I Heart Perogi

Wow...this will have been the quickest turnaround between me going on a trip...and me blogging about it....go me. Well...and I'm trying to avoid the rest of my homework...and a little too exhausted from traveling from the past 2 weeks to want to do it anyways....so there

So yes...through my school's ISC (international student club)...I got the opportunity to go to Krakow over the weekend. We left thursday night, and got back early monday morning...quite early. But I'll get to all that later. 40ish people went on the trip all together...15 from my school, 25 from another school in Prague...and 2 people from my international student club. We were all on one train car...on a 9 hour train ride to Krakow.... god that blew.... Well it was OK in the fact that I met some new people...but blew in the fact that I had to try and sleep on the train, which was not comfortable. I was in a sleeping room with 5 other guys, which was only slightly akward. (I actually spent most of this weekend being the only girl in a group of guys...im not sure if thats good or bad...(Sidebar: anyone have any ideas on that? its not that im trying to do these things....I just always find myself being one of the only girls talking to certain groups of guys). So after only getting about 4 hours of sleep...we arrived in Krakow at like 7 in the morning.

This is from the front of the bus station as we were leaving Krakow Sunday night...I got a blurry picture when we got there on Friday.

After we all get off the train we walked to our hostel. Because there were so many of us...we stayed in separate hostels. More or less, one school stayed in one hostel, and the other one in the other hostel. I was in the one called the Krakow Hostel, and in a room with 20 beds. It's the biggest room I've stayed in yet!

This is a sign from the front of our hostel...on the first floor of it was a tiny restaurant...and outside of the restaurant...they had this sign: its a list of 20 different types of perogis... I did not know there were 20 different types (i actually did not eat here...but the sign proverbially blew me away...and gave me a jonesing for perogi...)

After that...we went on a 2 hour tour of Krakow...(well...we only saw the older part...but still...we saw a lot)
The pigeons in Krakow are numerous (like more than I have seen on Devon Avenue in Chicago)...and friendly...WAAY to friendly...they dont move even when you are like 6 inches away from them. I have another picture a bunch are surrounding three little kids....and they were feeding them.

The first of many occurances of JP2 that I saw while in Krakow...hes a real big deal here. Possibly because he went to school in Krakow...or because he was bishop of Krakow for a while...you know. This was was a small relief sculpture outside of one of many churches in Krakow... I think that Krakow is called the Rome of the North...or something like that.

Inside of one church...lets say its Catholic. It was beautiful. All the ones we went into were (i think we visited 3 or 4 on the tour...but could not take pictures at the last one. it was in the Wawel

Possibly JP2... keeping his pope hands strong! Or going in for a hug. The world will never know...

An image of JP2 in a window of a think a monastery. JP2 would stay there every time he came back to visit Krakow...and would stand outside that window to talk to the young people who would crowd outside.... I guess he would hold a dialogue of sorts...I dunno...I heard all this during our city tour.

This actually isnt the image i thought it was. I have a picture of Our lady of Czestahowa ( i know thats spelled wrong)...but this city is the first one I found where one was able to light candles...so I did it...twice. Well..the first time i tried...I almost burned my hand, and had walked away from our tour to do it...and then the tour caught up to me...so I ducked out of the way to find more places to light candles and potentially burn the church down. so I did...and I did. but I didnt have any money minus bills...but I still did it. (I also lit a candle in a church the next day...I think it was the same one....but I paid) I'd been waiting for a place in Europe to do this...and was excited. (i know...and odd thing to get excited about...but watevs)

After that...we went to lunch...
The wrap we had...it was filled with vegetables. I was so hungry I demolished it and didn't question what exactly was in it (which is what I do most of the time)...and then went and got more food with some people....
...and got sushi....THIS...is vegetarian sushi though...because fish disgusts me. It wasn't too bad though...and like the 3rd time I've had sushi. Then...some people went to take a nap at the hostel. I didn't come to Krakow to nap...so me and this guy from Canada walked around for 2 hours. we walked along the river and along this park that takes the place of the former city walls. (its a narrow park...but really cool if you think about the fact that the park rests on the former city walls).

Wawel Castle

Then after that...we went to the evenings activities...a Traditional Highlander evening. I did not have a very good time...because it was a pointless evening if you werent participating in any of the games...I couldnt see what was going on half the time...and I guess I just wasnt in a very good mood. We ate traditional cheese...soup that had a whole hard boiled egg in it (see below)...chicken with potatoes...and some apple thing...and we got a free glass of Zywiec (its the polish beer whose logo is the dancing man and woman...which i thought was quite tasteless if you ask me) I actually tried to steal one of the .3 liter glasses at the end of the night...but it shattered the next day...when i dropped it... stupid karma. So I have no cool Polish beer glass...sad day.

Soup with potato and egg in it...i did not eat the egg...because I hate egg...

Cool street view

The next day...we toured Auchwitz 1 and 2 which were about an hour outside of Krakow. There were actually 3...possibly 4 main camps...but they do not exist anymore. The first one we visited is called Auchwitz- Birkenau (or Auchwitz 2). This is the camp where most of the um...atrocities took place. Auchwitz 1 was more or less the experiemental one...and mainly held Soviet Prisoners...and I think men. Look up the camps if you want more information...I know quite a bit...but I chose not to take very many pictures...at all. I didn't think it was right to take pictures in a place filled with such pain and destruction.

.
A sandwich I ate on the bus outside of one of the camps (i know...the worst form of irony)...it was the best turkey and cheese (or ham and cheese) sandwich I had had in some time...I think it was the roll that made the sandwich....
Sign from the front of Auchwitz 1...it translates to 'work makes free"...its an ironic slogan if you think about it...

My first try at getting perogis. I walked around for like 20 minutes trying to find a place that sold them hot (and had completely walked away from the guys I was walking around with because I was on a mission...from god)....and was not having any luck... so I went to my fallback...a deli. (because polish delis always have stuff like that). And...they had like 8 kinds, and potato pancakes (but potato pancakes are not good cold...so I skipped out on them). So...after a few minutes of deliberation, and the Polish lady behind the counter getting progressive pissed at me...I picked the kind called Russkie. I was trying to pick a type that was potato (WELL....after I tried them, I think that they were potato and sour cream, so I was HALF right.) So Im walking out of the store...and walking across the square in Krakow...and I come across these bad boys....
THESE...were some of the best perogis I've ever had. I picked potato and cheese (mainly because that's what the guy ahead of me in line picked) and they also came with some mushroomy sauce thing. A-MAZING. I ate them in the square...and then had a few of the cold ones I got...and was feeling a little more at one with the city, and my heritage.

Then I walked around by myself for a while, and got slightly lost. Well, not completely lost, I just could not read which way to face on the map. I wandered into a few churches to take some pictures, but accidentally walked in on 2 masses. I was going to take a picture of a confessional in during one of them, but it felt wrong...so I left.

Creepy-Ass confessional. They had a lot of these in Krakow. I think these confessionals would scare me straight in Krakow (kinda like D.A.R.E. for Catholics).

After my walk....and I met up with everyone else...we had a pizza party. Only sadly...it was not cheese and sausage pizza (which would have been amazing) BUT NO...it was pizza with a lot of things that did belong on pizza- like vegetables, and chicken, and I think curry.

The next day, we went to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, which I believe has been in operation since the 1200s. We had to walk down like 20 flights of stairs to get to the start of the tour...and boy was it an experience!! The tour was like 2.5 hours long, and wound through a small part of the cave, and then through a museum that talked about the history of mining there, and salt, and other such dioramas.

View of art, and salt statue.

THATS RIGHT....its a salt statue...of JP2! This was taken in a church that was carved out my several miners in the cave (it was actually quite beautiful) and I technically wasn't supposed to take a picture because I did not pay to get a special sticker to let me take pictures, but I took one anyways...because its JP2.

While in the salt mines I managed to get myself almost lost twice. The first time...I went to the bathroomm and then went back to where I thought everyone was. And they were not there. I did eventually find them (it turns out I had not walked far enough). But second time I almost was not so lucky. We were in the museum part of the mines and I had walked away from the group because I like exploring exhibits at my own pace (which is a lot quicker that some people) and had kept walking with this other kid. We found some exhibit of pictures and then turned around and walked back to where everyone else was...and they were not there. We slightly paniced...and backtracked through the whole museum area to the beginnning of the museum, where we ran into this Polish lady who worked there and could tell we were not where we were supposed to be. So she pointed us in the right direction....and thus the end of the excitement of the Salt Mines.

After the salt mines....we had perogis for lunch....OMG were they amazing... I had potato...meat....and saurkraut. BUT the meat ones were the best. Instead of them being smothered in butter (which made me slightly sad)...I think they were cooked with little cubes of pork fat...which made them amazing. I dont think that a lot of the people liked the perogis...but I wish I could have had more ( we were only allowed ten each...:(

The delicious perogis....

The best wafer cookies I have ever had. You can get them in the states (well...my best bud gave me a bunch of them for my birthday one year.) and I'm pretty sure I have seen them in a store a the bottom of the Hancock Building

Then...we had a 9 hour train ride back from Krakow...BUT...not before the guides giving us A free botle of vodka, a free shot glass, and a free bag of polish candy. (actually..we got that earlier in the day, but I didn't remember til about a minute ago.) Because there were so many of us....there was not enough room in the sleeping car for everyone...so me and 3 other guys volunteered to stay in a sitting cabin with our guides...because I'm a nice kid like that. And I figured that I would not sleep a whole lot anyways... BUT...I did get free wine.

Said free wine. It was Australian white wine....imported to Latvia...and sold I guess in Krakow...we could not find a bottle opener...so one guy opened the bottle with a key...and then another guy pushed the cork past the neck...with a pencil. It was decent wine..but I know nothing about wine...I just know what the other guys told me.

And then we rolled into the Prague train station at 7 in the morning on Monday...and was back in my room watching the Office after breakfast by 8.30.

And thus ends my trip to mah homeland...well...half of it.

NEXT TRIP: PARIS!!! but I'll hopefully update before then...I do have other things going on besides trip....you know...like class...

....most of the reason why I'm in Prague (in case anyone was wondering...class is going just fine...and I do go...most of the time)

BBBenny and the Jets!!

OH EM GEEZ

I meant to update last week....but too much goes on...and then I went to Rome, and I'm still trying to process the fact that I...was...in...ROME!!

But since I'm going to Krakow later today (mah homeland!!...well, half of it) I should update before this turns into an entry that rivals War and Peace.

EDIT:...yea....im already back from Krakow (krakow will be the next post)...I ran outta time...and was slightly hungover one day

So 2 weeks ago...what happened to me...

hmm...half of 2 weeks ago was spent helping with preparations for our country presentation. You see, every Wednesday there are presentations of all the countries that all the international students come from. Every week there is 2 or 3 countries that present who they are and have some typical dish and such...and each presentation usually involves a drinking game...

so for our country presentation, we decided to make peanut butter and jelly (but we used strawberry jelly...because apparently Czechs have yet to discover the one true jelly...welchs grape. We were also going to make rice crispie treats, but could not find anything remotely close to rice crispies, so we had to abandon that idea. I also helped out in making 200 jello shots! And by helping out I mean I had to figure out how to put 200 little plastic shot glasses into a 3.0 cubic foot fridge; which they did. BUT...long story short our presentation went as well as could have been expected- we started out in high style with beer bongs...and I totally did one! THATS RIGHT....you heard it here first. No one thought I could do it...and I wanted to prove people wrong. I got high fives and shocked faces (and I didn't throw up either by the way)...but needed a moment to myself afterwards. I did not get back to my room til early the next morning though because I wound up going on an extended walk around Prague...and got to see the castle and such at night. Its a different experience to see all the tourist sites when there are no tourists around.

AND NOW....ROME!!!

I went with seven other people to Rome: 2 people from my studio...2 other guys from K-State...one guy from Texas Tech...and 2 guys from MSOE. In retrospect that might have been a few too many people to go on a trip with because its hard to get everyone to agree and even harded to make sure that everyone is seeing what they want to, but it worked out pretty well. (there is a group picture of all of us somewhere...but I dont remember who took it)

There were no complications getting from our dorm to Rome. It was all relatively uneventful...we got to the airport...got our tickets...eventually got on the plane...I kicked someone...you know, normal stuff.

The sign at the airport from where we had to take a train from there to the main train station in Rome- Termini. The train was only slightly akward.

Our hostel was one block over from the train station in the same area as a lot of other areas...but it wasnt...um...lets just say that its not the place the someone should hang around by at night. So everyone got all situated...and then we ate at a place right by our hostel. We all got pizza and a soda for 7 Euro. I got everyone to start saying JP2...and told a joke. The joke: "what do you call Pope Benedict and his College of Cardinals?... Benny and the Jets.

My pizza...I think it has salami on it. It was ok til about 3/4 of the way through...and then the grease got to me.

After that...headed to the first place on our list of Rome sites...the Colosseum. Funny thing though...it kinda creeps on you when coming up the escalator from the metro stop...none of us knew that we would see it...from the metro. I believe the first words out of my mouth were... "holy shit...that's the god damn Colosseum." And it is definitely an impressive site. I wound up walking around the whole thing....and damn...I walked around the Colosseum.

Colosseum

Colosseum

Then...we spent the next hour and a half walking in the direction of the Pantheon. Everyone kept stopping to take pictures of random things. After a while....it all started looking the same to me...so I stopped taking pictures...for the time being. And...I had to concentrate on not being hit by a car. Italian drivers are insane. And...I think that one of my friends pointed out at some point later on during the trip that there are no red lights...its only green and yellow. For instance...say you are crossing the street....and you have the right of way- apparently that means very little to the driver who is making a turn. They will keep turning until they get about 2 feet away from you...and then you have to run across the street to keep from dying.

But moving so...so we eventually get to the Pantheon (which was a Roman temple that was converted to a church in the 300s) ...but we were there too late to take a famous Pantheon picture. The famous Pantheon picture is one where the shadow is just right from the hole at the top of the dome and projects itself onto the inside of the dome. Sad day indeed...but...I did the best I could. The interesting thing about the dome of the Pantheon is that no one is entirely sure how it was built...but the concrete gets progressive thinner and it gets to the top to reduce weight and pressure.

Ok...this was a lot longer of a post...but for some reason blogger would not save it...so this is going to a lot shorter...and half as funny as it is supposed to be.

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain....its built into the facade of the building. AND...there has been a fountain in this spot for since 27 BCE.
Our dinner at a restaurant down the way from the Trevi Fountain...it wasnt exactly what I wanted...but it was pretty good.

SOUTHSIDE (of St. Peter's Square) REPRESENT!! We got to the Square at 7 in the morning...and were done seeing what we could by like 8:45...of course about 15 minutes before the entreance to the dome opened up. But it I did pick up some religious souvenirs in some shops in the square.
St. Peter's. The dome of the Pantheon I believe fits in the dome of the church (or its the other way around...either way...its one of the 2) There was a small prayer room off to the side in the church that I visited...but I did more gawking at the interior than actually praying...so as i left...I tripped on one of the pews in the back and almost fell. And of course...I said "holy shit"....im going to hell....
OREOS...i found them in the Vatican Museums...and hadnt had them in over 2 months...they were delicious!...even though I ate them in the museums. One of my friends told me that I was going to be excommunicated now...I was too hungry to care.
One of many hallways you pass through during the 1.5 hour trek to get to the Sistine Chapel. I think this one had tapestries.....or maps...but im leaning towards tapestries
Im guessing parts of the pope's exercise routine...gotta keep your pope hand strong!!!
I never found the Vatican secret archives...another clever rouse on the part of the Catholic Church. Another rouse....gift shop/kiosk areas EVERYWHERE...and they all sold the same things... you could not travel far in that place without seeing one.
The Vatican at night...after that we ate at a cafe...down the street from the Colosseum. One of my friends also got the exercise the use of his Popener. YES thats right...a pope bottle opener. I bought 2 the day before....Its the most awesome pope gift...EVER (or incredibly sacreligious...)

Inside of the Colosseum...It rained like right after this picture...and kept raining...and I stayed soaked...for most of the rest of the day...

Inside of the Colosseum!!

Me in the Roman Ruins...im pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be sitting there...oh well...yet another awesome shot to prove I was in Rome.

Roman Ruins

Delicous Gelato...coffee gelato with a tiny scoop of biscotti gelato on top in a tiny cone...and my friend Lindsay skysharking me from the right trying to take my gelato.
Me drinking a giant bottle of Peroni In front of the Trevi Fountain...because there are no public drinking laws in Rome. (As far as we knew...i bet the asian chicks at the store we were at were lying to us.)
Me being an ass...and stretching out my legs...and showing off my fabulous Puma's at the same time...

The rest of the trip involved a 7 hour stay in the airport...don't ever do that...ever. I was unable to sleep until we got on the plane...and was asleep as soon as the plane took off...and I never sleep on planes.

Next post: KRAKOW!! the land of JP2...and Perogi!!

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