Phantom of the Opera...Apparently Not An Opera

View of Stage and Row of Boxes Next to Us

View from our box at the Statni Opera Praha. We had pretty amazing seats.

Cool Looking Building Near the National Gallery in Prague...its a large modern-ish art museum...ie massive.

View of St. Vitus (?) or Some Other Old Church in Prague

This picture astounds me...and it actually looks much better here than on my computer...and on my camera...damn technology. But seriously...I believe in the background is a bridge tower (quite possibly St. Charles Bridge)..and in the foreground...a McDonalds. I still cannot wrap my head around the clash/cultural ease between medieval architecture and modern capitalist businesses. Sometimes I forget how comparatively young the United States is in the global scene...geez this trip is expanding my world view...in a good way.

Today I had to visit a church with a supposed gothic interior, but wa build in the late 1370s Today sadly...is not Sunday. More about this adventure later on. Stay Tuned!

Yeppers....I went to the opera

wait...scratch that...it was a ballet

why call it Phantom of the Opera...if it is not a Opera?

To be perfectly honest...I do not have clue what was going on throughout most of ballet. There was not any dialogue...and the dialogue that was included in said ballet (i guess there are letters that are crucial to the story)...were in Czech. It was very interesting and well done though, and I don't think that I had ever seen a ballet before. And the only other ballet that I know I have watched on television was the Nutcracker...but the version with Macauley Culkin.

Yes...he was in a ballet

It also might have helped if I had seen Phantom of the Opera beforehand so I could follow along with the story....possibly.

Oh geez...so what has been going on with me more or less the past 2 weeks....

Well first off...this weekend I am going to Dresden with my international student club, and then Im going with some friends to Berlin for a few days!! I'm uber excited. I have always wanted to go to Berlin. There is a lot of great architecture there...and a shit ton of history. And german beer...and legit german food...and a chance to see one of the most recognized symbols of communism...and a literal translation of the "iron curtain"...if you substitute concrete for iron in the previous statement. but you get the idea.

So last week while trying to find a cafe near the Jewish Quarter in Prague...which probably did not exist...2 friends and I stumbled upon a restaurant/cafe called Pastacaffe. It was a mainly white interior...which much of the color coming from its modern hue primary color logo and seating. I would have taken pictures...but getting thrown of of cafes was not necessarily on my list of things to do while in Prague. AND if i were to get thrown out of a place of establishment...I want it to be for something awesome (like a knife fight or something), not me taking pictures where I wasn't supposed to It was one of the coolest interiors I think I had been in up until that point. I ramble about this place because I ate Tirimisu there for the first time ever. It was really good; it wasn't too sweet...and had an interesting texture. I want to try some again....now would be nice...but its almost midnight...so no delicious dessert for me.

Last week for my contemporary architecture class we went to the National Gallery...which I think was a massive modern art museum for Prague. We looked at an exhibition from the Bata shoe company. The founder of the company created a little compound in the town of Brno (its in the eastern part of the country)...and believed in collective working...but separate living. Bata commissioned architects to design duplexes that workers could live in. I looked at some of the plans they had displayed...and they seemed small...but very functional. So kind of like socialism...but not really. Of course that changed when communism hit and massive housing blocks were developed...but it was an interesting concept. I really wish I had taken pictures...but yet again...my camera was locked in a locker with my purse and jacket, which was not where I was. A part of the exhibit was also a showing of different instructional videos related to the Bata shoe company and their manufacturing process. They showed a ten minute video about how the factory made a shoe to perfectly fit a person's foot. It was in German...but you could still understand what was going on.

Oh man...so on monday in Studio...my studio professor told us about a Gothic interior that we were supposed to visit and sketch because the last one he told us (located in the Prague Castle) is currently being renovated. I had to go today because I would not be able to go there til atleast next thursday because I'm going to be in Germany so my roommate and I made the trek this afternoon...which was a bit of a struggle after a bit of a long night. But moving on...so the closest metro stop is i guess almost half an hour away...and on the other side of a bridge that stretches over an enormous park. The bridge had to be close to .25 miles long...and we had to walk across it...and then back again to get back to the metro. Well when we crossed the the bridge there was a chuch immediately to our left. It didn't look Gothic...so we kept walking. And walked pretty much to the next metro stop without realizing it. So then we had to backtrack...a lot. In our defense...the street we started walking on after getting off the bridge was really long...and we could not figure out how cross the street and go left so we could turn around. So we back track...and end up at the church we passed like half an hour before that. So we get into its little courtyard...and stop at a sign in it that has the history of the church...and as im quickly scanning it...my eyes stop on the part that says that church is only open on Sunday...between the hours of 2 and 4. My roommate and I were PISSED. We more or less walked around for 45 minutes in an area of Prague that I am almost positive tourists have no business being in...just to discover that going to the church was an epic fail.

NOT cool...i think i punched the sign...but only out of frustration...and not very hard.

I guess the other highlight of the week is that I booked my trip to PARIS!!! I'm going to go for 4 days in may with one of my friends because he leaves for an internship in the beginning of June...and I want to leave June open to go to other places that are closer...and therefore cheaper. I'm pretty excited. All we have planned so far is the tickets and a hostel...which is enough for now.

well...since this post took 3 days to write...and I am exhausted...I give up on this post.

til next time...when I ramble on about Germany...and hopefully I will have pictures

as long as my camera stops being a douche and quits going through batteries like I'm made of money....grr.

I Bet I Could Have Gotten Them to Make Us Cookies

Hard to believe, but I have now been in Prague for a month. A quarter of my time here is already gone....sadness

But...the amount of stuff that I have done and places I have been to (just in the Czech Republic right now) is astounding. I broke down and started keeping a journal of sorts to keep days and events straight. and...to remember the shit that I cannot write about here :)

I went to a hockey game last week. One of the Prague teams, Sparta Praha, was I guess in a semi-final game against Zlin (Zlin is a town somewhere in the country...i want to say its east of Prague). It was the first hockey game I'd ever gone to and I went to the game with 5 guys. It was one of the more interesting professional sports events I have seen. The tickets cost 100 Kc (which is 5 USD) and our seats were back and to the left of one of the away team's goal. This meant that I only saw one goal being scored...and missed 2 other ones because I got text messages during them....I was pissed. The stadium was f'in cold; it started out ok...and then got progressively colder. my toes were numb by the end of the game. AND...this game had the most successful rendition of "The Wave" I had ever seen; it went around the whole stadium 3 times! The Prague team won 6-1...and there was a fight!! and the goalie got knocked out...but finally got his ass up like 5 minutes later and the game resumed. After the game, we went to a Subway that was right off one of the Metro stops...because we all were starving. We all agreed that going there was a little slice of America; the only difference though was that the menu was in Czech...and the bastards didn't have any cookies. That's what we get for going at like 8 at night though. But ever since going to the Subway...I have wanted a damn chocolate chip cookie!! its not like they are stellar there...chocolate chip cookies are a food that I think might be strictly American....which blows.

hmm....what else happened last week of note...?

Oh...I went bowling the day before the hockey game! There were like 30 international students sharing 5 lanes, which averaged out to about 7 people per lane. It was a good time, and it turns out that I suck at bowling all over the world. The bowling alley was at like the last stop on the bus....and I'm convinced that we weren't in Prague anymore at that point.

OHEMGEE!!! I booked my trip to Rome this week!! Im going to go to Rome the weekend after Easter!! I will be traveling with 7 other people, which sounds like a lot...but I'm sure it will be fine and we will all have a good time. What are we going to see?? I don't know yet- at least the Vatican...and one of my friends wants to shake hands with the pope. anyone got any ideas? besides the usual architectural wonders/masterpieces/places im lucky I still remember the names of and random facts about??

This week I also visited a house that I did a project for one of my classes over the summer. My contemporary architecture class went to the Muller Villa designed by Adolf Loos. Its a house that was built in 1928-1930, and Loos thought that it was one of his greatest Architectural works. Its slightly surreal to see a house/building that i had spent weeks studying. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures...which kinda sucked.

hmm....so my thoughts on the first month here...Prague is definitely not the United States. People here stare A LOT more. And I'm the one that always gets watched by security whenever I go into stores with people. It's getting slightly annoying. Either I look more American than everyone else does...or I look like the type to steal shit. I'm not really sure which one it is- my guess would be both. Its still surreal here to be walking down a street and on one side see a building from the 21st century...and on the other side see a building from the Baroque era. The cobblestone streets are definitely an experience...I don't know how people with heels can walk on them...I almost fall and I'm wearing gym shoes! Somehow I think i have gone to restaurants and had more Italian and Mexican food than I have Czech Food. I don't think that I could have Czech food every day...my arteries would fall out. Yes...I know that arteries are connected to veins and the heart...but mine would somehow find a way to be separated from my body because of the amount of bacon and grease I have consumed. Speaking of bacon...I had quesidillas with bacon and jalapenos in them!! They tasted like camping and deliciousness. I have had a lot of meals with bacon in them; bacon is to the czech republic like onion are to k-state's dining centers- you never know where its going to pop up in a meal! And the amount of PDA here is astounding...especially on the Metro....it makes me want to gag, and take a long walk off a short pier (well...not literally...its not something you want to see...when you aint getting any) yea...i have a problem with saying exactly what I mean...

do I miss home? well...not really. I've gone months before without seeing my family, so that's not too big a deal. I do miss American television...watching stuff online becomes a hassle after a while. I also surreptitiously miss listening to other people's conversations on public tranportation (because I don't have a clue what they're saying). And don't tell me that you don't do the same thing; its not like I'm trying to listen...its just captivating background noise. BUT...your ears perk up as soon as you hear someone speaking english...even if it's on the other side of the train. I also kinda miss Chipotle...and Bluestem...and oreos...and grilled cheese...and chili...and sonic...and ice in general. For some reason...it is not common to use ice here; I've only seen it at McDonalds, and a cafe i went to in a cultural center. I guess everyone's parents banned them from using ice because they don't know how to fill up the trays...

oh wait...maybe that was just me.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."...motto for the semester...that...and "holy shit this has bacon in it too?!?"

What style of castle is that?...Gothic? No...castle style

A building in Ceske Krumlov (a town in south Bohemia)

Our free sample of Budweiser Budwar at the brewery (it is located in Ceske Budejovice)...apparently they passed out more than one round of it

Hluboka Castle in Hluboka nad Vitavou

The glass that magically turned from water to beer with the addition of a coaster (not really...but that would be pretty awesome)

A church in the same town as the castle...but way further down the hill.

I kid you not...fried cheese described with Wayne Gretzky's name. I guess that is what happens when you go to a hockey-themed restaurant in the Czech Republic

As I was posting these pictures... it dawned on me that this might
be a tower from the church that I took a picture of. Who knew?

God I hate how blogger puts pictures up out of order. it disrupts the flow of my story telling!

So this past weekend I went on a trip to south Bohemia...which is in the western part of the country (?)

But...the night before, my friend Lindsay and I decided to go wandering around Prague to take pictures (and maybe go shopping too...I do not remember.) Well...because I have such an awesome sense of direction...I made us get off the stop before we should have because I thought I knew where we were going. It turns out...I am very good at having us go in a circle. She was not upset at all about the ordeal; I could not understand how I walked in an f'in circle and didn't notice.

The south Bohemia trip went more smoothly than the Moravia, which was a good thing. The first thing we did was walk up a hill to the Hluboka castle and were told that was where we were supposed to meet for tours of the castle...and then released for lunch. Of course all the eateries were halfway down the hill. So I somehow followed some people to a hockey-themed restaurant (it was hardcore enough to have skate blades be door handles for the bathrooms...dull of course). It was an experience. I had chicken with potato pancakes. After trying potato pancakes twice now, I have decided they have too much going on; they almost have a grayish color to them somehow...and have too many flavors going on.

After lunch...I wandered with someone back up to the castle...and wandered through the park in front of the castle...and proceeded to soak my shoes and socks. You see, it had warmed up a great deal over the past week in the Czech Republic, so the temperature had to have been in the low 40s. But...this meant that there was a lot of slush around because the snow hadn't completely melted yet. I was not happy. The castle we visited had been renovated 3 times...and its most recent residents had to leave right around WWII. The private rooms of the castle that we saw were filled with antique rifles...and I believe about 2000 taxidermied animals, and quite possibly about that many hooves and antlers decorating the walls. It was...interesting.

After that...we headed to the Budweiser Budvar brewery. did you know that Budweiser Budvar is a pale lager? It was well...a brewery. I've been to a few before so I didn't see anything all that exciting. BUT...this is the first time I've been to a brewery of age...so I got to try some beer. They gave it to us in like a 7 ounce glass. The brewery did not cheap out on us.

Then we wandered the town of Ceske Budejovice...a town that apparently has the largest town square in the Czech Republic. At this point in the day...I was tired of taking pictures (and walking at this point) after a while I followed some people to a pub...where we chilled...and had chips and salsa.

The we headed to our hostel in Ceske Krumlov...which was...an experience. I have no idea how it happened...but the table I was sitting at got shortchanged on bread, our beer last, and I was the last person in the room to get food. We had soup first..which was ok....and then we had goulash...and mine had a shit ton of gravy...and like 5 pieces of meat. After we ate...my table played a drinking game called "Bitches" I am going to go into detail about it here...but it is very entertaining...and doesn't involve any cards, so its very portable. We wound up having cake because one of my friends turned 22 that day. It was a traditional Czech (or Slovakian) cake called honey cake...f'in delicious. The cake was gone by the end of the night.

The next day we went on a walking tour of Ceske Krumlov....which was f'in cold. And i wasn't in a very good mood...so I decided to not take any pictures. That...and I was not in the mood to accidentally drop my camera and break it. We ate lunch at an italian restaurant (sidebar: I've eaten a lot of italian food in the Czech Republic...im not really sure why; maybe it is just a little more familiar than Czech food right now). Then we wandered around for the next 3 hours. I wound up finding some moldovite for my mom (it was one of my missions while in the country). Moldovite is a stone that is mainly found in the area around Ceske Krumlov that if from a meteor that crashed millions of years ago. it's a greenish stone that kind of looks like an avacado. You should look it up. I didn't even know it was mainly found in the area I was in til I got back to my dorm and read the little brochure I got...Good thing I stopped and picked some up!

FIRST WEEK OF CLASS!!

Yes...I finally started class. I am taking CAD ll class....which is learning the 3d aspects of autocad, an interiors themed architecture studio, monument preservation, history of the interior, and contemporary architecture. The only problem that I forsee with any of the classes is the fact that I can pick up about 80% of what the professors are saying.

I also went to dinner with some of my roommates on tuesday. One of my roommates found a mexican restaurant in her guidebook, so some of us decided to check it out. It was AMAZING. i had chicken with corn and tomatoes and jalapenos in a creme sauce with a quesdilla and rice. And 5 of us split 2 pitchers of margaritas. That was probably some of the most flavorful mexican food I had had in a long time.

And then yesterday we had our first roommate dinner. I live with 6 other girls...so we thought it would nice to all eat together before we left for a Czech Presentation at a bar. We had spaghetti and meatballs and wine. And then I volunteered to wash the dishes...because while everyone was out shopping for food or cooking, I was pretty much where I am now- sitting on my bed.

Today I tried to get hockey tickets because I've never been to a game and was instantly excited when it came to my attention that there were a few games added to the schedule because of playoffs (the season was supposed to be pretty much over by the time I got to Prague). But alas, my friend looked at the wrong website and led us to a football (soccer) stadium on the opposite side of Prague. if the team stays in the playoffs...I think we are going to try and get tickets again.

It's amazing how much I have walked through the Czech Republic so far. I think this week I have walked atleast 2 miles every day. I walk almost everywhere...with the exception of taking the metro...but then I just get off the train and walk some more.

I really need to be taking more pictures...but my camera eats through batteries...and it likes to die sometimes with little warning. Its quite annoying.

I can hardly fathom the fact that i've been here almost 21 days, and have already done so much! and the next few weekends are going to be filled with taking trips around europe (hopefully...I still need to sign up for them). I'm slowly realizing that its going to be much harder to leave this place than I thought.

Tomorrow...homework and a party with my czech buddy!!

legen....wait for it...dary