Freshmen year of college I got a rush of excitement and nervousness when I past the guard and left the gate of Assumption College by foot. It was like I was sneaking out...
Sophomore year it took leaving in a car to get this rush of excitement and nervousness. I don't know why but almost every time it happened, it was like I was doing something I wasn't supposed to.
Now that its junior year I'm living in a place with out gates and guards. As I left my dorm on Saturday I oddly didn't feel the least bit nervous or out of place hopping on the tram to go to the airport to get on a plane to leave the country and go to another one. I kept waiting for that part where I would think twice about what I was doing and worry about being questioned or something as I used to fear when leaving Assumption. Even going through customs I felt confident and allowed to be there. It's amazing to live without those gate, guards and questions. I love this sense of real life.
Traveling to Ireland alone was the BEST experience EVER! I can't really describe it. I met so many interesting people and had a blast hanging out with them. I also learned so much more and gained so much more doing it on my own. Probably the best trip of this overseas adventure. I hope some day I can do the solo thing again! : )
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
April 30-May 4
Thursday
On April 30 Czechs have a burning of the witches in hope of bringing warmer weather. Several witch burning parties were held around Prague. I went to one festival near my dorm that had a big stage with live music and several bonfires going on. People cooked hot dogs and played instruments around some of the fires. It was a lot of fun to see all the locals. This was definitely not a tourist event since it was held outside the downtown area and not advertised in English anywhere. Sometimes it pays to be a local. : )
Friday
Another Czech tradition is to kiss under a cherry tree on May 1st. This is supposed to bring good luck and fertility in the next year. I came across random cherry trees walking down the street for people to take pictures with....interesting Czechs.
I visited the Totalitarian Circus. This is a traveling project about communism. This picture shows the giant time line on display.
This was some sort of performance part of the event. I really wish i understood Czech so I knew what was going on. These 4 people were constantly changing clothes and dancing/running around to music. I'm not really sure what was going on because I didn't understand the commentary between each costume change however it was very interesting.
Saturday
On Saturday I went to Pilsen, Czech Republic to celebrate the cities Liberation Day. Since American troops liberated the city this day is all about LOVING America.
American flags EVERYWHERE
Literally every lamp post had a Czech and American flag.
Gals at the festival!
Pilsen is home to the beef factory! Had to have a pic in front of the giant Pilsner.
We climbed the bell tower of the church! Amazing view.
Sunday
We had a picnic in a nice quiet park near our dorm.
It was great until a dog came. Dogs are allowed everywhere in the Czech Republic, restaurants, stores ect. They are shockingly behaved, never bark and rarely on leashes. We were kind of suprised to see this dog invaded our picnic repeatedly to see what was going on. We brainstormed words to yell at him in Czech to get him to leave...semi successful for only a short time. We were very annoyed to find his owner sleeping around the corner behind some trees.
Sunday evening I went out to dinner at this place called The Globe. It is AMAZING. I didn't take any pictures but I'm definitly going to go back. This place is a bookshop/coffee house/bar type deal. It's unique and pretty. On Sunday nights they play a movie on a project screen. Since it is owned by former Americans the movies are in English and the food has a strong American influence. If I had found this place sooner I might have gone there like everyday....
Oh what an amazing weekend in the Czech Republic!
On April 30 Czechs have a burning of the witches in hope of bringing warmer weather. Several witch burning parties were held around Prague. I went to one festival near my dorm that had a big stage with live music and several bonfires going on. People cooked hot dogs and played instruments around some of the fires. It was a lot of fun to see all the locals. This was definitely not a tourist event since it was held outside the downtown area and not advertised in English anywhere. Sometimes it pays to be a local. : )
Friday
Another Czech tradition is to kiss under a cherry tree on May 1st. This is supposed to bring good luck and fertility in the next year. I came across random cherry trees walking down the street for people to take pictures with....interesting Czechs.
I visited the Totalitarian Circus. This is a traveling project about communism. This picture shows the giant time line on display.
This was some sort of performance part of the event. I really wish i understood Czech so I knew what was going on. These 4 people were constantly changing clothes and dancing/running around to music. I'm not really sure what was going on because I didn't understand the commentary between each costume change however it was very interesting.Saturday
On Saturday I went to Pilsen, Czech Republic to celebrate the cities Liberation Day. Since American troops liberated the city this day is all about LOVING America.
American flags EVERYWHERE
Literally every lamp post had a Czech and American flag.
Gals at the festival!
Pilsen is home to the beef factory! Had to have a pic in front of the giant Pilsner.
We climbed the bell tower of the church! Amazing view.Sunday
We had a picnic in a nice quiet park near our dorm.
It was great until a dog came. Dogs are allowed everywhere in the Czech Republic, restaurants, stores ect. They are shockingly behaved, never bark and rarely on leashes. We were kind of suprised to see this dog invaded our picnic repeatedly to see what was going on. We brainstormed words to yell at him in Czech to get him to leave...semi successful for only a short time. We were very annoyed to find his owner sleeping around the corner behind some trees.Sunday evening I went out to dinner at this place called The Globe. It is AMAZING. I didn't take any pictures but I'm definitly going to go back. This place is a bookshop/coffee house/bar type deal. It's unique and pretty. On Sunday nights they play a movie on a project screen. Since it is owned by former Americans the movies are in English and the food has a strong American influence. If I had found this place sooner I might have gone there like everyday....
Oh what an amazing weekend in the Czech Republic!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Weekend of April 25th!!!!!
Catching up! Weekend of April 25th!
So I decided that it would be a great idea to ride the tram to the end of the line. As I rode farther and farther down the line the tram naturally became less and less crowded. As we were coming closer to the end of the line I watched at every stop to confirm that people were getting on and the line was not coming to an end however I didn't think to pay attention to see if they actually stayed on the tram after entering. Since I was sitting in the front of the second tram I had to turn around to watch the people enter. At the apparently last stop I turned back to watch a group of people hop on, I then turned back around in my seat to enjoy the ride. As we drove a little down the road I glanced behind me and realized the group that I saw enter the tram was no longer on the tram. I slightly panicked as I realized the only people left on the tram was this sleeping drunk man however I figured that the tram would need to stop and let me out at some point. It only took a few minutes for the tram to come to a stop and turned off. I stood up so the driver in the front cart could see me to open the doors and let me out. Unfortunately the driver didn't seem to care that I was left on the tram. He made eye contact with me but ignored the fact that I was stuck in the cart. He then opened the doors in his cart so he could exit the tram and walk away to use the restroom. At this point I attempted to open the doors myself (I see people do this all the time-its not as easy as it looks-I failed). After that he stared at me while smoking a cigarette and enjoying the weather outside. Eventually he got back on the tram and opened the doors to start the route again. I will never understand why he couldn't open the back doors as well as the front doors at that last stop. Maybe it was some sort of punishment for not being able to understand the announcements telling everyone its the last stop. Silly Czechs! Now know if I'm ever going to ride the tram blindly I should sit in the back seat of the front drivers cart. This way I can see whats going on as well as get off with the driver if necessary.
I visited a beer garden in Letna Park with some friends. It was a gorgeous day and we sat outside enjoying the views of the city.
Letna park was once home to one of the largest statues of Stalin in the world. The statue was him looking over the city and could be seen from all over Prague. Several statues have been there since including a huge temporary statue of Michael Jackson-no lies. Apparently they are still trying to decide what to permanatly place in the foundation. Currently this metronome statue sits here. This is supposed to represent the changing times. Ironically it is rarely working and just sits still most of the time.
Bohemian Glass Factory = Amazing!
This is a picture of the glass blowing portion of the factory. May I point out the beer bottles and and sandals and lack of any sort of gloves or eye protection. Gotta love the Czechs and lack of safety laws! They were also smoking while working. I even witnessed one of the men light his cigarette with the hot glass strait from the fire. That takes guts and talent.
This is them etching the glass. Sooo impressive and so pretty.
The pieces at the gift shop were sooo cheap. I purchased a ton and wish I could have bought more. Getting it home might be an issue...
I highly recomend taking a trip out of Prague to this place to anyone visiting Czech lands.
A fantastic weekend was topped with random fireworks over the river while on a walk. I have no idea why they were going on, I searched for info but couldn't come up with anything. Stuff like this seems to randomly happen all the time in this city with out any explanation.....
So I decided that it would be a great idea to ride the tram to the end of the line. As I rode farther and farther down the line the tram naturally became less and less crowded. As we were coming closer to the end of the line I watched at every stop to confirm that people were getting on and the line was not coming to an end however I didn't think to pay attention to see if they actually stayed on the tram after entering. Since I was sitting in the front of the second tram I had to turn around to watch the people enter. At the apparently last stop I turned back to watch a group of people hop on, I then turned back around in my seat to enjoy the ride. As we drove a little down the road I glanced behind me and realized the group that I saw enter the tram was no longer on the tram. I slightly panicked as I realized the only people left on the tram was this sleeping drunk man however I figured that the tram would need to stop and let me out at some point. It only took a few minutes for the tram to come to a stop and turned off. I stood up so the driver in the front cart could see me to open the doors and let me out. Unfortunately the driver didn't seem to care that I was left on the tram. He made eye contact with me but ignored the fact that I was stuck in the cart. He then opened the doors in his cart so he could exit the tram and walk away to use the restroom. At this point I attempted to open the doors myself (I see people do this all the time-its not as easy as it looks-I failed). After that he stared at me while smoking a cigarette and enjoying the weather outside. Eventually he got back on the tram and opened the doors to start the route again. I will never understand why he couldn't open the back doors as well as the front doors at that last stop. Maybe it was some sort of punishment for not being able to understand the announcements telling everyone its the last stop. Silly Czechs! Now know if I'm ever going to ride the tram blindly I should sit in the back seat of the front drivers cart. This way I can see whats going on as well as get off with the driver if necessary.
I visited a beer garden in Letna Park with some friends. It was a gorgeous day and we sat outside enjoying the views of the city.
Letna park was once home to one of the largest statues of Stalin in the world. The statue was him looking over the city and could be seen from all over Prague. Several statues have been there since including a huge temporary statue of Michael Jackson-no lies. Apparently they are still trying to decide what to permanatly place in the foundation. Currently this metronome statue sits here. This is supposed to represent the changing times. Ironically it is rarely working and just sits still most of the time.
Bohemian Glass Factory = Amazing!This is a picture of the glass blowing portion of the factory. May I point out the beer bottles and and sandals and lack of any sort of gloves or eye protection. Gotta love the Czechs and lack of safety laws! They were also smoking while working. I even witnessed one of the men light his cigarette with the hot glass strait from the fire. That takes guts and talent.
This is them etching the glass. Sooo impressive and so pretty.The pieces at the gift shop were sooo cheap. I purchased a ton and wish I could have bought more. Getting it home might be an issue...
I highly recomend taking a trip out of Prague to this place to anyone visiting Czech lands.
A fantastic weekend was topped with random fireworks over the river while on a walk. I have no idea why they were going on, I searched for info but couldn't come up with anything. Stuff like this seems to randomly happen all the time in this city with out any explanation.....
Friday, May 1, 2009
Poland! April 17-19
Some people just seemed to have a blast and fall in love with Poland. I was not one of these people. I am very happy that I went on this trip and it has some really nice things however to be honest I found it to be overall more depressing then fun.
This is a little boy who was playing the accordion with his puppy for money. I saw a TON of kids doing this around the city. I also saw one pack up and hide as he saw a police car in a distance about to drive by. After the police car passed he began playing again. I was just sort of shocked by this because Krakow doesn't come off as an extremely poor city known for children begging or anything like that. I expect to see some poverty in visiting these cities but not like that.
This little boy wasn't begging or anything, he was just friends with the pigeons. They were just like sitting on his shoulder and hanging out even when he wasn't feeding them.
Pretty castle area!
My friend and I in the main square.
Auschwitz I.
We visited both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II.
Makes for a very thrilling day...
Auschwitz was sort of overwhelming. Earlier in the semester I visited another concentration camp, Terezin, I don't think they can really be compared. Auschwitz seemed a lot more real and depressing. It's a very interesting place...
Other stuff about the trip:
-It took almost 11 hours to get there. Why? I'm not really sure but we were told this in advance. The ride home was a TON shorter and thats when we stopped in Auschwitz. Who knows....
-I did not LOVE the food, it was just ok. I think this was because of the restaurant we ate at the first night...
-Hotel Polonia has amazingly comfortable beds!!! Fantastic sleeping. It is also very close to downtown.
-The language! A lot of words are similar to Czech!
-The main square has a fantastic shopping market.
-
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Lets flashback to Easter!
Eeek its been awhile!
Easter in Prague is pretty interesting! Communism kinda put a major damper on religion here in the Czech Republic. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Czech has the second least religious population in all of Europe (right behind Estonia). This aside, Easter is huuuuuuuge here! Czechs may not be religious but they will take any excuse they can to celebrate a holiday.
For several weeks before Easter Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square were transformed into the Easter Markets. These markets had a stage with entertainment (mainly local children and senior citizen groups doing some sort of dance or musical act) as well as food and vendor booths. I thought it was just the best thing EVER! I passed thru the markets at least once everyday. Easter is one of my favorite holidays I just couldn't get enough. I especially loved bartering at the souvenir stands. I got very very good at it! : )
This is the fried dough that I got with nutella!
You could also get it with some sort of garlic stuff with ketchup and cheese on top...it almost looked like a pizza. I was tempted to try it since it seemed to be pretty popular with all the tourist however I just couldn't bring myself to want ketchup piled on my fried dough. That seems to be the general consensus with all the Americans that I've talked to about it. It's funny since ketchup isn't as big here as it is in the US.
Some stands! This blacksmith was doing work right in frount of his stand. Notice the little tip jar "for beer money". Czechs love their beer and of course he was drinking while working.
Animals in Old Town Square. Gotta love the Easter Markets!
The interesting part of these Easter Markets was the lack of ANY religious reference at all. Some of the jewelry stands had necklaces with crosses. I think you would see this at a jewelry stand anytime of year.
Since Easter is such an important holiday they make it into a long weekend, apparently Easter is actually Monday (forget about Good Friday). I guess I've been confused with the importance of Easter Sunday all these years. Even though it was a long weekend I stuck around in Prague. The weather was AMAZING!
This is a view from Petrin Hill on our walk to town. It is right near my dorm and makes an easy/quick/enjoyable walk downtown. We are lucky to live where we do! I have a picture with me in it here buts it really bad! I'll have to see if my friends have a better one. : )
We went paddle boating on the River! This was a ton of fun and only about $10 for 4 people for the hour!!! This means about $2.50 a person. If your ever in Prague, don't miss out!
Dancin House from the river!
View from the Charles Bridge! The weather was super super nice so I ended up going for a long evening walk!
View from the Charles with a very pretty moon! The moon was even pretty in person. It's a shame i don't have a tripod here to take more cool night pictures. I'm always trying to balance my camera on the stone surfaces! I'm always jealous when I see people taking pictures with them however I quickly change my mind as I see them lugging it around after.
Easter day itself was interesting. I went to Easter mass at an English speaking Catholic Church that I go to sometimes here. I missed the week before Easter because I was out of town however I read to get there 15 minutes early for mass so I did. This 15 minutes early was one of the most chaotic/interesting church events of my life. Sooo many people were crowded in (lots of tourist) and the church was filled with smoke from the incense. I was trying to figure out and see what was going on when a procession came down to the back of the church people waved and pushed us to fall into line as they sang and played symbols and other instruments of that type. We then followed to an outside enclosed courtyard area. At one point we stopped but I couldn't really see what was going on, too many people and pure chaos. The entire time I was racking my brain trying to remember if this was anything like an Easter tradition at home however I was pretty sure I would remember something like this happening even if it was just once a year. When we moved back into the church half of the people left. I think I figured out that this type of procession is more of a tradition from Spain. Half of the people left after it because it was held between the Spanish speaking mass and the English speaking mass. A normal Easter mass was held afterwards. Interesting times here in Prague!
Easter was pretty laid back after that. I went to the mall but didn't find anything good. Some friends and I then went out for an exciting Easter dinner of pizza!
Easter Monday is the real holiday here. Men go out with these whipping sticks made out of pussy whillows to slap girls on the legs. Once upon a time this was to wish them good health and girls would give the guys eggs in return. It's developed into girls just giving guys shots of alcohol now. The Czechs will take any excuse to drink! Apparently its still huuuge in the small towns but not as popular here in Prague. Everyone had the sticks however I stuck to the touristy areas that day and didn't see too many people getting hit. I don't think many tourists really knew what they were meant for.
Life is totally different with the nice weather! : )
Easter in Prague is pretty interesting! Communism kinda put a major damper on religion here in the Czech Republic. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Czech has the second least religious population in all of Europe (right behind Estonia). This aside, Easter is huuuuuuuge here! Czechs may not be religious but they will take any excuse they can to celebrate a holiday.
For several weeks before Easter Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square were transformed into the Easter Markets. These markets had a stage with entertainment (mainly local children and senior citizen groups doing some sort of dance or musical act) as well as food and vendor booths. I thought it was just the best thing EVER! I passed thru the markets at least once everyday. Easter is one of my favorite holidays I just couldn't get enough. I especially loved bartering at the souvenir stands. I got very very good at it! : )
This is the fried dough that I got with nutella!You could also get it with some sort of garlic stuff with ketchup and cheese on top...it almost looked like a pizza. I was tempted to try it since it seemed to be pretty popular with all the tourist however I just couldn't bring myself to want ketchup piled on my fried dough. That seems to be the general consensus with all the Americans that I've talked to about it. It's funny since ketchup isn't as big here as it is in the US.
Some stands! This blacksmith was doing work right in frount of his stand. Notice the little tip jar "for beer money". Czechs love their beer and of course he was drinking while working.
Animals in Old Town Square. Gotta love the Easter Markets!
The interesting part of these Easter Markets was the lack of ANY religious reference at all. Some of the jewelry stands had necklaces with crosses. I think you would see this at a jewelry stand anytime of year.
Since Easter is such an important holiday they make it into a long weekend, apparently Easter is actually Monday (forget about Good Friday). I guess I've been confused with the importance of Easter Sunday all these years. Even though it was a long weekend I stuck around in Prague. The weather was AMAZING!
This is a view from Petrin Hill on our walk to town. It is right near my dorm and makes an easy/quick/enjoyable walk downtown. We are lucky to live where we do! I have a picture with me in it here buts it really bad! I'll have to see if my friends have a better one. : )
We went paddle boating on the River! This was a ton of fun and only about $10 for 4 people for the hour!!! This means about $2.50 a person. If your ever in Prague, don't miss out!Dancin House from the river!
View from the Charles Bridge! The weather was super super nice so I ended up going for a long evening walk!
View from the Charles with a very pretty moon! The moon was even pretty in person. It's a shame i don't have a tripod here to take more cool night pictures. I'm always trying to balance my camera on the stone surfaces! I'm always jealous when I see people taking pictures with them however I quickly change my mind as I see them lugging it around after.Easter day itself was interesting. I went to Easter mass at an English speaking Catholic Church that I go to sometimes here. I missed the week before Easter because I was out of town however I read to get there 15 minutes early for mass so I did. This 15 minutes early was one of the most chaotic/interesting church events of my life. Sooo many people were crowded in (lots of tourist) and the church was filled with smoke from the incense. I was trying to figure out and see what was going on when a procession came down to the back of the church people waved and pushed us to fall into line as they sang and played symbols and other instruments of that type. We then followed to an outside enclosed courtyard area. At one point we stopped but I couldn't really see what was going on, too many people and pure chaos. The entire time I was racking my brain trying to remember if this was anything like an Easter tradition at home however I was pretty sure I would remember something like this happening even if it was just once a year. When we moved back into the church half of the people left. I think I figured out that this type of procession is more of a tradition from Spain. Half of the people left after it because it was held between the Spanish speaking mass and the English speaking mass. A normal Easter mass was held afterwards. Interesting times here in Prague!
Easter was pretty laid back after that. I went to the mall but didn't find anything good. Some friends and I then went out for an exciting Easter dinner of pizza!
Easter Monday is the real holiday here. Men go out with these whipping sticks made out of pussy whillows to slap girls on the legs. Once upon a time this was to wish them good health and girls would give the guys eggs in return. It's developed into girls just giving guys shots of alcohol now. The Czechs will take any excuse to drink! Apparently its still huuuge in the small towns but not as popular here in Prague. Everyone had the sticks however I stuck to the touristy areas that day and didn't see too many people getting hit. I don't think many tourists really knew what they were meant for.
Life is totally different with the nice weather! : )
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Midterms!
Last weekend I went to Vienna, Austria! It was fantastic. I was trying to upload some pictures and stuff tonight but I realized I was just procrastinating too much so I'll finish tomorrow.
2 midterms tomorrow! I'm a bit nervous since classes here aren't really what I'm used to. To be honest I haven't had much work so far outside of class so I'm not really sure what to expect. My notes are a bit sketchy because of the language barrier so I've been doing a lot of online searches to fill in the gaps a bit. We shall see how it goes!
2 midterms tomorrow! I'm a bit nervous since classes here aren't really what I'm used to. To be honest I haven't had much work so far outside of class so I'm not really sure what to expect. My notes are a bit sketchy because of the language barrier so I've been doing a lot of online searches to fill in the gaps a bit. We shall see how it goes!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)