Weekend Musings...

May 27, 2011

Today was pretty quiet. We didn’t have class and most people either had a field trip or slept late because last night was so crazy. I woke up around 8:15 and was able to get stuff done on the computer. The weather wasn’t the greatest so it was a good day to lie around and chill. I ended up getting ready and eating lunch at the institute then heading off to walk up to Prague Castle from there. I took my time and explored different ways. It was definitely a long walk. On the way back I saw this violinist on the bridge that was really good! I could just sit there and relax and enjoy it. Then I happened upon the folk music festival! How cool! I took a video of the first band, they were a Slavic band. It was pretty cool, I would have stayed longer but it started raining. I met up with others and we made our way back to the pension. We all chilled for a bit and then headed out to dinner at a local place. We devoured that pizza! My favorite part of the night…the sketch off between a few of the boys. We would give them something to draw and they had a certain amount of time to do so. They are really talented. So far they have drawn a dragon (I suggested this one haha), a sphinx (me also), a castle, a cruise ship, a car, and a skyscraper/city. It’s pretty impressive what they can draw in 1-15 minutes.

May 28, 2011

Ok, best thing so far? Prague Food Festival…no freaking joke. It was AWESOME. A group of us got there right when it opened because we hadn’t pre-ordered tickets. It was at the Prague Castle in the garden which was really pretty too. It was a bunch of 5-star restaurants and such that had samples of food and drinks. We all had like 6 different things. I had gelato, a hamburger (not like McDonald’s but it was oh so good), dark chocolate mousse with strawberry sauce, and beef and bread dumplings. I thought I was in love. We were there for like 4 hours and it was awesome! This was my kind of place. We met a nice older couple there too and they run the Prague Post—an English printed newspaper. They were from Texas and gave us some good places to go and things to do. It was really nice to talk to them. We also met a young Czech couple who gave us some places to go and such. They translated what one guy was saying and were cool to talk to! Overall that was one of my favorite things I’ve done so far! Food and fun! :)

May 29, 2011

Sunday in Prague, what a day! Liz, Adrianne, and I met up with Liz’s cousin and friends to go to Terazin, a concentration camp/town during World War II and before. It was really just a humbling, somber experience. As I walked through some of the displays for the museums, I read the stories of several prisoners and it just broke my heart. These people had a future, talent, hopes, dreams, and families and that was taken away from them. I can’t imagine what they went through. The conditions were horrible. I definitely recommend people experiencing this type of thing as it makes you realize how good you have it and just makes you think about what is going on in the world today. Often 1,000 prisoners were transferred from Terazin and only 1 or 2 survived; those are not good numbers. We then made our way back to Thomas’s house where the group of us played board games and cards. It was overall a really good day and I met some local Czech people which was awesome!

"I came to dance, dance, dance..."

Wow, another long day. But it was a good day! A group of us woke up early to go to Prague Castle. It took a bit figuring out the metro stop to get off on but we figured it out and started the trek, and I mean trek up to it. We ended up going in the back way but that’s okay, it was quieter and less crowed. We saw the basilica, cathedral and castle. It was really pretty and had a wonderful view! One of my favorite parts was when we wound our way to the front of the grounds, this band was playing the Pirates of the Caribbean  theme song…umm, awesome. I tried to film some of it and get this, my memory card got full! What!?? That wasn’t supposed to happen on this trip. Another girl and I headed back down towards the bridge so we could actually go to class. We stopped by the market and got some Nutella (huge thing here, but no peanut butter—which I have been looking for all over and can’t find.) and had lunch at the institute. Class now, it was our literature class…awesome. We went on a field trip to a church farther up the river from the bridge and read the legends of the Czechs at the sites where they actually happened. That was so cool and it had a great view as well! There was a festival going on while we were there so we saw some of a puppet show and saw a bunch of little kids running around. I’ll give a brief synopsis of one of the legends below. We then stopped at this little garden for something refreshing and finished class. I think I’m gonna like this class. Our teacher was/is in an all female rock band…can you say awesome? Later on…5 story club. This place was awesome. It is the largest club in central Europe, that’s impressive. Each floor had a different type of music. It was sooo much fun! Most of the program ended up there and it was good to get out and dance and meet new people! Good day? I think so.

Legend of the War of the Maidens:

After the queen died, the maidens were upset that they were not being respected by the men when before they were. So they ran off and built a fort called Devon. Here they prepared to fight. When the men advanced, the women didn’t back away but rather came towards them fighting. The men were surprised and many of them died. One such plot against the men was one maiden was tied against a tree and pretended to be against the women (that’s why they tied her up) and tricked the leader to freeing her. Afterwards the men got drunk and blew a horn which was the cue for the women to attack and killed the leader. The rest of the story isn’t important (it ends badly for the women) so I’m not gonna finish it. I want a happy ending. Haha.

"All the cool kids ride in the back of the bus..."

First day of classes! I woke up early this morning so I could run some errands: had to hunt for the eyeliner I use (didn’t find), cough medicine, and groceries. This other girl and I made our way to Old Town after all of this so we could walk around and such. Oh funny story, we met some lacrosse players from Dublin on the tram, that was pretty funny. We really couldn’t understand what one of them was saying his accent was so thick. Haha. We ate this really good vegetarian place, Country Life. My kinda place by the name..haha. We then met up with some others and just wandered the city, looking into shops, turning left, then right, then going straight just seeing where we went. We ended up finding the Lenin statue (the one where he hanging from a pole and a cute little park by the water not far from the Charles Bridge. We found a good ice cream shop, sooo good as well on our way back. We actually had class. Yay. There are 9 of us in the class…all girls. You know, I thought going on this program I would be in a class with boys? Sike! Not gonna happen. Our professor is a guy though. He seems really nice and knowledgeable. It is a philosophy class, which I love and I can’t wait to learn about something besides Foucault and such. We are going to study Kafka and some others. It should be a good class though it is 3 hours long…let the short attention span kick in. But I guess it will give us plenty of time to discuss the material and such. This city is amazing and I have now made a bucket list for the next 5 and a half weeks. I might post a few of them on here. Hopefully I’ll be able to check them all off! I’ve already got a few checked off! I’m excited for our first weekend in Prague!

"The city is ours!..."

May 23, 2011

Dobry den! (Hello in Czech)Well everyone arrived today. We weren’t at the pension most of the day. We went and toured around Old Town some and just walked around. We went in a few book stores and such and just wandered. We made it back to the pension around 3pm and just chilled out since jet lag was starting to hit people. We then ate dinner at a local restaurant where the guy like beckoned us in. The food wasn’t bad. We met some new people. I also have switched rooms. Sarah and I are not in the same room but still are beside each other. This works out well or will I think. Most of the people seem pretty cool and chill. I got to skype Travis and Phillip today which was really exciting! We have orientation tomorrow. I’m hoping to get some good rest tonight so I’ll be ready for classes on Wednesday!

 

May 24, 2011

Day two of the program and today was orientation day! We met at 9 and went to the Institute in part of Old Town. We learned some Czech language (or tried to) in like an hour time span. Haha. We also learned some of the culture. We had lunch at this cute little restaurant. We had a little tour of the area around us which was good to help us orient ourselves. Then we were free to explore and do whatever. A group of us went back to the pension and decided to go back to the Old Town for dinner. We decided to take the tram this time instead of the metro. Mistake. Haha Not really but we got off on the wrong stop but it worked out. It was a quieter part of town and we found a good restaurant in which I had roast beef and dumplings and it was delicious! We then stopped of all places McDonalds for coffee since I was slightly chilly. And let me tell you before you get on me for going to McDonalds of all places…It was nothing like we have at home. It was like the nicest McDonalds I’ve ever seen. Bottom floor with tons of seating, a dessert type counter and cappuccinos that looked better than Starbucks, this place was legit. So I think just this once, McDonalds was ok to go to. Afterwards we walked around the Charles Bridge and such and it was really pretty at night, a lot less tourists and just a lot more chill than the hustle and bustle during the day. We are now in for the night because classes start tomorrow! What!? I forgot this was actually school…It’s not until 4pm though so I have plenty of time to do whatever during the morning and afternoon. :)

“All I can say it was enchanting to meet you…”

Venice is by far one of my new favorite places. We spent the next day just roaming the streets, seeing where they took us. We saw so many shops and beautiful sites. The day was hot but there was a breeze. We bought a few souvenirs and just enjoyed relaxing. We ended up sitting by the water for several hours just watch people and boats go by. After the sun started setting we made our way back to our hotel to get ready and leave. We left on a train that night at 1:30am for Vienna which we then got a connector in Vienna to Prague. It was a nice ride, nothing too exciting. Though I have to say sleeper cars are tiny! We had 3 to a triple bunk and you could barely turn around in it. But we all slept at least a little bit which was good and we had it to ourselves. The ride to Prague was easy as well, nothing crazy like on the way to Venice. We finally arrived safe and sound and I can’t wait for the program to start! Prague has some big shoes to fill after Venice. I’m sure it will though because I’ll be here for 6 weeks! Which is crazy!

“Well, you had me from hello…”

Venice, from the first moment I saw you from the train station, I was gone. I am so in love with this city. We wake up and have a nice breakfast at our hotel and we make our way to the train station to catch the train to Venice Island. We get there and it is nice and sunny. There is a breeze blowing and it just feels like you are at the beach. We walk around and are just in awe of it all. It is so beautiful here. I don’t want to leave. The weather is so nice and it’s my kind of feel. Hustle and bustle some places and chill and slow in others. We then met up with Dr. Mulvaney and Steve for a personal tour of Venice which was amazing! I am so thankful they were there to help show us around! They were great and showed us some wonderful spots for food and gelato. I swear, some of the BEST, if not the best pizza and gelato I’ve ever had! We saw a couple of churches, climbed up to the top of one to see the whole island (and on a clear day, ours was a little hazy, you can see the Alps!), and Saint Mark’s Square. I love the symbol of St. Mark, the lion with wings. It’s so mythical and powerful. They also showed us how to use the bus system…now get this…the bus system here? BOATS. NO JOKE! This is my kind of city where the bus system is by boat. I love that. I could do this all day. Time doesn’t seem to exit and passes by easily. We checked out the Frari Basilica and it was so pretty. Luckily Dr. Mulvaney lent us some scarves so we could go inside since we were all wearing tank tops. They also told us about some of the history of Venice with the doges and the ways of the Venetians. It was so cool to learn some of those things and see it first-hand. I think half the time we were walking around, my mouth was gaping open at the beauty and just chill feeling of this city. We rode up the Grand Canal finally and made our way back to the train station, but not before we checked out where the locals go. We stopped to get something to drink as it was hot today! We saw the part of the city where there were mainly just locals which was so cool. I hate feeling like a tourist and love seeing what the culture is like without them even though I am one. Ha. Another thing is that we saw a lot of Italians with coats and scarves on even though it was really hot outside. The Italians we learned believe that if a breeze blows on your neck, you’ll get sick. Maybe that’s why I started getting a cold…

This is definitely somewhere I would love to live or have a second home here. It just feels good to be here and it’s like going to Ocracoke; you are on island time and you can’t help but just want to sit down and soak in the sun and the water and the people.

So a week has passed since we left and London and the US feels forever ago. Prague is only a couple of days away and I really don’t know how it will compare but I know they will be two totally different feels but I have fallen in love for sure already with Venice.