on the bus, I found out that while I was sleeping we had been stopped by a "German control," (whatever that means, because the bus attendant's English was shaky). Well apparently that had caused us to miss our ferry and have to wait for a second one, so we ended up getting in over an hour late! Thirteen hours on a bus! I thought it was going to be terrible, but I actually kind of enjoyed the experience.

You may be wondering why I chose to come to Denmark, but one of my friends from PC, Lauren, is studying abroad here for the year. I've been wanting to see a Scandinavian country, and I've been wanting to see Lauren, so it was perfect! We had a great morning (that I will tell you about later), and we are resting and regrouping now. Denmark is much different from any of the countries that I have seen so far, but I really like it!

I just wanted to mention that I did get a chance to put up my pictures from Budapest before I left, so just click on the right if you want to see them!

Jsem Unavený

(Translation: I Am Tired)

Just thought I would check in since I haven't all week. I am exhausted. It's been a tiring week, and let's just say I haven't done any homework.

It's definitely getting colder here. It snowed last week, but I um, slept through it, and it had all melted by the time I woke up. In general though it has been pretty cold here-much colder than I remember October being at home, but it could just be that I'm not used to be outside so much in October.

My pictures from Budapest still aren't up, and I will try my best to do that today, but I'm not making any promises! I'm leaving for Copenhagen (Denmark) tonight on a 6pm bus, so if I can get all my errands done today, MAYBE.

I have a new addition to my poster collection. The other night we decided to try a new establishment, but the problem with Prague is that when you try somewhere new, the metro doesn't run past midnight, so you then have to find a way home that is different from the way you came. Blair and I always right very specific directions and put them in our pockets, but even then it can be hard to find the tram stops. On this one particular night, we were looking all over for the tram stop so I decided to ask a group of Czech people my age. We ended up waiting for the tram with them and then riding the tram for about an hour with them (the night trams are very out of the way). They had come from a concert where they had gotten an extra poster, so they gave me the rolled up cylinder. I had no idea what it was, but it was like Christmas the next morning opening it up and seeing what I got! Here it is:


I'll update you Monday on my trip!

Maďarsko: Nejdelší Záznam Vůbec Někdy

(Translation: Hungary: The Longest Entry Ever)

This weekend my Student Agency Bus total reached twenty seven hours in nine days as twelve of us traveled seven hours each way to Budapest, Hungary.

Budapest was an interesting city, and boy do I have stories. I'll try to write each little anecdote in its own paragraph, so if something bores you, just skip to the next paragraph!

We arrived in Budapest Friday afternoon and checked into our hostel, ironically named Casa de la Musica, where we were brought to our twelve-bed room. Ten of the twelve people were from my program, but the other two were JENNY! and a friend from her program.

So that you can all enhance your cultural knowledge, I'm just going to point out a couple of Budapest-related things. One is that Budapest is really pronounced "BudapeSHt," something that I hadn't known until I came to Europe. Also, historically Budapest was two cities, Buda and Pest, and it wasn't until the second half of the nineteenth century that it united to form the present city. We stayed just over the Danube in the Pest district of the city.

Friday afternoon we ventured into Buda to explore. None of us had eated since breakfast, so we split up and grabbed an early dinner. Karen, Blair, Megan, and I ate at a little cafe, and we were quickly introduce to several aspects of Hungarian culture. One was their annoying currency. The Hungarian forint (which is often abbreviated as the HUF, leading us to refer to it as the Hufflepuff), has way too many zeros. For example, I paid 52,000 forints for our hostel. How ridiculous does that sounds? Anyway, that wasn't our only cultural discovery at this cafe; we also learned that they put the unit price of the drink on the menu, not the total price, so Blair's 100 HUF/dl lemonade was not the great deal that we had thought it was. Blame in on our American ignorance towards the metric system or else we would have realized that one dl is pretty small. Besides that we also learned that the Hungarian language, Magyar, is very difficult and strange sounding. Despite the fact that there seems to be a lot more tourists in Prague, I felt that people in Budapest spoke English much better, so the language barrier wasn't really an issue.



After dinner we trekked up the hill to an area known as Castle Hill. There we saw the famous Fishermen's Bastion, a sort of wall with turrets overlooking the city. Fishermen's Bastion itself was very picturesque, sort of resembling a sand castle, but the views of Budapest and the Danube that it provided were beautiful. Right behind Firshermen's Bastion was a great statue of St. Stephen on horseback, as well as a very intersting church called the Matthius (I think). After enjoying the views there, we walked around Castle Hill and found a strange Labyrinth Museum. Built in underground caves near the castle, this museum makes an obvious statement about the progression of humanity. Despite its somewhat annoying displays, it was pretty fun because it was pitch black and we had to carry lanterns. It was like my haunted house experience for the fall! After that experience we headed down to Buda Castle where we saw even more gorgeous buildings. Whereas the castle in Bratislava was clearly the stereotypical castle, Prague castle and Buda Castle are more complexes of palaces than fairytale castles. Don't get me wrong; they are still beautiful, but they are more of a sprawling series of palaces, chapels, and random fortifications than a single actual castle building.

After all that sightseeing, we met up with everyone at the hostel. They all headed to the famous Turkish bath houses, but Jenny, her friend, Karen, and I went to a jazz club. Called the Jazzgarden, it was a cute place that wasn't too touristy. They had twinkling lights and vines that gave the impression of a garden terrace, and there was a great live band that played 'till midnight.

Saturday was a jampacked day. Karen, Blair, Megan, Alexa, Claire, and I got up early and were at the famous Hungarian Parliament building by eight. We knew to get there early to buy tickets, so we got tickets for a tour at noon. We then decided to search for breakfast, but we couldn't find an open cafe ANYWHERE. We ended up at the famous hotel/pastry shop/restaurant, known as the Gerbaud. I just had a great latte, but everyone else had an impressive breakfast platter. It was a classy way to start our day!

I would not be telling you the whole story of my trip if I did not include my near-death (exaggerated, Mom) experience. You all know my love for Target. Well before I left I bought a great pair of boots at Target with the intention of them getting beat up on the cobblestone and me throwing them out to make room in my suitcase on the way home. Unfortunately my beloved Target failed me in this case because it is the third week of October, and the rubber on both heels is fully worn out. This means that not only does it sound like I am wearing intense heels all the time, but it also means that I have no traction. Despite this, I was wearing them on our breakfast search, when I stepped onto the curb from the sidewalk to wait for the walk signal. The curb was wet and when my bare heel met it, my feet slid right out from under me. Dad would be proud that I did not simply land on my elbow since I was holding things in my arms; instead I ROLLED as I fell so that the impact was distributed on not one joint but three, as can be seen by the lovely bruises on my elbow and knees. As if the spell wasn't embarrassing enough, I sort of fell into oncoming traffic, but some guy ran over and shoved me back onto the sidewalk. You should all feel honored that I willingly shared that embarrassing story, and I also want to appeal to you for suggestions of how I could repair those heels so that I don't have to buy some new boots! I don't wnat to give up that suitcase space!

After breakfast we went to the Basillica of St. Stephen. Since it was constructed fairly recently, it was unlike most churches we have seen in that it included many different styles of architecture. It was enormous, and the entire interior was done with colored marble and baroque (or would it be neo-baroque?) decorations. It also had some pretty mosaics which was nice to see since they are not prevalent in Prague.



From the Basilica we headed to Parliament for our tour. While waiting we made friends with a couple from Texas, and it was nice to talk to some Americans who weren't in their twenties! The tour of Parliament was amazing. The Hungarian Parliament is the third largest in Europe (behind the British in London and the Romanian in Bucharest), but I bet that it's the most beautiful. Since their government was originally bicameral, but is now unicameral, there was an entire wing that we could see. For those of you who know my weird affinity for symmetry, you will understand how much I appreciated that this absolutely enormous building was perfectly symmetrical. The tour was in English, and somewhat witty, which after six weeks in Europe you come to appreciate when someone knows English well enough to crack jokes in it!

After Parliament came my favorite part of the day. We went to a museum called the House of Terror. It was all about the terror inflicted upon the Hungarian people by first the Nazis and then the communist regime. I had never known about this part of history, so it was very informative. The museum was in the actual building that was used as a prison for these two regimes, so that was pretty cool too. It took us almost three hours to get through the museum!

After the museum we walked through City Park and saw a castle there, as well as Heroes Square with statues of Hungarian heroes. We were so exhausted that after that we just grabbed some dinner. (I just want to add that we had heard that Hungarian food was so good, but I honestly thought it was TERRIBLE. I didn't eat my meal that night and ended up buying other food on the way home 'cause it was so bad. It actually made me appreciate Czech food.)

Sunday was a tiring day as well because we walked everywhere on Sunday. We walked to the top of Gellert Hill and saw the Citadel and the Independence Monument. It was quite the hike. We were all exhausted by the time we got to the top, but we were also pretty impressed that we had done that mush by nine in the morning. After Gellert Hill we walked back over to Castle Hill and visited the Budapest History Museum. I think I am spoiled by the Smithsonians and museums in Prague, but I wasn't that impressed with this one. It was also difficult to appreciate a lot of things when only half of it was in English. After all of that we continued walking and went to a park on Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube River. We didn't have much time there, but we got to see a nice soccer field and some fountains. Over the course of the weekend we also got to see the second largest synagogue in the world (behind New York), as we passed it on our way to the hostel every day.

All in all, I really liked Budapest. It had a lot more history and a lot more sights than I had expected. It wasn't the most beautiful city-I definitely like Prague better-but I bet that when it's sunny (not gross and gray like it was for us), then it is very beautiful. Everything has a sort of dingy tint to it, but I really think it was just lack of sun (besides the graffiti).

I spent most of yesterday recovering from the busy weekend, but a few of us did leave the cafe long enough to go to a gallery at Prague castle that has free admission after 4 on Mondays. I liked seeing art because that is one thing that we did omit in Hungary. Blair and me and a few other people also explored a new establishment last night, so classes today weren't as enjoyable as they have been. It didn't stop us from going to our Tuesday night places though, so there was no problem!

P.S. I'll put the Budapest pictures up as soon as I can. Took me long enough to write this post, so I can only imagine how long it will take to go through the pictures!

Pojďme Udělat Dohodu

(Translation: Let's Make a Deal)

With all of these long bus rides, I am starting to get sick of the songs on my ipod. I just realized the other day that I haven't even heard of most of the songs on the Itunes Top Ten since they've come out since I've been here and aren't popular here yet. Therefore, here's my proposition: anyone who mails me a CD with new music to keep me busy traveling, I will bring back a super amazing souvenir for you. The music doesn't have to be the Itunes top ten.. just anything because I need something new!

My mailing address is on my Facebook (since I'm smart and avoiding a scene from Taken and not putting it here), so anything you would like to send would be greatly appreciated!

Je Mi Líto!

(Translation: Sorry!)

Sorry I have been slacking a bit on the updates. I just got back from Budapest. I'll write all about it tomorrow. I'm behind on my picture updates, so I did upload my Bratislava pictures, just not the Budapest ones. Blame it on the marathon Skype session with the Naples family today!

Slovensko a Můj Drahý Den

(Translation: Slovakia and My Expensive Day)



Just ignore the expensive part of the title. That's just me whining because I got my haircut today, had to pay the internet fee for the dorm, and had to buy more minutes for my phone. (By the way, thanks for the phone minutes, Mom and Dad). I'm just mad that the internet costs more than the other two combined. Blah.

Enough complaining. I'm in Prague. How can a person complain when they live in Prague? Seriously. I can say things like "Yesterday I went to Bratislava for the day." I can't go visit another country for a day when I'm at home, so I'm not really complaining; I promise.

Bratislava. Another place where I didn't have any expectation, yet I was still surprised, if that's even possible. I'm lucky I even made it there since we were meeting at 05:30 in the lobby to catch our bus and at 5:38 my friend called to ask me where I was and WOKE ME. It's not my fault-my cell phone just isn't loud enough here! Anyway, we arrived in Bratislava around 11. Bratislava was much smaller than I had been expecting. The outskirts of the city with the Soviet housing projects and general squalor were quite expansive, but the touristy part of the city was actually quite small. We were able to easily walk everywhere that we wanted to see. Unfortunately we learned our lesson that most museums are closed on Mondays, but we still got to see a lot, and maybe it was a blessing in disguise seeing as how I spent so much today!

When I finally put up my pictures, you'll be able to see everything that I saw, but I'll just tell you about a few of the highlights here.

(1) We did the coronation walk that many of the kings of the Austro-Hungarian Empire walked, which involved following little brass crowns in the cobblestones. A particularly interesting part of the walk was when we realized there was construction going on and attempted to ask the police officers which way it continued. I'm pretty sure that they laughed at us and talked about us in Slovakian before sending us back the way we came.

(2) The church that the walk started at, St. Martin's Cathedral, was pretty neat. We had debated whether or not to pay the entrance fee because from the peeks we were taking inside it seemed like any other Gothic turned Baroque church, but I'm glad that we did go inside. Upon entering the church we discovered that we got to view an underground crypt, as well as see 11th century remains through a plexiglass window in the floor.

(3) We visited an Art-Nouveau church, the Church of St. Elizabeth, but more commonly known as the Blue Church. It was one of the most interesting churches I have seen in Europe, especially because it was so unique amongst the Baroque and Gothic ones on every corner. To me what was most striking about this church was that we were there around 1800h, and as we were admiring the church's facade this little old woman ushered us through the front door and we found ourself in the middle of a prayer service. People were coming and going as they wanted but the church was pretty full. Having been in Prague for 6 weeks now, I've grown accustomed to a lack of organized religion, but the amount of people of all ages and their devotion to a Monday evening prayer service was quite the sight.

Overall what I found the most interesting about Bratislava was that the eastern influences were so apparent. The Soviet style buildings were everywhere, but so was art and architecture with a more Hungarian and Ukrainian feel. A lot of things reminded me of things in Prague, just with that twist, so that was really neat to see.

Today was a busy day as I had one class in the morning, got my haircut (a whole experience in which the woman didn't understand English), and then went on a class trip with my other class. For the trip we took public transportation for forever just to end up in this little village (population 700) that wasn't too far outside of Prague. Our professor pointed to a road and told us to walk for fifteen minutes and then turn around and come back so that we could experience village life. He then took us to a campground restaurant that I think had opened tonight just for us. It was a pretty funny experience, but we all love our professor so it was great to listen to his Prague stories. It was pretty ridiculous that that counted as a class for us, but I loved it!

Here's the picture of our class at the restaurant so you can see me with my new haircut too! (That's our adorable teacher in the back left of the photo.)
Anyway, to leave you with some parting thoughts:

• I think it turned into winter overnight. I have never been so cold in my life.
  
• In an entire day in Bratislava I spent about 1/8th of what I spent in Prague today. (Yes, I am still hung up on that.)
  
• The people in Bratislava have much better fashion than the people in Prague, yet the city seems to be less economically successful.
• The hairdresser did not understand the concept of layers, so I have my first straight across haircut since elementary school.
• I am currently mad at the French, because the French girls drank all the free Sangria before we got there tonight. Seriously? You come to PRAGUE for wine?
  
• In the period from Friday to Monday I spent 14 hours on buses. That is more time than I spend in class in a week here, and is 14 times what I spend on homework.

Moje Nové Oblíbené Město

(Translation: My New Favorite Town)



I know that after every weekend trip I rave about where I went, but this weekend was especially beautiful. Friday morning nine of us boarded a bus to the town of Cesky Krumlov in the southern region of the Czech Republic. We had heard from several people that it was a great place to go, but I didn't really know what to expect. I did some research in the days leading up to the trip and was a bit worried that we would be very bored as the population of the town is slightly more than North Smithfield - a whopping 14,000!

We arrived at the bus station and walked to our hostel. On all of my other trips so far I have stayed at a hotel or at least a bed and breakfast, so I didn't really know what to expect, but the hostel was great! It worked out perfectly because we were able to get a three person room and a six person room so we didn't have to sleep with strangers. For 12 USD/night per person, we definitely got our money's worth! The place was clean and pretty, and we even used the kitchen to cook ourselves eggs and toast on Saturday morning. For a first hostel experience, it was definitely a good one.

Cesky Krumlov itself was adorable. Surrounded by water on three sides, it was a tiny little town with beautiful buildings. I had been nervous that as the same size as North Smithfield it would have the same level of commerce, but that wasn't the case at all. As a touristy place there were cute shops, cafes, and restaurants everywhere, and as we weren't really there during the tourist season we didn't have to deal with the crowds, (although in such a small city we did run into the same group of Asian tourists, complete with face masks, the entire time we were there).

We wandered around the town most of the time we were there. Friday we visited the castle which is second only to Prague Castle in terms of being the largest castle in the CR. It has over 300 rooms (none of which we saw), and the oldest part of the castle was constructed in the 14th century. (It is pathetic that I remember all of these facts, but we didn't feel like taking a tour so I just read it all out of the guidebook for everyone haha). It was a beautiful castle, complete with a moat with live bears in it! We spent a couple of hours exploring the castle grounds and gardens. The leaves were changing, and it was a crisp fall day, so it was nice to feel like I wasn't missing out on a New England autumn.

After the castle we went to the Egon Shiele Museum. In the tiny little town of Cesky Krumlov, I just may have been the best art museum I have ever visited. (Although, as I was typing that I remembered d'Orsay, but they were so different that it's like comparing apples and oranges). Anyway, this museum was very interesting, not so much because of the work of Egon Schiele, but because of the various other exhibits that they housed. (Though his work was very interesting, if not unsettling). They had a Socialist Realism exhibit, an exhibit of contemporary Russian art featuring Konstantin Batynov, Anna Dubina, Komar & Melamid, Francisco Infante, and Eduard Gorochovskij, as well as an exhibit with political posters of the USSR. I really liked how a lot of the art was political. I felt like I learned more about communism and more about art (from separate exhibits) in this museum than I learned at the Communism Museum or in any art class. (Drea probably appreciated that paragraph more than the rest of you combined.)

After the museum we checked out happy hour on our way back to the hostel. Then we went for a traditional Czech meal (where my only options on the menu were garlic soup and Greek salad), and then we explored the nightlife in the small town.

Saturday morning we had an interesting encounter with the receptionist at the hostel. One of the boys had lost his key the night before, so he paid the lost key fee. We all felt really bad because the woman looked so upset. We offered to give her more money, but she said she just wanted to know what pub we had gone to the night before so she could call them. It was a bit embarassing to inform her that she had to call just about every establishment in the small town. We spent the morning retracing our steps from the night before trying to track down the key.

After our hunt we shopped and visited a cathedral. We completed the New England Autumn weekend by having some hot cider. There was also a kayak/boating/canoeing marathon going on that day, and it ended in Cesky Krumlov, so we went down to the river and watched the boats cross the finish line. It was kind of strange because unlike in the States, no one cheered for them. People only cheered for the people they knew, so the only boat we really got to cheer for was that of a guy we had met in our travels the previous night.

We spent the rest of the day in a cafe as we were all exhausted from the trip. Even today I was still tired. All we really did was go to mass at a different church than last week (which was at least in English this time), and then go to brunch at the Globe afterward. We stayed at the Globe all day hanging out and doing homework. I just got in from watching the Pats. I was weak and didn't stay for the whole game, but I have to be up in 4 hours to catch a bus to Bratislava!

Overall, Cesky Krumlov is probably my favorite place in the Czech Republic (besides Prague). It has the nightlife of the city with the charm of a small town. If I don't come home from Prague, you'll know where to find me!

P.S. I have been adding videos from the trip periodically that I haven't been putting on the blog. If you want to see them, they're at http://www.youtube.com/user/turc224. (Just so you know though, I put the better ones on the blog so you aren't missing much. My camera skills are lacking.)

Cesky Krumlov Obrázky

(Translation: Cesky Krumlov Pictures)

Last night we went to Cesky Krumlov for the night. It may have been my favorite trip yet. I will tell you all about it soon, but I'm exhausted. I did manage to put the pictures up. It was so beautiful, so there are a million pictures, but I tried to narrow it down to the best ones! Hope you like them!

To Je Malý Svět

(Translation: It's a Small World)

There are roughly 6.8 billion people in the world. I am 4,000 miles away from home. Yet in the last week I have had two encounters that make me feel like the entire world is no bigger than Rhode Island.

As I may have mentioned, I trek pretty far to my room in my giant dorm. I walk through this halfway that always had a bunch of guys playing poker or just hanging out, and they would always say hi. I clearly knew they were American, but I always just said hi and kept walking. However, the other day we started talking, and I found out that they are from Union College, and there is a group of 20 of them at our dorm going to a different university in the area. When I said I was from Rhode Island, one of the girls in their group, Kelly, came sprinting over. She went to Moses Brown, and I played on the Rays with her best friend from elementary school for years. We were both so excited to have run into another Rhode Islander, and we decided to go out together sometime.

Kelly is in the international students' club at the university she goes to here, and they were giving a presentation on the United States at the weekly meeting last night so she invited me. My friend Blair and I headed to the bar where the weekly meetings are held. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Kelly and meeting people from all over the world.

One of the people I met was a girl that I knew when I was in preschool. She didn't go to Slatersville Preschool like me, but she went to preschool in North Smithfield and did dance with some of the girls I was friends with back then. She and I realized that we were at a lot of the same birthday parties when we were younger, and were even in the same Girl Scout troop. She's in the same program as Kelly, and is living in my dorm too. I was also talking to another kid in their program who lives in my dorm, and he went to Hendricken and knows my PC roommate Marybeth. Talk about a small world.

Anyway, after the international students' club meeting, Blair and I met up with Megan, Karen, Alexa, and J.C. at an establishment downtown that has "Erasmus" parties on Wednesdays. Erasmus is a program at Charles University for exchange students in Europe, and even though we aren't technically in the program, they invite us. It was great to meet people from all over the world, but it ended up being a late night.

Today was the first day here that I can honestly say that I wasted. I have been so busy since I've been here that there hasn't been a day yet that I haven't set my alarm to get up and run or get up and head somewhere to get things done. Since I have a busy weekend ahead of me, today I let myself catch up on sleep. I slept until lunch time, did some grocery shopping, and then napped for a couple more hours. Now I'm at the Globe cafe with my friends again, attempting to get a little ahead on my work.

There are a couple random observations about Prague that I've been wanting to share, so here they are:

• I will give a million dollars to anyone who can make deodorant popular in Europe.
• EVERYONE here has a dog. I swear there are more dogs than children. And people bring their dogs EVERYWHERE. For example, I spent a good deal of time playing with a bull mastife at the bar the other night. And almost every time I ride the metro or the tram there is a dog on it.
• They don't know what customer service is. After reading that article for my politics class I understand that they think their coldness is professional, but after working in a customer service related job, I find the way people treat us very strange.
• I am probably losing years of my life with all of the secondhand smoke I've been inhaling. I had to mcguyver a clothes line outside my window to hang our clothes to air out. If I don't air them out and just wash them, I can't get the smell out! And I have to shampoo multiple times to get the smell out of my hair! The sad thing is that I'm almost getting used to the smell now.
• Our dorms don't have microwaves. I have never missed a microwave more.
• There are coffee vending machines EVERYWHERE, and they're actually really good. You can get a little cup of coffee, or a latte, or cappacino for about 60 cents. We are all addicted.

I'll be back Sunday. Talk to you all then!

Skutečně

(Translation: Real Life)

Real life (aka school) is actually great. I know that I sound like a nerd, but classes here are actually very interesting and borderline fun. Since I have mostly been hanging out in cafes and doing my reading for my classes the last few days, I don't really have much to share. Therefore, this seems like an excellent opportunity to talk about my classes.

Class #1 is Tuesday mornings, and it's called Contemporary Central European Politics: Transformation of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic in Comparative Perspective. My professor is currently working on his PhD in political science, and is all of maybe 24. The first day of class we all thought that he was a student. He is slightly self conscious about his English, but he's pretty funny so class is interesting. For example, our first class he had us discuss what had surprised us about the Czech Republic, and several of us who have watched some Czech movies said that their humor surprised us. He proceeded to tell us a couple of jokes that sum up Czech humor, known as black humor, perfectly. For example, his first joke: What is the difference between black humor and morbid humor? Black humor is ten kids in one container, and morbid humor is one kid in ten containers. We all sat there a little bit stunned that he had just said that while he laughed at our reactions. Anyway, in terms of the class it is very interesting because it deals mostly with the political transition after the Velvet Revolution. I actually had to do a presentation today on our first reading. We read the first chapter of Ladislav Holy's The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation. I really liked it because I felt that it explained so much of why Czech people are the way they are. Anyway, the professor is great and the subject is very interesting, so I really enjoy this class.

Tuesday nights I have Class #2, Contemporary Central European Politics. (I know, sounds just like the other class.) I really like this class as well, just not as much as the other one. This class barely gives homework which earns it bonus points, but this professor defines "contemporary" as since WWI, so we are learning the political histories of Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. This professor is about 65/70 and looks like a grandfather. He talks about "pivo" (beer) a lot, and is taking us on a class trip to a pub next week. The class isn't as interesting as my morning class, but he tries so hard to make it interesting so that in itself is amusing. He tries to play it off as we are at the time period in history that we are learning, and he assigns half the class a role. For example, tonight we were learning about the Communist coup in 1948, and he made half of the class ministers in the Czech cabinet and at the end told them if they had lived or not.

I have two more classes tomorrow, and I am going to wait to tell you about them until I've had a second class of each. Overall though my classes are so much more interesting than I had been expecting. Maybe it is hearing first hand experiences or being in the place where they are taught, but learning about these topics doesn't feel like a chore.

A great part of all of this is that it is a school night, yet we hit up some local establishments tonight. The BEST part of all of this is that tomorrow if Friday. Don't hate me.

Denní do Denní Život

(Translation: Day to Day Life)

*Before I post, just wanted to let you know that I have updated my photos with a few new albums, so they should be almost up to date now.*

The past two days have resembled normal life more so than any other days so far. I felt a lot less like a tourist and a lot more like a resident.

After being so impressed by St. Vitus Cathedral on Friday, a bunch of us decided to go to Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday. Even though it was in Czech, the mass was very nice. It was strange to be at a mass in such a large space and have there be less than 100 people in attendance.

After mass we went to a Fly Fishing Festival that was taking place on a small island on the Vltava River in Prague. We thought it was going to be a bigger deal than it was. We definitely didn't feel like tourists there, as most people spoke Czech, and there weren't really any touristy attractions. We did get to watch a children's performance that was taking place on the little stage. It was pretty creepy, but that was probably just because we couldn't understand it.



After the Fish Festival Karen, Megan, and I went to the Globe Cafe where we got some of our reading done for our classes this week. (More on my classes soon; I promise.) We really liked that cafe, and I have a feeling I'll be back there a couple times a week all semester.

Today I actually had to get some work done, so Karen, Megan, and I again went to a different cafe called Bohemia Bagel. I have to do a presentation for my politics class tomorrow, so I got that done and then ran some errands. Now I am getting ready to go to the ballet.

When I came to Prague I was pleasantly surprised by the number of cafes. As opposed to cities like Paris that you picture to have a lot of cafes, I hadn't really known what to expect, but Prague has yet to disappoint. There are plenty that we like to choose from, and one of the best parts about Prague is that they don't rush you out the door. Even at restaurants, you can sit at a table well past finishing your meal without feeling like your server is rushing you out the door. For this reason we have been going to cafes and nursing the same cup of coffee for a few hours. It's a great way to be out of the dorm and experiencing the city without really tiring ourselves out or going broke.

Once again, thanks for all of the comments, including the anonymous sarcastic ones about Civ! Hope you've been receiving postcards!

Být Turistka

(Translation: Being a Tourist)

I finally feel like I have gotten to the point where Prague feels like home. I have figured out most of the day to day things, and I have favorite spots, know shortcuts, and no longer carry a map. Sadly, I now sometimes take for granted the scenery as I go about my daily life.

Since I only have classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (I know, I know, it should be illegal), I have had the last few days off. Also, I have been traveling every weekend, so this is my first weekend in Prague. Now that it feels like home, it's been weird doing the tourist-y things the last few days. Don't get me wrong, they have been a lot of fun, but it seems strange being a tourist in the city where I am living.

As you may have read, Thursday I did my laundry. Afterward I wandered around Old Town a bit looking at some bookstores and stores in that area. That evening my friends and I went to one of our favorite establishments off of Wenceslaus Square called U Sudu.

Friday morning we got an early start. We decided to conquer one of the major tourist attractions, Petrin Hill, while the weather was still nice. It has gotten pretty cold here in the past week so we figured time was limited. Petrin Hill is a large hill on the western end of Prague. There is a tower on the top called Petrin Tower that resembles a mini Eiffel Tower. You can see Petrin Tower from many places in the city. We walked to Petrin Hill and then climbed up both the hill and then the tower. From the top you could see the entire city. It was beautiful!



After climbing the tower we indulged our inner children and spent the 50 crowns to go in the mirror maze at the top of the hill. After exploring the gardens we decided to take the funicular down the hill. We walked around Mala Strana (Lesser Town) for a bit and grabbed some lunch. Then we met our program for a guided walking tour of Prague Castle.


You can see Prague Castle in the panorama above. It is basically the two spires on the left side. Those spires are St. Vitus Cathedral that is part of Prague Castle. The castle itself wasn't that impressive because it is basically just regular buildings witha courtyard, but the castle gardens and the cathedral were beautiful. We spent a great deal of time inside the cathedral (with all of the tourists), but it was really beautiful. After that our program had a special event for us at Lobkowicz Palace. The history of Lobkowicz Palace is very interesting because the family who owns and operates the castle and its museum is American. They were exiled first when the Nazis took over and then again when the Communists came to power. They lost everything (as in 13 palaces and extensive art, music, and literature collections) both times, but after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 were able to reclaim almost everything. They have turned the palace in Prague into a museum to show these impressive collections which included such items as original music from Beethoven. Since the museum only opened a couple of years ago, and since we had a special coffee reception and stuff, I at least felt like less of a tourist during this part of the day.

Today was filled with an odd mix of events. First Jill, Karen, and I cooked a good American breakfast of egg and cheese sandwiches. Then a bunch of us went to a flea market. The flea market was DEFINITELY not a tourist attraction. It was also one of the most amusing things that I have done in Prague. Located outside of the city center, one of the best ways to describe this place is a communist wasteland. It is a very rundown area of soviet-era plain buildings, and the products for sale at this flea market were very amusing. Here are some of the things that I can remember off the top of my head: mounds of tires and hubcaps, expired food, used pens, broken electronics, jewelry, safety pins, cosmetics, clothes pins, Mickey Mouse mirrors, adult movies, wigs, temporary tattoos, used clothing, and many other wonderful buys. Since almost no one there spoke English it was a great chance to use some Czech, especially when haggling over prices.

After the flea market we took a trip to the Prague Zoo. I was actually very impressed with it. It was huge, and we had a lot of fun. We saw a lot of interesting animals, and the animals seemed much more active than at other zoos so that was amusing. They also had polar bears which Roger Williams crushed me by no longer having, so that was a plus. I wish I had pictures from the day, but unfortunately I brought my camera with my memory card still sitting here in my computer, so it was useless.

We ended the day at one of our favorite places. We are getting close to regulars, so that made me feel less tourist-y. There are two great vegetarian restaurants owned by the same people, and we went to one of them, Maitrea, tonight for dinner. Dad, prepare yourself, because I am at least making you go there for lunch when you're here!

Anyway, I have another busy day of tourist-y exploring ahead of me tomorrow, so I'm going to get to bed. Thanks for all of the comments, and it has been nice to talk to some of you when I have had the chance!

(I keep forgetting to mention: for the pictures that I put in the actual posts, they are sort of small and hard to see on the screen, but if you click on them you can see the giant picture, which helps for detailed ones like the views of the city!)

Finally, I just want to wish Mary Catherine a very happy 21st birthday!

Obrázky

(Translation: Pictures)

I've had a busy last few days, so I haven't had time to post, but I finally caught up on posting my pictures! The pictures from Bohemian Paradise, Oktoberfest, and the Pope are all up. Hope you like them!

Prádelnova Den

(Translation: Laundry Day)


Successfully made it to October without doing laundry! That is quite an accomplishment. Today I trekked about six stops down the metro with one of my suitcases filled with clothes. We went to a laundromat where I spent about $12 to use two washers and one dryer. It was actually a pretty enjoyable experience because they serve you coffee and have free wifi (Grandma, that means wireless internet for my computer). Anyway, we ran into a bit of a problem when the Czech woman informed me that in fact this bottle is not detergent but fabric softener. Yet another casualty of the language barrier. At least my clothes will smell good.

Despite the cost, laundry was actually a pleasant experience. My dryer did stop before my clothes were dry and I was too cheap to buy more time, so as you can see, my room is currently serving as a drying rack.

I'm off to explore the city while the weather is still nice. I'll update you on my classes sometime soon!