Update from last week: Thursday was my last cultural literacy class. It was the most beautiful weather in Florence so we convinced Sarah Barker to get some gelato from La Carraia and then have our final class outside at Piazza Santa Maria Novella. She was more than happy to get out of the classroom and into springtime Florence. We got our gelato (I had lemon and raspberry - SO good) and then had our last class. I wish this course was offered for the entire semester. A class picture later and bam - one class done!
Later that night, Rachael and I packed up and met up with Joe and Kaila for our lovely 12-hour bus ride to Prague! We departed Florence at 8:15pm. I was bus buddies with Kaila and we watched some movies until the first rest stop in Germany. We had a brief stop in Munich to drop off some students and then four hours later arrived in Prague. That was at 9am Friday morning.
FRIDAY: We found our way to the hostel, St. Christopher's Mosaic House. Unfortunately, we couldn't check into our room until 3pm so instead we freshened up and met up with Becca. I love seeing friends in Europe - it's kind of bizarre but in a surreal way. So we all headed out to check out Old Town Square and Europe's "2nd Most Overrated Attraction" - the astrological clock. I like it, but I have no idea how to tell the time.
We walked through the square, which resembles DisneyWorld. The buildings are gorgeous and are brightly colored. It's a fantastic square to relax in. We got some breakfast at Bohemia Bagel. Afterwards, we wandered over the Charles Bridge to find the John Lennon Wall. So this wall the actually the only thing I wanted to do in Prague. For those of you that don't know what it is, Google image it. Just an idea: " In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the communist regime of Gustav Husak. Young Czechs would write grievances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge. The movement these students followed was described ironically as "Lennonism" and Czech authorities described these people variously as alcoholics, mentally deranged, sociopathic, and agents of Western capitalism. The wall continuously undergoes change and the original portrait of Lennon is long lost under layers of new paint. Even when the wall was repainted by some authorities, on the second day it was again full of poems and flowers. Today, the wall represents a symbol of youth ideals such as love and peace." I brought a bag of sharpies specifcally for this occasion. We all picked a few and got to work. We added personal touches to the already-graffiti-filled wall. The wall is imcredible. I could just sit by it all day, I'm pretty sure.
After reading the majority of inspirational quotes and lyrics, taking a few pictures, and looking at it in awe (again and again) we made our way right around the corner to the Lovers' Lock Bridge. It's a bridge covered in locks. Lovers go to this bridge, put a lock around the iron railing, and throw the key into the river. The love lasts forever. It's very touching.
Afterwards, we hiked up the hill, and finally onwards to Prague Castle. I was confused at first because we never found the "castle" but then I realized that the Prague Castle is more of a village and not so much of a stereotypical castle (such as the Edinburgh Castle). It was interesting and we went into the Cathedral, a second church, and the Old Palace. The view from the castle was incredible - you can really see all of Prague.
Rachael, Joe, Kaila and I stopped at a restaurant for lunch. The first thing that I noticed was everyone was smoking...inside. Wow, I haven't seen that in awhile and good thing. Smoke-free places are definitely the way to go. We sucked it up and sat down to a fantastic Czech lunch: goulash and dumplings. Oh, and beer. We all got the Pilsner Urquell. I really liked it. Plus, it was way cheap. Prague uses the Czech crown, so in dollars a half liter of beer costs only about $1.25. Phenomenal!
Afterwards, we wandered around some more, eventually returning to the hostel. We could finally check into our room and were more than surprised with what we found. The four of us were staying in a 16-person mixed dorm. Sounds creepy? Not in the least. The room was the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in - even nicer than some hotels. Each bunk bed had a wall on one side and a curtain on the other for maximum privacy. Speaking of beds, they were HEAVENLY. down comforters with down pillows the size of a dining table. Incredible. We all layed down for a quick power nap, got ready, and then met up with Becca + Co for dinner.
We had dinner at a place near our hostel. It took us forever to find it because unfortunately for us, Czech is the craziest language I've encountered. It's all just consonants and accent marks thrown together. We finally found the restaurant and had a fantastic dinner. I had mixed veggie quesadillas and hot wine. Hot wine is delicious. It's similar to sangria with cinnamon. Plus it's hot. Duh. I really liked it. For dessert, I had warm raspberries over vanilla ice cream - nom nom nom.
After dinner, we found The Beer Factory, located on Wenceslas Square. The bar was actually really cool. I wish we had come in earlier because there are a bunch of tables throughout the floor, each with their own beer tap. During certain hours, you can "challenge" other tables to see who can drink the most beer. Instead, we just got a corner couch and hung out. When Gabby was sleeping in the bar, we decided it best to call it a night and return to our wonderful heavenly cloud beds in the hostel.
SATURDAY: Today was not as nice out. However, chillier weather and some drizzling from the sky didn't put a damper on our mood. We were in PRAGUE! We grabbed some bagels at Bohemia and met up in Old Town for the free walking tour. The tour was AMAZING. Our guide, Colin, was super energetic and animated, perfect for me. He was from Scotland and had some great jokes. We went through Old Town Square, past Estates Theatre where Mozart conducted, and through the Jewish Quarter. He was full of information that really made Prague come alive. Definitely one of my favorite things we did.
After the tour, we followed Joe's great advice and went to check out a market in Northeast Prague. We found the metro and bought our tickets. Good thing too because there were guards checking. Two came up to me and, at first, I thought they were drug dealers. I didn't understand anything they said to me so I simply said "No. No thank you" and tried to keep walking. Eventually it made sense that they were actually transportation security and wanted to see my ticket. Honest mistake?
We got to the metro, after walking alongside a highway, and stood in front of it. Not exactly what I was expecting. I was thinking it'd be similar to Rice's or Canal Street. It was probably the most sketchy, ghetto market I'd ever been in. The four of us hurried about the long aisles of stands, anxious to get the heck out! Joe did make one successful purchase: brass knuckles. Why? I'm not exactly sure, but it made me feel a little safer.
After that near-death encounter (not really, but maybe), the girls all took a nap in our cloud beds. We woke up, got ready, and headed out to dinner right down the road at Csdkjsjrklejf. Maybe that's not the name of the restaurant, but you get my point. Crazy Czech names! We walked into the restaurant and were extremely happily surprised that they asked if we wanted Smoking or Non-Smoking seating. It's been awhile since that's been asked! Obviously we chose Non-Smoking. We all ordered some beers and our dinners. My friend Emily from SES finally found us! It was so great to meet up with her, especially since she's been living in Praha for the past 9 months. We ate our delicious dinners. I ordered some O-rings and then for dinner roasted duck, dumplings, and cabbage. Delicious. First time for duck and it's a success!
After a few more beers, Joe, Rachael, Kaila and I headed towards Old Town. We stopped for some postcards and eventually found The Beer Museum. To our surprise, it was not a museum at all but instead a pub...even better! The girls split the 10-beer sampler and Joe got his own. There were about 50 different types of beers to choose from so we picked the craziest ones: blueberry, chocolate, raspberry, cappucino, Indian pale ale, demon, sweetheart, and so on. We let our waitress pick the last few because we got too tired of searching for more.
My favorite beer, BY FAR, was the raspberry. I could drink that with my breakfast! The chocolate beer was interesting. At first it tasted like chocolate, but then you remember you're drinking beer and it freaked me out. Anyways, it was definitely a lot of fun to try the wacky flavors. We even made a new friend! We don't know his name, but we do know that he wore 2 pairs of glasses and he didn't have teeth. An interesting man found us while we were beer sampling and kept talking to us in some foreign language...possibly one that he made up himself. He may or may not have been homeless and he may or may not have been crazy. But we liked him.
We left the Museum and there was only one thing left on my Prague To-Do List: eat a sausage sandwich from the street stands on Wenceslas Square. Luckily, that was just on our way home so I got one! It was delicious, although too fatty for me. Prague List Complete. Oh, and I even managed to fit a quick phonecall to the US in too at midnight - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANE!!! :) We got back to the hostel and the UCONN game was on. We hung out in the bar for a bit and I noticed I had some crowns leftover. I didn't want to waste my money so I got a beer from the bar. I chose Gambrinus, trying something new. I loved it. The bartender was from Australia (although I guessed Scotland at first...hm) and even gave me a discount. Beer finished, goodbyes to Becca complete, it was time for bed.
SUNDAY: Happy Daylight Savings for Europe! We remembered to set our ghetto phones ahead and our watches too. We woke up on time and checked out of the hostel. We got to the bus right at 9:30am and left Prague for home. We made a pitstop for lunch and continued to Munich to pick the rest of the group up. I needed a window seat so Joe sat with me. Typical. We watched some more movies on the ride back and stopped once more for a short dinner break. To sum it up...14 hours later, we were home from Prague in our lovely Firenze! Wow.
So Prague, I love you. You were beautiful, relaxing, very bohemian and fun. I'll be back. As for the Lennon Wall, next time I'm bringing a bucket of paint...and glitter.
MONDAY: Classes per usual. It was a rainy rainy day here in Firenze. The most unproductive day I've had possibly this entire semester. However, as it was Monday, that meant COOKING LESSON!! We were a smaller group but that's okay. On the menu tonight: Schiacciata al Olio (Focaccia), Pasta e Ceci (Pasta soup with chickpeas), Petto al di Polle al Limone (Lemon chicken), Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Eggplant parmesan), & Salame Dolce (Sweet fake salami).
We made our own focaccia bread - it's SO easy!! I put onion, proscuitto, and cheese on mine. We made the pasta soup, lemon chicken and eggplant parm. It was so much food! Not soon enough but eventually we sat down to dine. Everything was so delicious. I really think I'm learning to cook! The dessert we made is a sort of "prank" dessert. It is cocoa, eggs, and crushed cookies that is rolled up to resemble salami. It looked too much like salami and kind of freaked me out...but I ate it and loved it. A nice little dessert snack.
Dinner was delicious and Kristie, Amanda, and I rolled ourselves down to our apartment. Such a great meal. From 10pm until 4am I can't even tell you what I did. I was so unproductive and just vegged. It was actually nice. I got to Skype with Babci! The infamous Babci!! So that was nice. I even got to Skype with Diana and Kaila at 3:30am. So funny.
TODAY: Somehow I managed to wake up and make it to Art History on time. Afterwards, Diana and I ran some errands and went to the market. Again, I'm a bandit! Let's see, I successfully purchased: blood oranges, Pink Lady apples, lemons, mozzarella, Greek feta, baguette, red/white onion, red/green pepper, eggplant, potatoes and kielbasa. Woohoo! Tomorrow night is Potluck Dinner with the girls so I'm getting all of my fresh ingredients. I'm so excited!
After the market and lunch, we had Italian class. We had some elderly Italians visit us and chat with us. My group had possibly the two cutest grandmas or "nonna" ever. Only downfall? They spoke all in Italian - no English - and barely took a pause to breathe. What did I learn? They were Italian. That may be it. It was a lot of fun, regardless.
So now it's 6:00pm and it's time to get ready for yet another great dinner. We have a dinner field trip with Italian class to a restaurant. How nice. I want this in the States! Time to get ready but I'll keep trying to update as much as possible!
PS: BUDAPEST UPDATE: IT'S A GO!!! So it looks like Ari and I will be taking thermal baths in Budapest this weekend. Hollaaaaa!
Ciao Ciao!
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