Cesky Krumlov

June 10-12, 2011

Hey guess what guys?? It’s road trip time with a few classes! For our school trip about 30 of us headed to a small town in the Czech Republic…Cesky Krumlov! It was a beautiful quaint town. It didn’t take long to get there at all, only about three hours. Our first stop was a castle owned by this really big family in the Czech Republic, the Swarzenbergs. It was a really impressive castle and a cute little town. After that, we stopped on the way at the Budvar Brewery or Budweiser here. (not the same Budweiser in the states but the Czech Budweiser). That was really cool to see how they made beer. Next stop, Cesky Krumlov! We made it to our various hostels and it was time for dinner together…at the Medieval Restaurant. Now, this may sound weird and not very good but let me tell you…IT WAS AMAZING. Adrienne and I split a mix grill which included pork, turkey, and beef. As well as, potato pancakes, baked potatoes, greens and we also go apple pie with ice cream. This was one of the best meals I have had so far. It was full of protein which was excellent. A few of us then walked up to the castle which was really pretty at night and guess what we saw…A BEAR! (No one believed us when we told them but when they went to the castle…guess what they saw…A BEAR!) The castle keeps bears as part of a tradition. Very cool. That night wasn’t such a late night though we did get slightly lost on the way back to the hostel but no big deal. The next morning we got up and walked for quite a bit (uphill, mind you) to get to the horseback riding place. I’ve never been on a horse or if I have, it was when I was little. That was awesome. My horse’s name was Bara. We just meandered around on the trail, taking it all in. It was absolutely gorgeous and not too hot. And while I liked to think I was in control…that’s a lie. That horse knew what it was doing and could take off any minute. After horse back riding, we got cleaned up and we all met back at the square for lunch. We found this good little place on the water called Papa’s Living Restaurant and boy was that good too. I swear…all I do here is eat and it’s all so good. A group of us then just wandered around, taking in the sites and the people. It wasn’t anything really exciting but it was just one of those days you just really enjoyed because you were with good company, good day, good food.  We saw the bears again…haha. We are not crazy…there were bears. And wandered around the castle some and the gardens. That night we stopped at this cute little restaurant where the guy that was the host was really nice and sociable. We then popped into this music place we just chilled and enjoyed the atmosphere. Sunday it was time to leave, we all got breakfast and headed up to the castle again to see the theater. IT was so cool. It was a mechanical engineer’s dream. It was in great condition and in most of its original form. Adrienne and I then found this small pizza place not far from the castle for lunch and had some excellent pizza. Italian food here is so good in Europe. Then it was back to the bus to head home. This was a great trip but once again I was happy to be back in Praha. J

Lidice.

June 9, 2011

Thursday was another good day (Everyday in Prague is a good day haha). After class and resting up we went to meet up with some other students to go see the film Lidice. It was based off the tragedy that happened in a small Czech town during World War II. All the men were shot, the children gased, and the women sent to concentration camps. Not many people survived. It was in response to the assassination of Hitler’s third in command. Watching this movie was just, well words can’t describe. There were English subtitles so we could follow but there were parts of the movie I was just shaking and had knots in my stomach. To think people could just kill in cold blood was sickening. There were a few scenes that really stood out that really stuck with you. One scene was when the father was getting back from prison to find the town he lived in…completely flattened. It was covered in snow and there was a wide panoramic shot that showed flat, white snow. Nothing was left of the town. The other was the carriages carrying the children that weren’t blond haired, blue-eyed and you see hands up against the glass as banging to get out as they start to die. This movie didn’t over do it…didn’t dramatize it the story. They gave it to you straight up. I liked that because it is such a delicate subject to make a film about and I think they did an excellent job with it. After the movie was over, the audience just sat there. Frozen watching the credits. I am pretty sure everyone in the theater was just trying to absorb the magnitude of this horrible crime. A group of us afterwards just sat there outside the theater in silence because we couldn’t think, couldn’t fathom because while that movie did a great job, it was nothing I’m sure compared to the real thing. So after all of that, we headed a place up the road from the institute to meet up with others to chill out which is what we needed after that movie. Next up, ROAD TRIP!

Lions, Tigers, Bears...Oh My!

June 7-June 8, 2011

Tuesday we went to the Kafka museum and that was really awesome to see. There was a reference to Michel Foucault...he’s everywhere. The museum was set up really Kafkaesque which was really cool. The reason we were visiting this is because our first paper was due Thursday on his novel The Trial. Our first paper due since we started and let me tell you…doing homework while in Prague is so hard. It takes a lot of discipline since there is so much to see and do in the city! But it got done, don’t worry.

Wednesday…THE ZOO. HECK YES. It was an awesome zoo. It had a bat cave. Awesome? Duh. Adrienne and I saw lions, tigers, apes, bats, snakes, giraffes, elephants, hippos, monkey’s, peacocks, and much much more. It was quite an impressive zoo. We took our time and went at our pace which was nice. My favorites were the tigers, apes, flamingos, and giraffes. Oh and the bat cave…seriously cool. Oh and the wolves…I am part of the wolfpack you know. Haha. The rest of the day wasn’t too exciting. We went out that night for a bit and chilled at a local place which was nice.

Yes, I have been in Prague for two weeks...here's some photos to prove it.

"Ice, ice, baby..."

June 2, 2011-June 3, 2011

The week is almost over and I can’t believe it. That morning a small group of us went and saw the Salvador Dali exhibit which was really cool. We were able to take our time going through the rooms and really enjoying the paintings. Adrienne and I then headed to get a crepe (so good!) and to class at 1. We watched a movie called Wildflowers which was kind of weird, it had a slight Tim Burton/Wonderland/Brothers’ Grimm feel to it. It was good though. We then started The Trial based off the book by Frank Kafka which was good but we didn’t have time to finish it. Now for the exciting part…CATCHING A TRAIN TO SWITZERLAND! Sarah and I are doing this…it’s a surreal feeling doing something like this on your own, by yourself…independent. And we did it. We met some nice Canadians before hand while waiting on the train and luckily one of our cabin mates was really nice (a guy named Ben from Australia), I won’t mention the other couple who came in who weren’t the nicest…but it all worked out and we woke up in Germany to catch our train to Switzerland! I couldn’t believe it…after 15 hours on a train we were here. 

Sarah and I were off…we had to find Outdoor Interlaken because we wanted to go canyoning…

We finally found the tourism office and booked a trip for that afternoon. We found our hostel…background behind us? MOUNTAINS…WITH SNOW…no big deal ;)

We found Outdoor Adventure, met our guides (Matt from New Zealand and Silva from France), changed into skin tight wet suites…added a few more layers, picked our helmets…mine was “COOL”…what else would I be? Duh. Haha Our group consisted of only 4 other people. Two girls on study abroad in Lusanne and one in Germany and a girl and guy doing a Europe trip after grad school. Good group? Heck yes.

We hiked a small hill and we were there. Oh and it was gorgeous. Clear, rushing water over rocks and such was amazing. We started off small and then came repelling! What!?!? I leaned a little too far back but at least I wasn’t hanging on for dear life to the rope. It was awesome. And luckily we had the wet suite, boots, two jackets, vest, and helmet because the water was freezing! But refreshing! We then preceded to jumps and slides which were awesome! No one got swept away though there were a few close calls. Haha It was great time and I am so glad we did it. The experience was once in a lifetime. I just am amazed that we did it. We got here in one piece and stuck together. We just checked into our hostel…the name? Funny Farm…yup you hear me right…weird name but it’s pretty nice! Off to explore the town some more! 

We had a nice dinner in town…I had some homemade lasagna oh so good. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to skype the parents to let them know we got there okay and chill out. We decided to go to bed early since we had to be up at 5:30am the next morning…yes 5:30. Oh bless. 

June 4, 2011

Bright and early we woke up…but not before the sun surprisingly! Switzerland is so pretty in the morning, cool, crisp, and clean…just like the water we were in the day before. Haha We went and purchased our Jungfrau tickets to go to the “Top of Europe”. The train left at 6:35am and we weren’t the only ones on it! Other people were up at this hour. The ride up was gorgeous. As we got higher, we could see farther…and we could see snow! It got colder and colder and we kept adding clothes. We made a couple of train changes and stopped along the way to get pictures of the view…oh how amazing it was. If you have never had your breath taken away…please go to Switzerland and see the views. I was in constant amazement…this is in people’s backyards. How crazy!?? AWESOME. We got to the top and were able to see the Ice Palace, the Plateau, and the Sphinx (research tower) before the clouds. Unfortunately there was a lot of cloud cover and even when we got to the bottom later on in the day there was still quite a bit of cloud cover. Just the luck of the draw but oh it was a great experience. I loved being that high up and seeing the views on the way up and down. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Maybe one day I can do research there because it is so high up and at great vantage point, a lot of research goes on up there in the Sphinx tower. After getting back down to the bottom, we did a little more shopping and picked up our videos from our canyoning trip…then back to trains, trains, and more trains…

The ride back wasn’t so bad…we only had one change and we are overnighting from Basel to Prague. I kept calling Prague home while in Switzerland. Weird. While I absolutely LOVED Switzerland, I am happy to be going back to the place where my home is…for now. It was a great weekend in Switzerland and one day I will go back. I’ve got some skiing and hiking to do! Until we are back in Praha!