This Building Feels Like Communism

So I finally figured out how to put my pictures in order on this crazy website. It required a lot of cutting and pasting...on the computer of course

So yes...I went to Dresden and Berlin the last weekend in March (I got back last Wednesday morning...at 5.30 in the AM)

But the night before I left for Dresden, I somehow got talked into going to a playoff hockey game that Slavia Praha was playing against Plzen (or...Pilsen...yes the same town that Pilsner Urquell comes from). There was talk about it earlier that week, but I did not think I was seriously going to the game...until I was asked when someone was at the ticket office and called and asked if I wanted to go. That game was INTENSE. It was tied with one second left in the game...tied through sudden death...and then Slavia Praha scored with their last guy on the ice (i think it was the son of the coach or something...i learned that a few days ago). The whole stadium erupted! There was also a fight on the ice at some point...and 2 people got thrown out of the game. And then it took like an hour to get from the stadium back to my dorm because of the massive amounts of people on the metro. So now I can say that I went to both Prague hockey teams' games. Now I feel like I need to go to an American hockey game and compare notes. But...after the game I did not get back to my room til like midnight...and had yet to pack for my long weekend...and had to wake up at like 4 to make it to the train station on time.

So...long story short...I wound up being awake for 24 hours and walked a few miles on like 2.5 hours of sleep. BUT...im getting ahead of myself at this point...

back to the story at hand...

So our trip leader showed up to the train station like a half hour late...but thats a common occurance on ISC trips (not leaders showing up late...just the group in general being late for things...a lot). Our train was a nice compartment train...and even had a dining car. My friend Caitie and I were jonesing for come coffee and food...so the 2 of us decided to visit the dining car and have breakfast. Since it was like 7ish in the morning...we were the only people there. It was nice.

We got to Dresden at about 9 in the morning and then had 3 hours of "free time." The group of people that I was with (about 9 of us just kinda gravitated toward eachother) picked a direction and started wandering around. Actually...we walked in one directions because someone said "we should go that way...it looks like there's old stuff over there." After about an hour we decided it was booze time...so we found a vegetarian restaurant and got soup and booze.

Then we met up with the rest of the group and had lunch at one of the university's dining center...which was an experience. the dumplings were in the shape of baseballs...and stuck to my fork. After that we went on a 2 hour scavenger hunt of Dresden. We learned about some of Dresden's well known sites...and had certain tasks to accomplish. One...which you see below...was to cram as many people as possible into a phone booth. we had 7...but the record apparently was 10.

yep...there are seven people in there...a contrast of old and new architecture. if I am not mistaken, Dresden was heavily damaged during World War II, so a lot of the older buildings had to be rebuilt.

That night we had kebabs which are not like American kebobs. The only thing i can think to compare them to are gyros. But in Germany I don't think that they use lamb meat in their spinning meat hunk mixture. I ordered something that was meat, french fries, tazaki (sp?) sauce, and ketchup...and it was delicious. It might not sound like that...but it definitely was. Then we went to a hookah lounge...then I somehow got mixed up with the group that went to a club...and did not get back to our hostel til 5.30 in the AM. it was a good time though...

The next day, we went to the German Hygeine Museum in Dresden. Its a lot like the Museum of Science and Industry in concept...but more health related. I had my first Latte Macchiato there...and am now currently addicted to them. They are essentially a shot of expresso with steamed or foamed millk (it might be both actually) and on occasion whipped cream...de-liciousness. After that ...we headed to a German restaurant to have a German meal...which apparently meant only soup.

and beer...my friends and i thought it would be a great idea to drink a liter of beer...

2 of the 3 liters of beer attempted by the 3 of us.

My friends Staci and Caitie finished theirs...and I tried to drink about half of it in like 10 minutes... because I was unaware that everyone was getting ready to go...and I was still eating and drinking my beer...I got about 3/4 of the way through...and then had to give the rest away...because my body could not hold any more liquid....I felt defeated. Then we wandered around a different part of dresden for a few hours, and then Staci, 2 other friends, and I got on our train to head to Berlin!

Interesting facade in a small courtyard in Dresden

Welcome to Berlin!!

We got to our hostel at about midnight...and then go down to the lobby and all have a beer and talk about a master plan for the town. The hostel we stayed at was actually an old brewery...and one of the nicest hostels Ive ever stayed at. The four of us had a room to ourselves and our own bathroom. And we each had our own locker so we could lock our stuff up while we were gone during the day.

Day 1 in Berlin Started with a visit to the Brandenburg Gate...which had to be partially rebuilt after the War. From what I remember...the Berlin Wall was built around it...and was pretty much in a lot by itself until the wall went down. The American Embassy is now to the left of the Gate

Me at the Brandenburg Gate...with the American Embassy being to your left.

After that, we visited the Holocaust Memorial. for more information about it...check out this website: http://www.holocaust-mahnmal.de/en/thememorial/fieldofstelae

Holocaust Memorial...its a pretty moving place...

After that...we went to Checkpoint Charlie...which I believe was one of 2 ways into the American Sector. This picture shows that you are leaving the American Sector

Checkpoint Charlie. There was a museum across the street...but Staci and I could not figure out how to get in...so we ate lunch instead.

After lunch...we went to the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It was one of the most interesting museums I had ever been to.The building was designed by Daniel Leibskind...has no right angles in the building. The museum starts with a history for Jewish people in Europe dating back to the 1000s...and then goes all the way til modern times I guess. Its a very extensive history..until about 1933...and then it more or less glosses over the next 15 years...in a slightly cynical way. One of the exhibitions that my friend Staci and I went to was about eugenics...which is a combination of the study of race and anthropology. The Nazi's tried to use eugenics to create "the perfect race"

Then...we went to dinner...we went to a restaurant in a more artsy part of Berlin...because another restaurant was recommended to us...but we could not find it.
This delicious picture was veal ragout with herb spatzle...I really wanted spatzle...and this was the only thing on the menu that included it. I was a little leery at first because I have only eaten veal a few times...and had no idea what a ragout was. BUT....I devoured the whole plate...and 2 hefeweissens...and apple strudel. AMAZING.
We saw a Dunkin Donuts in the Train Station soon after getting to Berlin and I was adamant that we would go before we left the city. And...we did...I had a double chocolate donut...with some OJ to balance out the chocolate. It was one one of the best donuts I had ever had in some time. Then...we headed to the Berlin Wall...well...what was left of it. What's left of the wall is called the East Side Gallery, and there is about 1.3 km of it left as a memorial.
This is me writing on the Berlin Wall (i wound up writing on it 4 times...this particular time...i was writing a quote that was at the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off"
Staci and I standing my our birth year. There were several pictures of this scene...but this is the most rediculous one of me...with my leg sticking straight out.

After that...Staci and I wandered around Berlin for the next 4 hours...walked a shit ton...and visited the Pergammon museum. And then we visited the Reichstag...and then we headed to the bus..and got back to my room at 5.30 in the AM

Me in front of the Reichstag

So that brings me up to last Wednesday...sweet jeebus! I've been typing to like 2 hours.

but pushing on...

Friday...I went for Thai food...and thought that it would be a good idea to eat part of a chile....half of my tongue went numb...and I was unable to eat for like ten minutes.

Then Saturday...I went to a restaurant called Buffalo Bill...which looked like southwest America threw up on a basement restaurant. It was ok... and then I was going to go to the Obama speech sunday morning...so my friends and I thought it would be a bright idea to stay up all night so we could get to one of the gates really early. So we spent a few hours at another dorm called Strahov. It felt like communism with its interior design...or lack of it. I should have taken a picture...but was afraid to.

So we show up at the press gate at 3.45 in the AM...and there were about 8 people there before us. Around 4.30...some of our other friends showed up...but by about 5.30...people started getting antsy...so i pretty much had to stand from then til I ate lunch at like 12. It turns out that there were over 20,000 people at the speech, and i was about 5 feet from the barrier that separated the general crowd from the volunteer crowd ahead of us. I planted myself next to my french canadian friend...because I knew that he would make sure I did not die....and he's hilarious. There was a break in the crowd at some point...and I was able to see Obama for 2 seconds...but I did see him! So now I can claim that I saw Obama in Prague...

And that's more or less the end of massive highlights in my life...

Right now is tourist season in Prague...which means that its hard to get anywhere because of the massive crowds of tourists that cannot decide what it is they are looking for. Its very frustrating...because when I got here...the city did not seem very crowded.

ugh...I give up...

oh wait...im going to Krakow in a few weeks!!

so...trips coming up...Rome...then Krakow...then Paris!! Im planning on going to Vienna at some point...and possibly Greece...and maybe Spain.

now...i give up

till next time...

quote of the day... "I'm wearing taco pants today!"

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

cold feet

picture of building in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic

WINE TASTING!!! We had red and white wine on the table, and then everyone sampled some other white wines. i...did not.

looking from the bottom of a canyon (?) at Punkev Cave. the hole i guess is 120 meters from a surface. After this picture was taken we went on a small boat ride on the underground river that flows through the cave.

picture from about 10 minutes before a massive snowball fight erupted in from of St. Barbora church. One of the snowballs hit the church door...I think someone put himself into the express lane

image from the entrance to the italian court

keeping up with a blog is incredibly difficult at times. half the time i want to blog, im just too tired to do it, or too much has happened that i need to digest a bit. it also does not help that blogger is a bastard for pictures. refer to the pictures above as i describe the weekend

but anyways..

last weekend i went on my first trip around the Czech Republic to Moravia. Moravia a region in the eastern part of the country. i think that about 46 international students went, and 2 officers in Czech Tech's ISC (international student club). we were on the bus for 2 hours, then arrived at Kutna Hora. i think it is a town. there, we visited the italian courtyard, which i believe was one of the first treasuries and mints in the country. of course this is about the point my camera died for the day because my extra batteries were underneath the bus in my bookbag...which is not where i was.

After that we got lunch and my friends and i wandered until we found an italian restaurant i got me some pizza. i have actually had a lot of pizza while in the Czech Republic....its quite delicious. And then a massive snowball fight erupted in front of St. Barbora's church. it went on for like 15 minutes. almost everyone got hit with a snowball. we looked at the church, where it was rediculously cold, and then proceeded to have a snowman making competition. i wish i had taken pictures, but i think the winner was the canadian people who made a hockey player, and somehow "happened" to have carrots on them.

After this, we headed to the Church of the Bones, which is the church decorated with bones because during the plague, the church ran out of room in the cemetary, and decided to put the bones to good use. It was a pretty eerie place, and really damp.

And then...we headed to Olomouc, and spent the night in their dorms. So we all dumped our stuff off and walked a few blocks to some restraunt and had dinner. it was chicken with ham on top and cheese or something...it was interesting. my friends and i sat with a girl from greece and a girl from france. After that we were supposed to go to a disco, but i went with the group that went to a bar first. There was much drinking and someone wound up dancing on a table. Then it was club time...which was a lot of dancing, drinking, and constant beat of something (i barely danced...and had stopped drinking by this point...good plan for me)

The next morning, we waited around for like 45 minutes for breakfast...because whatever we were supposed to have fell through...so one of the officers had to run to the grocery store. i had chocolate yogurt...or thats what i think it was. it was bizzare. then we took a shortened tour of the town of Olomouc.,,you know the town square, churches...crap like that. Somehow though, i struck up a conversation with a french guy...and we pretty much talked for the length of the tour. It was a good time...but of course because it had been snowing off and on for the past few days...i slipped and fell on some ice, and him and a bunch of other people saw me.

good times...i felt like a moron

After this i think we headed to a town close to Brno for our wine tasting thing. i wound up staying in a room with 10 other people. I think i was one of the least drunk people in there at the end of the night. Wine tasting was definitely an experience...thankfully i stopped drinking about halfway into the night...and learned that i think wine tastes like ass. I wound up sitting next to the same french guy i was talking to earlier in the day, and at one point he got on his knees and begged me to drink more wine. i declined...but was moved by the moment. There is a picture of it up on facebook. We wound up getting kicked out of the place at like midnight...and i was stuck with a group that got lost on the way back to where we were staying.

The next day we walked through Brno was were released for lunch. Me and some guys from k-state ate at mcdonalds, and talked about how much nicer the ones in the Czech Republic are than the US. These people looked to be working there..and there were flat-screen tvs. After lunch we took a tour of a 17th century prison. It was cold, and damp, but kinda cool at the same time. I tried to take pictures, but it was too dark and nothing was showing up in my pictures. After this, we all walked back to the bus and headed back to the dorms. But...on the bus...and for pretty much most of sunday...about 3/4 of the bus got sick. I blame the long walks in the snow we took for 2 days...and all the booze.

This week has been pretty relaxed except for wandering around for 2 hours trying to find a laundromat in the rain. and the one that was supposed to exist did not; i was PISSED..and soaked by the time i got back to my room. This week I payed for my internet, did FINALLY laundry (which costs about 15 dollars all together...its more expensive because its not very common to have dryers in the Czech Republic...and the laundromats probably jack up the prices for foreigners) It was one of the best laundromats I've been to; i thought that the washer i was using was too full, and the lady managed to shove more of my clothes in there. BUT...i wound up washing my phone. i did not realize this until ten minutes after the washing machine had started. I felt like a moron, but i wound up getting a new phone today. Somehow, the sim card in the phone survived!!

I also wound up going to a salsa party yesterday, and the french guy that i had mentioned before spent ten mintues trying to teach me to salsa. He told me to try, just for him...so i did. I don't know why, but I just couldn't do it. He gave up on me and told me it was kinda sad that i couldnt dance, but was kinda nice about it.

today I went to the Museum of Communism in Prague. it was incredibly interesting. its main focus was on the soviet regime in Czechoslovakia from 1948-89. And then my friend and i walked around for a while because it was raining earlier, but it cleared up and was gorgeous outside.

and then this weekend...im going to south bohemia to go to a castle and check out the legit budweiser brewery...and i think some other stuff too. I'm really looking forward to it

well...this is entirely too long now

dobry den!

busy busy

the metro stop in the old town square. a lot of them have this same design...but different color schemes

St. Vitus cathedral...i went to a gothic church! i still can't believe that im pretty sure i went to a church that i studied in school.

front of St. Vitus Cathedral

View from balcony of the integration party that most of the international students went to (omg...im an international student) there were three bands that played..and i believe that his band in particular played jazz music...AND...they might have played some blues brothers. but im not 100 percent...i had had quite a few by this point.

View of prague from outside the castle looking down a hill...or something like that

so I have been in Prague for about 5 days now...and it has not set in yet that I am 4 thousand miles away from home. Ive been so busy going from place to place and trying to settled and meet people and such that the reality train has yet to stop at me (i know that was lame...but it sounded like a nice analogy at the time)

From what I have seen so far, Prague is a beautiful city, full of incredibly nice people. This place has a rich architectural and political history. and it is uber clean. i guess i should be going through culture shock, but it does not seem to be all that different from chicago. Their metro makes a lot more sense (they have 3 subway lines and a tram line, and various bus routes), and the trains are usually full and whatnot.

I think so far the only way that i know that i am in a different country is the fact that most of the people hear speak czech, but a vast majority of them know atleast a little english. I feel like I am trapped on a Devon avenue the size of city (but i swear i smell sausage half the time...which isnt a bad thing)

About half of my trip so far has been spend walking around trying to find various buildings on campus, and siteseeing, and eating food. Ive heard several people talking, and either they love czech food or they hate it. I for one think its really good. they have delicious goulash...and ive had czech pizza twice now...and its delicious. i don't think that i have had anything yet that i don't like.

Well...i take that back. i tried this drink called kofola. Its like the Czech version of a coke. only it tastes like rootbeer and licorice. it was definitely different. today at dinner i had juice instead. today at dinner i also had a soup that had salami and beans in it. it was delicious. it tasted kind of like baked beans

yesterday, two of my friends and this guy that we met yesterday at an integration party that they international student club hosted went to an italian restaurant right outside of campus. i had a pepperoni pizza with bacon, red, and green peppers on it. it was amazing! i think i will wind up eating my way through europe. and no joke on that

yesterday i visited a mall called the palladium. it apparently has 200+ shops and is on like 4 floors. we were looking for boots (well i wasnt...but i pretty much decided that im not going to leave prague without a new pair of pumas. its pretty much inevitable.) and sketchbooks. we wound up going to this mall across the street instead and found a store that had notebooks and other such random shit (i guess it was kinda like a walgreens...but no drugs)...and they seriously had a counter full of pens! but most of them were on a wall behind the counter so even i wanted to see one of them i would not have been able to ask for it. yesterday i also signed up for some trips around the czech republic through the international student club. On friday I am going to moravia (which i think is eastern czech republic. and next friday i am going to bohemia...which i think is to the west. one trip involves a trip to a winery...and the other one to the budvar brewery. and other stuff of course. the two trips are about 200 USD (minus booze and such) and include some food and accomodation. thats a pretty good deal.



today...we went on a walking tour of prague.

it was like 20 degrees

and windy

it would have been a lot more interesting in like may. we probably walked about 5 miles and saw a lot, but i stopped taking pictures after a while because it got to be too cold

after that we hung out in the bars that are in the basement in of my dorm. they are very relaxed atmospheres. and the beer is pretty inexpensive.

so far i think i have tried 3 czech beers...pilsner urquell, budvar, and gambrinus beer. i think that the budvar is the best...its not as bitter and a lot smoother than the other ones. BTW...budvar here is known as budweiser...but is nothing like the budweiser in the US. the one in the czech republic is real beer...whereas Bud is brewed with rice.

so there

oh what else...

there is just so much that is new and different than what im used to

oh man...im coming up being here for almost a week!

OMG I am in Prague

Well...I made it to Prague in one piece

and I didn't lose any of my luggage

and I have not slept since 7 in the AM on Friday (its now 9.30 in the PM on Saturday)

It has been a long day...but exciting

I met with my Czech buddy, checked into my dorm, went with my buddy, 2 of my friends and their buddy for a stroll around prague and we had a legit czech cuisine lunch. We had various kinds of goulash (but they spell it differently) and amazingly good bread dumplings.

then we walked some more...went and got some water and stuff so we dont die, (did you know that they sell RC in Prague...who knew?) got sim cards for the phones we have to get...then went to the czech equivalent of Walmart to get stuff (like a hairdryer)...and im pretty sure we got yelled at. and then we got hamburgers from a street vendor

they had saurkraut on them...they werent too bad

and now i should be unpacking...but am unsure of where to throw half of my stuff...so i quit unpacking.

prague is definitely different from k-state...or chicago for that matter.

i wish i knew more czech...so i didnt feel like such a moron when traveling around...but hopefully i will pick up more soon

the price of free wifi is that its in the lobby...which is like 50 degrees...not cool