Princesses in Prague!

This week was technically the beginning of school, but many of my classes don't start until October. The classes I did attend (Czech Life and Culture, Fitness, Yoga, and Zumba) weren't exactly stressful. So all in all, this week was basically another half vacation, half sitting in my dorm and eating all our groceries week. I do make a pretty good macaroni and cheese though, just saying. And no, not from a box. 

Rachel's homemade macaroni -- but not mac-n-cheese.

And she did make this great looking sandwich!

The highlight of the week, of course, was going to Prague to meet my wonderful basically-sister Emily Hardman! 

And let the fun commence. It was indeed a magical weekend. I headed up there by bus on Friday, and arrived in time to meet Emily coming off the plane from London. We proceeded to get lost in Prague looking for our hostel. (Although I don't think Emily would agree that we were lost.) After lots of walking and asking for directions, we finally found it. Then we went to dinner and did the tourist thing and walked along the Charles River, across the Charles Bridge, etc. 

The next day, we took a walking tour of Prague, which was thoroughly enjoyable, and learned lots of crazy history, most of which I probably learned in AP European History a long time ago and promptly forgot.  Our tour guide was super great, and very entertaining. 

So this is in front of the astronomical clock in Prague, rated the second most disappointing tourist attraction. But it has a super interesting historical story.

Church of Our Lady Before Týn

We had to leave halfway through in order to get to Lobkowicz Palace for a concert. Ok, so Prague castle, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Prague, is actually basically made up of an entire complex of buildings, many of which don't even seem to match. And it's kind of hard to find your way around. Anyway, our concert was in a section of it, Lobkowicz Palace. Which is quite beautiful. 

The concert, which was comprised of a flute, viola, and piano, was wonderful, and it celebrated several Czech composers and pieces of music. It really made me miss my clarinet, though, especially since several of those pieces were ones that I have played before. 

 

Up with Prague Castle is also the St. Vitas Cathedral, which is an extremely imposing building, but definitely beautiful. And huge. So we walked around up there for a while, and came out on the other end, where there was a nice walk through gardens with a lovely view of Prague. 

We actually met up with the same tour guide for the second half of the tour, but with his 2 pm group. It was super lucky, because he normally doesn't lead two in one day. So that was cool. 

After the tour, Emily and I went to a restaurant on the river that had a lovely view of the city and the castle. A nice thing about the Czech Republic: the food is super cheap. So you can get a really fancy meal for way, way less than you would get it in the U.S., let alone some other European countries. So Emily was thrilled about that, and I have unrealistic expectations of Europe and the affordability of it as a result. Wonderful. 

So all in all, it was a wonderful day, and everything one could hope for on a European vacation. Let's not forget, though, that I was bored out of my mind for a good 70% of the week. I wouldn't want you all to think that I'm just living it up over here. ;) 

Moral of the story: Prague is great. Princess sisters are better. Both at the same time: just what one needs to have an unforgettable experience. 

Veveří Castle!

17 September 2015

Hi!! So today was the most cliche European vacation day. It was pretty crazy. So, it was Charlie's birthday, one of my friends (from Oklahoma). So, first Carah and I went early and took the tram to the only Starbucks in Brno for her favorite coffee. Then we dropped it off and surprised her. It totally wasn't my idea, Carah is actually the nice one in the room. ;) 

Anyway, yesterday Carah and Charlie were invited by one of the receptionists at Vinařská to go to a castle that no one really knows about.  And we were like, party on. 

So we left at 12:15 to go with Iva (the receptionist, she's really young and actually from Slovakia) and rode the tram to Bystrc, a little part of Brno by Prygl reservoir.  It's gorgeous, and it was a beautiful day, and away from the city. It reminded me of Utah, with the trees covering the hills, but without mountains. So we went on this boat ride, and it was lovely. Also encountered a nude beach. As in it was across the water and you couldn't really see anything unless you were looking. Which I wasn't. 

Anywho.... So then we came to the castle, and it was gorgeous. It's called Veveří Castle, which basically means Castle of the Squirrels. Because I guess there are quite a few squirrels around there. It's really up there, in the "mountains". Not many people go there. 

We walked around, and took a tour (in Czech, didn't understand any of it. They kindly provided English booklets for us to follow along. They usually only have English tour guides in the summer, and the castle closes in the winter because it's inaccessible with the boat and the little hike you take to get to it.) So that was lovely, and very European. 

Then, we came home on another lovely boat ride. Then we tried langoše, which are like fry bread with mayonnaise and ketchup and cheese on it, but not exactly, and better.  

Then we headed home on the tram. Wonderful news, I found the church on the way home. So yay! I know where to go on Sunday. :) it will all be in Czech, but that's ok. It made me happy. It reminded me that wherever I go, the church is there, and I have family, no matter the cultural and language barriers. That's a great comfort. 

So after that, Kate and I sneakily pretended to go back to the dorms while everyone else headed to the wine festival, but we actually picked up a cake for Charlie and left it at the dorm. Then we went to meet everyone at this festival. Where everyone is happily drinking loads of Burčàk (which is why they have this festival, it's a young wine that everyone loves but they only have around for part of the year. So it's a big deal to these people) while I tried fried cheese. Which is as wonderful as it sounds. They know how to do fatty food here. It's the best. 

After that we went to a park and hung out for a while, and you could see a lot of Brno. It's a very large city, honestly. We only see a tiny bit of it. But it's huge.

Then we came back to the dorm and had cake. And it was fun. My friends are all a little crazy, but I'm thankful for them. And this experience is really making me stretch, and learn how to make friends outside of my comfort zone, even when we are completely different. It's definitely helped me to adjust, especially since they are going through so many of the same things. 

Anyways, that was most of the day. It was a good day.