Kenneth's Visit to Praha ♥

Kenny and I on his last night in town ♥

Just me with a wooly mammoth! No big deal!

A GIGANTIC creepy crawly in the National Museum...

My delicious hamburger...

Kenneth and I in front of the Dancing House...

Lennon Wall...

Lennon Wall...

Panoramic view of part of the Lennon Wall...

A really cool fence near the Lennon Wall that is covered in locks with the names and anniversaries of various couples... So cute ♥

Part of an interesting exhibit in the Prague Modern Art Museum...

Delicious Czech treat... YUMMY!

Church of Our Lady Týn in Old Town Square...

Kenny in front of the Astrological Clock in Old Town Square.

Me in front of the Astrological Clock in Old Town Square.

Strange little statue hanging from a building somewhere in old town...

Kenny and I in the pathetic Mirror Maze, taking a goofy picture and trying to get our money's worth!

Me being so happy to live in this BEAUTIFUL city!

Just Kenneth thinking about how much cooler Prague is than Madrid...

Crucifix on the Charles Bridge... If you notice the two gold spots on the bottom of the statue, they are gold because people rub them as they walk past and kneel to pray.

Just me being goofy on the Charles Bridge...

A neat statue on the Charles Bridge...

Kenny and I on our first day out exploring Prague...

Reading update: I finished Eclipse today and just picked up the last book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I feel like a 13 year old girl but they are such great books!

So last weekend Kenny visited Prague, and we had such an AMAZING time! As usual the time passed by far too quickly, but I was ecstatic every moment he was here. He had some difficulties with his flight, and ended up getting here about 7 hours later than expected. I was so anxious for his arrival... Some how I missed my bus to pick him up though and ended up not getting to the airport until an hour after he landed. That pretty much sucked! It didn't matter though because we were both so excited to see each other. We headed straight from the airport back to my apartment, where he received the grand tour... Ha ha! We took the first night pretty easy and grabbed a bite to eat at a small pub about a block away from me. Kenny was shocked by how much cheaper it was to eat out here than it is in Madrid. I also gave him a quick glance of Old Town Square at night; its one of my favorite locations in the city.

We started our first full day together with a trip to Bohemia Bagel. It is one of my favorite places to find authentic American food here in Prague. Its kind of like stepping into another world because the place is crawling with American tourists, everyone speaks English, and the menu is filled with all the deliciousness that reminds me of home. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Kenny was in heaven. We both ordered the biscuits and gravy dish called "I'm Not Going Anywhere After This Breakfast" (Dad and Aunt Laura, it doesn't come close to either of your recipes)... But, it was super good! We also discovered that they have bottomless fountain drinks... WITH ICE! Shocker! As many of you may know, drinks are nothing like they are in the states here in Europe. You get one .33 L soda with no ice... If you want more, you have to order another one. After breakfast we headed across the Charles Bridge to St. Nicholas Cathedral (see my earlier post.) From there we made our first attempt at seeing Prague Castle... we got there right as it was closing but still managed to wander around aimlessly for a little while, and snap a few picks from a great viewpoint. I think I fall a little more in love with Prague each day... The old architecture and red roofs just steal my heart! From the castle we headed back home and got ready to go to dinner. I took Kenny to my favorite Italian restaurant here in Prague. They have AMAZING food, large portions, and cheap prices... The best kind of restaurant! After dinner we met up with some other people from my program and went to a night club called Lucerna. Its one of the more "local" places that we go. They play American music from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. You should see how nuts the Czech people go for the Friend's theme song and Grease soundtrack; its a little absurd.

The next morning we headed back to Bohemia Bagel, where I tried a Philly Cheesesteak and Kenny opted for the Chicken Salad Sandwich... They were both delicious! We headed up to Petrín, which is a giant park on the top of a hill right in the middle of Prague. On top of the hill there are a few different tourist attractions, but I wanted to take Kenny to the Mirror Maze... It was a joke! I think it was made for 5 year olds... We were in and out in about 3 minutes. From there we headed into Old Town Square and had a traditional Czech treat, and then I took Kenny to my favorite Czech photographer, Jan Saudek's, permanent exhibit. We sort of got lost walking around old town and were out for a long time before we finally made our way back home. I decided to make Kenny a yummy dinner and we went to see the movie Shutter Island. It was really good!

Sunday morning, I made breakfast for Kenny and I, and then we headed to see the Lennon Wall, which is supposed to be a giant tribute to John Lennon. It has now been covered in graffiti and ugliness... but before I leave here I promise to put something up there that actually reps John Lennon, and then to post a picture for you all to see! We also headed back to the Prague Castle with plenty of time to site see (see my earlier post here as well)... We were able to see everything we meant to. On our way back from the castle I took Kenny to the Prague Modern Art Museum... I really enjoyed a lot of the stuff in the museum and thought Kenny would enjoy it also. After the museum we headed home and met up with some of the people in my program to go watch the olympics... We watched the USA play Canada for the gold in hockey... What a great game! Its a shame we lost. Kenny got to enjoy his first Smažený sýr (a block of fried cheese) though, so that was a success!

On Monday I gave Kenny a tour of my daily route to school and showed him a famous building that I see everyday, the Dancing House. We hopped off the tram and snapped a few photos, and then we headed to my school. I showed Kenny the building I take classes in and then took him to our program's favorite restaurant for lunch. We missed our typical lunch menu by just a few minutes and had to order from the normal menu... It had so many more options than the lunch menu! I went with a hamburger... It was the largest hamburger I have ever seen; it had a firework on a toothpick sticking out of the top of it! It was sooo delicious! After lunch we headed to the National Museum, which is free on the first Monday of the month... Lucky us! After the museum I took Kenny to this little bar/restaurant right around the corner from my apartment that serves the best Thai food. It is sooo good! From there we headed back to the apartment so Kenny could pack and I could figure out the best method for getting him to the airport on time.

Tuesday morning we woke up at 2:55 and walked to the tram stop. The tram ride was about a half hour and at the stop before ours I felt my purse move on my hip. I looked down and it was unzipped. I instinctively screamed, "That guy just stole my wallet"... Kenny ran the guy down and grabbed a hold of him. I ran after and saw my wallet in the guys hand. Kenny finally realized why he was holding on to the guy, and I realized Kenny's stuff was still on the tram. I grabbed it quickly and headed back outside. The guy was telling Kenny that my wallet had been on the floor... Sure. He snatched my wallet back from the guy and we were able to get back on the same tram. It all happened so quickly. The guy would have made away with about $200 in cash and my credit card. I was so lucky to have Kenny with me... My hero ♥ We were able to eat breakfast together at the airport and then we had to say goodbye. As typical, the waterworks didn't fall short on my end. I headed back home to try and get an hour or two of sleep in before class.

All in all it was such a great weekend, and I feel like I got to know Prague even better wandering the streets with Kenny. Now I only have a short 2 weeks to go until I board my train to meet Kenny in Zurich, Switzerland. We are going to the M4 music festival and I am so excited. From there we are heading to Pisa, Florence, and Rome; it is going to be so much fun! Next week I leave for my field study in Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; and Vienna, Austria! Lots of exciting updates are on there way! I love you all and miss you sooo much! Don't forget to wish my momma a Happy Birthday in only 5 short days!

XOXO,

Sarah

Prague Castle

Prague Castle from the distance...

Some books inside the palace...

Ceiling in the palace...

Cathedral inside the palace...

St. Vitus Cathedral...

St. Vitus Cathedral...

Clock tower on St. Vitus Cathedral...

A really neat mosaic on the outside of St. Vitus Cathedral...

St. Vitus Cathedral...

Kiera and I with a guard at the castle...

Check out those knockers!!!

St. Vitus Cathedral

Entrance to the Prague Castle...

The next stop for Kenny and I was Prague Castle... The tickets that we purchased allowed us to enter the palace, St. George's Basilica, and St. Vitus Cathedral. It took us a couple of tries to get in... On the first trip up we got there right as it was closing so we went back the next day. I was a little disappointed by the palace itself. Its restoration made it seem too modern and took away from its antiquity. The president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, actually lives at the castle and Parliament still convenes there. Which I think is pretty interesting... Our second visit to the castle happened to be on Sunday, so we were unable to enter St. Vitus Cathedral for sightseeing purposes. So, Kenny and I decided to draw lunch out for a while and attend the 16:00 mass... It was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Unlike the Catholic masses that I am used to, the priest entered, kneeled in front of the altar, and never moved. He obviously spoke in Czech, which is hard enough to follow on its own, and prayed for 45 minutes straight. I tried to fight my heavy eye lids, but in the end I lost. About 10 minutes before it was over I totally fell asleep and woke up to Kenny tapping me on the knee... pretty pathetic I know. St. George's Basilica was just a small little church with nothing too exciting going on... It had faded frescos on the ceiling and had been restored a little too much just like the palace. I think its kind of funny how all the travel books make such a big deal about the castle because I think Prague has much better sights to offer... that are FREE to see! It was still cool to see all of the architecture and everything that I am learning about in my classes though!

St. Nicholas Cathedral

St. Nicholas Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic

View from the balcony in the cathedral...

Half of the organ in the cathedral... the other half is hiding behind the corner!

Altar in the cathedral... So much GOLD!

Ceiling in the cathedral...

More of the ceiling in the cathedral...

One of the side altars...

What I saw upon entering the cathedral... AMAZING!

Since the weather in Prague has been so subpar I was lucky enough to have a good excuse to wait for Kenny to hit a lot of the tourist attractions. One of the first places we visited after his arrival was St. Nicholas Cathedral. It sits at the bottom of the hill that the Prague Castle is on. When we got to the cathedral I didn't really know what to expect. We had to pay to enter, and once the door opened, I was blown away. I could not believe the grandeur of the cathedral and the amount of gold! The cathedral was absolutely beautiful.

Terezín, Lidice, and Moravia

Enjoying the wine tasting...

My roommate, Kiera, and me at the wine tasting...

Villa Vino Raca...

Vino, Vino, Vino, Vino!!!!

My friends Quinn and Kiera along with myself at the wine tasting...

Statue in Hustopeče town square...

Pig blood soup...

Pig legs hanging in Hustopeče...

Just so you can get an idea of how large the paintings in Moravsky Krumlov were...

A girl in one of the paintings that I really liked...

A woman and her child in my favorite of the Art Nouveau paintings...

Memorial statue in the Terezín Gestapo Prison...

Entrance to the Terezín Gestapo Prison...

Jewish Memorial in the cemetery in front of the Terezín Gestapo Prison...

Christian Memorial in the cemetery in front of the Terezín Gestapo Prison...

Door to the Christian church on the square in the Terezín concentration camp...

Hidden Synagogue in Terezín...

Lidice Memorial Museum...

Memorial statue for the children of Lidice...

Memorial statue for the children of Lidice...

Okay, so I suppose I should start this post with a gigantic apology for my extended leave of absence... I got consumed with school, leisurely reading (I've finished New Moon and Dear John and just picked up Eclipse today,) Kenny's visit, etc. With all excuses aside, this particular set of weekend trips was not too exciting. I am not trying to be a complainer or anything like that because I am of course extremely lucky to be here, but it was just kind of miserable. (This may also be the reason it took me so long too post... Not wanting to bore you all!) The first trip was to Terezín and Lidice... we got up bright and early on Friday morning and headed to meet everyone else in our program. We had to wait for nearly an hour for our bus to show up outside in the cold. Once the bus finally showed up we were headed for Lidice, which is a very small town, here in the Czech Republic. During WWII, Hitler invaded the town and had it burned to the ground. Nearly all of the male citizens were lined up and shot, the women were sent to an internment camp, and the children were sent to orphanages or Germanized. Many of the children died, so upon liberation women were set free only to find out that their husbands had been murdered and their children were dead. We were able to tour a memorial museum dedicated to the citizens of Lidice; it was very interesting and moving. From this point forward however the day was not so great. Upon arriving to Terezín we walked to a restaurant and had lunch... It was roughly 5° F outside and the ground was covered in snow. After lunch we seemed to be wandering aimlessly through the town. Our instructor was taking us to the most random places that seemed to be extremely insignificant. We were shown the concentration camp which was not what I had imagined at all. It was basically just 4 large buildings on a main square and the people there lived a fairly normal life; aside from the fact that they were sent there after being pulled from their homes. Terezín was the place people wanted to be sent because it was the least horrible camp. After seeing the town we went to the Gestapo prison which was what I had pictured the concentration camp looking like. We went on an hour long tour and it was so freezing I had a hard time paying attention. The conditions for the prisoners were absolutely horrifying. After touring the prison we headed home to Prague...

Saturday morning we met up with the group again and headed to Moravia. Basically, the Czech Republic is divided into two regions, one being Bohemia and the other Moravia. Moravia is farther to the east and considered wine country. We were on the bus for what seemed like eternity. Our first stop was in some extremely small town called Moravsky Krumlov to see these gigantic Art Nouveau paintings. The paintings were amazing, the building that housed them was however not so amazing. The building is not heated in the winter and it is even colder inside than it is outside... we checked a thermometer in the building and it was -1° F... FREEZING. Kendyll and I decided to do jumping jacks and race eachother... kind of childish but it kept the blood flowing. We were then headed for Hustopeče which is a small town in northern Moravia. We were told we were going to a Mardi Gras festival... What a shock it was when we arrived to the the smallest town I have ever seen and there was pig's blood covering the snow lined streets. Apparently we were at a pre-Lent celebration that involved the slaughtering of a pig. There was literally a pool of blood on the main street and by the time we arrived all that was left of the pig was its 2 hind legs. It is also a tradition to make a soup from the pig's blood. Surprisingly, it was very tasty. You all know me, I'll try anything once! We found a small pizzeria that had a bowling alley inside, so we ate some pizza and bowled a game. Afterwards we headed towards our final destination, Němčičky. Had the weather been nicer I am sure the town would have been beautiful, but it was gray and snowy. I kind of just feel like visiting wine country is more of a spring and summer thing than a winter thing. The wine cellar we visited was very quaint. It was a small family owned vineyard. After we were done wine tasting in the cellar we headed upstairs and had dinner and did some more tasting... I am not the biggest fan of wine I realized. It kind of made me sick. The dinner was traditional Czech food, including fried pig fat... Yummy, NOT!!! Pickles are also a big deal here in the Czech Republic and the dinner included them as well... they were delicious and I probably ate 20 (not even exaggerating.) While everyone around me seemed to get extremely drunk... I spent my time building card houses. The next morning we woke up and had a long bus ride home. We were supposed to get in at 13:00 but didn't get back until 16:00. That can only be attributed to our bus driver taking us on a secret shortcut on a dirt road that seemed to follow the highway the whole time. I don't know what he was thinking.

I know the trip doesn't sound that bad, it wasn't really. It was just far too much time spent on a bus and honestly way too cold. On a lighter note... I have finalized my plans for Spring Break--Switzerland and Italy. I have also booked flights to Marrakesh, Morroco; Madrid, Spain; Amsterdam, Netherlands; London, England; and Edinburgh, Scotland. I am getting ready for my field study that is going to take me to Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; and Vienna, Austria. When the semester concludes in May I am looking into flying from Prague to Barcelona, Spain and staying on the beach for a few days. Then heading to Malta for a week or so... We'll just have to see! I love you all and miss you so much!

XOXO,

Sarah