Train Rides Galore

            Good news Mom and Dad! I ran a lot this week. I ran so I didn’t miss the tram, I ran so I didn’t miss the train, I ran when I heard the words “free food”. I wasn’t lying when I said I’m staying in shape, we run a lot here. I have been a little homesick and it’s only week three, but I’m trucking through and luckily have been keeping busy. We had a short school week with leaving for our fieldtrip to Prague and Dresden on Thursday, and classes were cancelled on Monday due to our professor being sick. On the bright side, pretty much everything is booked for spring break; Lily, Lydia, Jessica, Aubrey, and myself are spending three days in Rome and four days in Barcelona! To say I’m excited would be an understatement!

            This weekend was another entertaining one to say the least; I experienced my first train ride, which was actually a lot of fun. All of the seats in the train were in their own little rooms, six seats in each room, and three seats on each side facing each other. I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie while I was in this train. I bought a croissant sandwich and a piece of cheesecake and only spent about 40 korunas, which is equivalent to a little under 2 US dollars. The train ride was only about two hours and half hours and we had arrived in Prague. We went straight to our slightly sketchy hostel to drop off our bags and then we were headed out for a tour of the city. After already spending a few days in Prague at the beginning of our trip I had already seen pretty much everything such as the Charles Bridge, the John Lennon Wall, the Old Town Square and New Town Square. You could say we were pretty much experts of the city by then ;) After our short tour we had the rest of the day to ourselves, which included eating our favorite Czech desserts called trdelnik’s which is a delicious cinnamon almost donut-like cylinder with Nutella spread on the inside. Exploring the Easter Market because the whole city was filled with little sheds that sold anything from food and desserts, beers and wines, and hand painted Easter eggs. We then met our teachers Jan and Martin for a beer later on that night and just wandered around the town and found our way back to our hostel.

Trdelnik

Easter Tree in Old Town Square

            I swear we spent all of Friday morning walking up the biggest hill in all of Prague to get to the Prague Castle. (It probably only took 20 minutes, but the straight incline felt like two hours) The view from the top of the hill was a pretty one as always and the Cathedral was beautiful! We toured the rest of the castle and then once again had free time to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day. A good nights sleep was the best idea that way we could be rested up for our day trip to Dresden, Germany the next morning.

Cathedral

            Another train ride was taken on Saturday morning to get to Dresden which I didn’t mind at all and was almost looking forward to, the view the whole way was so pretty because we followed a river that had houses lining up and down the hills of the country side. Once in Germany we stopped at the Lutheran church and even got to climb to the top to get a look over the whole city (was definitely worth the 5 euros). We ate some delicious pizza that was shared between two of us and it still didn’t fit on the plate. And we got to visit a museum filled with armory from the countries past wars and battles. It wasn’t the most exciting thing to do but I still enjoyed all the history. One day in Dresden was definitely not enough, the day flew by and we only got to see a small portion of the city! I wish we had more time!

Lutheran Church

View from the top

Another view from the top!

Dresden, Germany

            On Sunday we got to visit the Jewish quarter of Prague, where 85,000 names of Jewish people killed in the holocaust were written on the walls. A lot of information to wrap your head around and completely understand which has me a bit worried for when we visit Auschwitz. After visiting the Jewish quarter we were back on the train to Olomouc! So many train rides this weekend and sooo much walking. I love Prague but it’s definitely nice being back “home” in Olomouc!

Jewish Cemetery in Prague

Week One Down

            Ahoj family and friends! It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve only been in the Czech Republic a little under two weeks and I’ve already seen and done so much. The people I’ve met and the things we’ve done in this short amount of time already has me looking forward to the rest of my time here and hoping these three months don’t go by too fast.

            Our trip started off a little rocky. We almost missed our flight because Delta would not allow us to stay 91 days without a Visa, so we had to change our flight to return a day earlier. Then once we finally arrived in Prague, our luggage was nowhere to be found, so luckily it was delivered to our hostel later that night. After those few bumps in the road our trip has gone very smoothly. We of course spent our first few days in Prague exploring and sight seeing, we went on a free walking tour through the city that our hostel had set up and got to see a lot of the city that way and learn a ton of history. We climbed, (okay we took an elevator) to the top of the astronomical clock tower in the Old Town Square in Prague and saw a killer view of the whole city. My pictures of this city don’t do it much justice. It is absolutely beautiful! The architecture and detail of the buildings is amazing, especially for how old so many of the buildings are. We then went to the Charles Bridge and spent a good hour and a half trying to find the John Lennon wall, and we finally succeeded! Prague is a very touristy town so English speaking people are easy to find. We spent our days in Prague eating delicious food, trying many beers, going to local bars and clubs, and having some of the best days I could ask for. I cannot wait to go back next week!

View from the Astronomical Clock Tower

The start of the set up for the Easter celebration in Prague

On the Charles Bridge

John Lennon Wall

Charles Bridge

            It’s been a week since we’ve arrived in Olomouc with the rest of our group, the first few days here we’re filled with tours around the city trying to get familiar with the area and where our classes will be held, (yes we actually have classes) learning a little bit of the Czech language, which is difficult, but fun and exciting to learn, lots and lots of walking, a welcoming party, and a pub-crawl, which has probably been the best night so far! Lily and I LOVE our flat mates, they’re teaching us so much already and have introduced us to many of the other international students from the university.

Overlooking Olomouc, my new home :)

St. Patrick's day

Pub Crawl

            Life here is much different than back home, but not in a bad way. Everything is very laid back; the people have been very welcoming and inviting. A few things I’ve noticed so far that are different from back home is how cheap most things are here. Meals average around 100 korunas, which is a little over 4 US Dollars. You must pay for water at restaurants in which they usually bring out to you in a glass bottle, and a lot of the time a beer is just as much as water is at restaurants, which is a little more than 1 US dollar, and you get way more beer than water. Taxis are very cheap to get back to our dorms from the main square, and gyro kebabs are a very dangerous late night craving. They say this time of the year is the best time to be here; all of the festivities are about to begin! Right now the town square is set up and ready for their Easter celebration, with little sheds that sell foods, beers, and different traditional Czech items, a carousel, and a stage where music is performed. I’m most excited for the wine (“vino” in Czech) festival to begin within the next month. I have so much to look forward to in my short three months that I’m here. Right now I’m just trying to soak in as much as I can because I know it’ll be over in the blink of an eye. Can’t wait to keep everyone back home updated on all my adventures! Na shledanou!!!