Dobry Den! Sorry I haven't been good about updating...too much traveling (and studying, of course) to have a chance to catch my breath!
Last weekend we made a trip to Olomouc, a small town in Moravia about 2 and a half hours from Prague. I missed the train my friends were on, so ended up on the next train by myself, which should have been fine....except it broke down in the middle of nowhere and I had to hike to the next station and catch another train! As soon as I left Prague the percentage of English-speaking Czechs dropped dramatically, so finding my way around was a bit of a hassle! I somehow managed to make it to the town, meet up with friends at the hostel, and had a lovely dinner at an awesome restaurant (for four dollars :) ) The next day we did some sightseeing...saw a couple of cathedrals, museums, and the Communmist created clocktower--celebrating the proletariat workers every day at noon--before heading back to Prague. It was a nice break from the busy city!
This past weekend was our school overnight trip to Berlin, and I have to say that I am glad to be back in Prague! German cities are so large and impersonal compared to the other European cities I have visited, and the people are far less friendly and willing to help out lost tourists. We did a great walking tour of the city on Friday and then visited the Jewish history museum on Saturday. I also went to a good modern art museum and this very cool archeology museum where they had reconstructed the ruins of ancient Greek, Roman, and Babylonian cities. Sunday we stopped in Potsdam on our way home to visit the site of the famous Potsdam conferences from the end of World War II. It was a very pretty ride home through the German and Czech countryside and a relief to get back to our apartment late Sunday evening :)
This week has been midterms and entertaining visiting friends. I don't think I have mentioned that I have a very cool "class" that is basically a walking tour around Prague once a week with Czech grad students. We have discovered some very interested, unknown sites of the city through this class--for example, a hidden network of tunnels under the city used for "modern satanic worship." I also have done some exploring on the other side of the river, in Mala Strana, around the castle and old fortresses. The views of Prague are really extraordinary, but elusive, and I continue my quest to catch them on film.
I leave for London to visit my Columbia roommate Paige and other friends from school, but I will try to put up pictures before then! I have also booked spring break tickets and will be visiting Rome, Venice, and Barcelona April 10th-April 20th. Getting back to real life in September is going to be a struggle after this!
na schledanou!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Budapest!
Dobry den!
I am back from a three-day stint in Budapest, Hungary and it was an excellent adventure! I took a 7 am train on Friday morning with no expectations for the city.... after living in Prague, I didn't feel like any other Eastern European capital could compare. I am in love with Budapest though...its a sprawling city across two sides of a river (Buda and Pest) with a great art collections and museums, ancient monuments, friendly people, good food, and a much more laid-back nightlife. I think the best adjective to describe the city would be eclectic. I feel like wherever I went or whatever I did my thoughts were "really? things/places/food/people like this actually exist?"
I have friends from school who are studying in Budapest, but elected to stay in a wonderful little hostel outside the city called Backpack Guesthouse with some other students in my program. It is what I imagine a commune in 1970s Northern California would be like...bright and colorful with a communal kitchen, outdoor garden, tv and game room, and lots of pet cats. The characters we encountered were colorful to say the least, but it was definitely an experience. The backyard even had a large, authentic Mongolian tent (called a Yurt I believe) that two Mongolian guests built when they were staying there last year. Some of the kids tried to sleep in the hammocks in the Yurt, but it wasn't quite warm enough to do that.
I did a lot of sightseeing (and getting lost) around the big castle and hill in the Buda area and some of the museums and baths on the Pest side. Budapest was built on a collection of hot springs, so there are public baths (kind of like giant outdoor hot tubs) dating back to the ancient civilizations that you can go relax in and get massages, enjoy the sauna, etc. After being cold for a month, relaxing in the hot water felt like heaven. I had a hard time leaving!
All in all it was a great weekend and a great first travel experience! I hope everyone enjoyed Dad's 50th birthday and I was really sad to miss it! The pictures look great though!
I have also accepted an internship with CNN international in Hong Kong for the summer so I guess I won't be living stateside for quite awhile...can't wait!
Na schledanou!
I am back from a three-day stint in Budapest, Hungary and it was an excellent adventure! I took a 7 am train on Friday morning with no expectations for the city.... after living in Prague, I didn't feel like any other Eastern European capital could compare. I am in love with Budapest though...its a sprawling city across two sides of a river (Buda and Pest) with a great art collections and museums, ancient monuments, friendly people, good food, and a much more laid-back nightlife. I think the best adjective to describe the city would be eclectic. I feel like wherever I went or whatever I did my thoughts were "really? things/places/food/people like this actually exist?"
I have friends from school who are studying in Budapest, but elected to stay in a wonderful little hostel outside the city called Backpack Guesthouse with some other students in my program. It is what I imagine a commune in 1970s Northern California would be like...bright and colorful with a communal kitchen, outdoor garden, tv and game room, and lots of pet cats. The characters we encountered were colorful to say the least, but it was definitely an experience. The backyard even had a large, authentic Mongolian tent (called a Yurt I believe) that two Mongolian guests built when they were staying there last year. Some of the kids tried to sleep in the hammocks in the Yurt, but it wasn't quite warm enough to do that.
I did a lot of sightseeing (and getting lost) around the big castle and hill in the Buda area and some of the museums and baths on the Pest side. Budapest was built on a collection of hot springs, so there are public baths (kind of like giant outdoor hot tubs) dating back to the ancient civilizations that you can go relax in and get massages, enjoy the sauna, etc. After being cold for a month, relaxing in the hot water felt like heaven. I had a hard time leaving!
All in all it was a great weekend and a great first travel experience! I hope everyone enjoyed Dad's 50th birthday and I was really sad to miss it! The pictures look great though!
I have also accepted an internship with CNN international in Hong Kong for the summer so I guess I won't be living stateside for quite awhile...can't wait!
Na schledanou!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Some More Pictures....
Top to bottom: Old Town Square at night, two views from the Charles Bridge, my bedroom!
An abridged two weeks...
Dobry vecher!
I'm sorry i have not updated in awhile...my internet was stuck in Czech and I (embarrassingly enough) do not know enough Czech to figure out how to use this website!
So a brief list of the highlights of the last two weeks:
* I started classes, which are interesting although long (3 hour lectures) and a bit boring (the teachers are very very monotonous). I am taking two political science classes, an economics class, a comparative film class, a Prague "walking tour" class, and a Czech class. My teachers, while not that engaging, are very prominent Czech intellectuals--my Constitutionalism teacher actually wrote the Czech constitution in 1993 which is pretty interesting!
* I have been a tourist and visited the National Museum, the Dali Museum, the Charles Bridge, the St. Agnes Convent Museum, the Andy Warhol exhibit, Bethlehem Cathedral, and a bunch of other places! I am still getting lost a lot, but really starting to figure out how to get around by foot or using the trams and metro. I've realized that the streets and maps are very difficult to figure out and it's much easier to just remember landmarks and buildings. The nice thing is that it's a small city so i can easily remember the whole city center area!
* I went to the State Opera house last weekend and saw Strauss' Die Fioderhauss (sp?) which was hilarious and very entertaining. They had subtitles in Czech and English so I could follow the story line.
* I went with my program on a day trip outside Prague on Friday to see some little towns in the countryside, an old summer palace, and visit a vineyard and wine cellar (and do a wine tasting). It was great to get outside of the city for a bit and the countryside and mountains were very beautiful. We were off the regular tourist track and almost nobody spoke English, which was an interesting change from the area I live in.
I actually have homework to do for tomorrow, something i haven't experience in a while, so this will have to be short! I will update again soon and put up some more pictures!
Also, this blog may be following me to Hong Kong this summer...stay tuned...
I'm sorry i have not updated in awhile...my internet was stuck in Czech and I (embarrassingly enough) do not know enough Czech to figure out how to use this website!
So a brief list of the highlights of the last two weeks:
* I started classes, which are interesting although long (3 hour lectures) and a bit boring (the teachers are very very monotonous). I am taking two political science classes, an economics class, a comparative film class, a Prague "walking tour" class, and a Czech class. My teachers, while not that engaging, are very prominent Czech intellectuals--my Constitutionalism teacher actually wrote the Czech constitution in 1993 which is pretty interesting!
* I have been a tourist and visited the National Museum, the Dali Museum, the Charles Bridge, the St. Agnes Convent Museum, the Andy Warhol exhibit, Bethlehem Cathedral, and a bunch of other places! I am still getting lost a lot, but really starting to figure out how to get around by foot or using the trams and metro. I've realized that the streets and maps are very difficult to figure out and it's much easier to just remember landmarks and buildings. The nice thing is that it's a small city so i can easily remember the whole city center area!
* I went to the State Opera house last weekend and saw Strauss' Die Fioderhauss (sp?) which was hilarious and very entertaining. They had subtitles in Czech and English so I could follow the story line.
* I went with my program on a day trip outside Prague on Friday to see some little towns in the countryside, an old summer palace, and visit a vineyard and wine cellar (and do a wine tasting). It was great to get outside of the city for a bit and the countryside and mountains were very beautiful. We were off the regular tourist track and almost nobody spoke English, which was an interesting change from the area I live in.
I actually have homework to do for tomorrow, something i haven't experience in a while, so this will have to be short! I will update again soon and put up some more pictures!
Also, this blog may be following me to Hong Kong this summer...stay tuned...
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