24 Hours in Dresden

This past weekend my roommate Sammi and I took a short trip to Dresden, Germany. We wanted to get out of town and Dresden seemed like a great place for our first mini Europe trip since it's only a short train ride and I sort of speak the language there. We originally planned on being getting there on Friday and staying until Sunday, but we tried to book the hostel too late, so there were no rooms available for Friday. We ended up leaving on Saturday and leaving Sunday afternoon. We were only in town for about 24 hours total, but it ended up being just the right amount of time to have in Dresden.

The train ride from Prague to Dresden was really nice and we saw a lot of the Czech countryside. The only fall back was that we got on the train too late and we ended up having to sit with a German man named Stefan. He seemed nice enough, but he talked the whooooooooole time. Even when I started reading my book and Sammi started dozing off, he interrupted whatever we were doing to keep the one-sided conversation going. Another problem with the train ride was that halfway through, the train broke down and we had to wait for an hour for a new engine to arrive, which meant extra time with Stefan and less time in Dresden.

By the time we finally got to Dresden, we were starving. Our hostel was only a short walk from the train station, so we checked in and went to look for a restaurant recommended by my guidebook called Planwirtschaft. It was a great find. Not only did it have a great atmosphere, it also specialized in locally grown food. 

After our wonderful meal, Sammi and I spent the evening wandering Dresden's Neustadt. Dresden is basically divided by the Elbe River into the Altstadt and the Neustadt. The Altstadt is where all of the historical, touristy things are and the Neustadt is known for its youthful, alternative community. We thought that we would have plenty to do just by wandering the Neustadt, but there seemed to be no one in the entire city! Almost all of the stores were closed and there was practically no one out on the streets. It was a little disappointing, and we almost gave up early to spend the night in our hostel, but we forced ourselves to go out and enjoy our time in Dresden. First, we went to a place called the Schokolade Bar for dessert and coffee where I successfully ordered completely in German! (It was kind of a highlight of my weekend.) After that, we walked around for awhile looking for a jazz bar that the woman at the front desk of our hostel recommended called the Blue Note. It took a while, but we finally found it and it ended up being a lot of fun. There was a singer/guitar player performing and he was actually pretty good. We called it a night during his intermission though so we could hopefully get to sleep early enough to get up early and see the Altstadt.

As desolate as the Neustadt was while we were there, one of the cool things about it was all of the graffiti. Usually, graffiti makes a city look dirty and trashy, but in Dresden's Neustadt, it adds to the city's character. A lot of the graffiti is very artistic and it plays a big part in the young, alternative image of the city.

In the morning, we woke up and made our way to the Altstadt. It was a cold and slushy day just like Saturday had been, but we had a good time in the Altstadt. There are lots of churches and old buildings in the Altstadt including the Frauenkirche, the Hauptkatholischeskirche, and the Kreuzkirche. We weren't able to go into any of the churches for some reason, but we were able to peek into the Frauenkirche and it looked beautiful! I think it was a relief to be in the Altstadt just because there were actually people there! 

The highlight of Sunday once again was the food. We used another suggestion from my guidebook and ate at Cafe Aha! right next the the Kreuzkirche. Cafe Aha specializes in "ecologically sound" foods and the result is delicious. Most of their foods are organic and/or free trade and they even had a special menu to correspond to their current display. I think Dad would have loved this trip to Dresden just based on the wonderful locally grown, organic meals that we ate while we were there.

All in all, I can't say that the trip to Dresden was phenomenal, but it was a fun adventure with a lot of great food.

And this coming weekend...PARIS!!!!!!!

Apartment Tour

I didn't really do anything noteworthy this week, so since I don't have anything to report, I thought I should finally put up pictures of my apartment.

Of all of the beautiful buildings in Prague, this is the one that I live in. There is a rug store on the bottom level and when it closes for the night we have to use a huge skeleton key to get in the gate. My biggest accomplishment since getting here has been figuring out how to open the gate in less than five minutes.

This is our foyer. We thought it was really cool at first, until we realized that the cleaning people in the building can access this area to get into their cleaning closet. We're plenty secure, but it's a little weird to hear people rummaging around out there. 

This is our state of the art kitchen and our pantry. I had dreams of really improving my culinary skills while I was here, but those went out the window pretty fast. Since I took these pictures we got another mini-fridge and another hotplate, so we're really living in the lap of luxury these days. 

This is our living/dining area. 

This is my and Sammi's bedroom! I don't know how well you can tell from this picture, but the beds are TINY! And they are hollow and can be opened up to use for storage. 

The faux fireplace in our room.

Our storage area. We don't even have anywhere to hang things up!

My bed. We've lived here for over two weeks now and just two days ago we figured out that we can open up the doors to a balcony. 

The one bathroom for six girls. Please note the radiator on the right and the washing machine on the left.

The view from Sarah and Lisa's balcony. The balcony attached to their room is much bigger than ours and we can't wait until it gets warm so we can sit on the balcony and drink wine. 

And the view looking the other way from the balcony. The balcony is definitely the crowning glory of our apartment.

Tomorrow (Saturday), my roommate Sammi and I are taking a train to Dresden, Germany for an overnight trip. Hopefully when I get back I'll have something more interesting to report!

Valentine's Weekend

It's been a very quiet weekend with three of the flatmates out of town. The three Wisconsin girls left for Budapest late Thursday night, so Sammi, Lisa and I have been on our own all weekend. 

My friend Ashley's boyfriend, Brian, has been in Prague for two weeks with another study abroad program and I've been meaning to contact him since I've been here. I finally got ahold of him on Thursday and went out with him and a bunch of his friends to a fun, small bar. I really liked his friends and they were much less intimidating to hang out with since they weren't already friends before they came here like a lot of people in my program. One of his friends actually looked really familiar to me and in a major "it's a small world" moment, I realized that we had been friends at soccer camp the summer before my freshman year of college. I'm really excited to have another outlet to find people to hang out with.

On Friday, the three of us went to CEA's orientation dinner. We met up with a group of girls that we knew on the way there and even though we showed up 40 minutes late we were still the first ones to get there. We enjoyed the free food and the band and more people arrived throughout the party. It ended up being a lot of fun and an opportunity to meet a lot of great new people. 

On Saturday, the three of us made a Valentine's Day dinner at the apartment. I made chicken and pasta and Lisa made a huge salad. We went out for some very decadent desserts. It was a really nice way to celebrate the holiday.

For my Prague Art and Architecture class, I was assigned to go to the Prague City Museum some time this week, so Lisa and I went and checked it out today. Most of the museum is a history of Prague with artifacts going way back to the pre-historic era of the city. The best part of the museum though was a temporary exhibit called Prague at Turns of Centuries. It had side by side photos from all over Prague at the turn of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century. It was really cool to see how the things that we see every day have changed over a hundred years. We actually were really lucky that we got to see the exhibit because today was the last day that it was running.

Lisa and I also went to the gym for the first time today. We found the local YMCA yesterday and got memberships for the duration of our stay for only $35. We're not sure if we misinterpreted something through the language barrier, but if not it was a really great deal! It felt so good to be active and sweat today. I'm really glad to have Lisa here so that I'll actually be motivated by having someone to go with. 

The big plan for tomorrow is doing laundry...it's so weird having SO much free time! I'm going to hopefully start work on my independent research project soon, so that should take up some time. I function better when I'm a little bit busy and stressed, so hopefully all this free time doesn't turn out to be a bad thing. 

Love and miss you all :)

Beautiful Praha

Today I was lucky enough to get to experience snowfall in Prague. We had some snow yesterday, but it was more like slush. Today, we had huge fluffy snowflakes. It was so beautiful that despite the cold, I decided to walk home from class through Old Town Square. Walking across Charles Bridge, I felt like I was in a postcard. 

I was really excited today to finally go to a bookstore called The Globe. It is right in my neighborhood and also has a restaurant/cafe. The whole time that I was there I couldn't help thinking home much Dad would love it.  I walked there with my flatmates Sammi, Sarah, and Lisa. We had delicious chicken noodle soup which was the perfect comfort food on a cold day. We all said that it would be a great place for a study day...if we ever need a study day since we all have the impression that Anglo-American University is a community college.

Tonight, Sammi and I went to a really cool bar called U Sudu. It's really cool because the main part of the bar is down a flight of stairs and the interior looks almost like a cave. There were a lot of Czechs there and occasionally they would all burst into song. We have no idea what they were saying, but it made for a great atmosphere! 

Back to school!

Ahoj!

Today was my first full day of classes at Anglo-American University. It's kind of weird for me to be taking a semester without any science or lab courses, but I'm not complaining. Tuesdays are kind of rough for me. I have Elementary Czech from 9:30-11, Prague Art and Architecture from 11:30-2:15, and then Cultural Anthropology of Central Europe from 6:30-9:15.

I'm not sure what to make of the Elementary Czech class because my teacher spent most of the class asking us why we wanted to learn Czech and then for awhile he had us repeat Czech words to him without actually telling us what they meant. I really think I'm going to like my Prague Art and Architecture class though. The class is three hours only once a week and almost every week we are going to be going to a different museum or architectural site in Prague. Our professor is really cool and he really stresses going out and wandering Prague and getting to know the city beyond just the historic center. We are required to have a sketchbook/journal and we are supposed to go to certain places in the city and sit and draw things every week. I also think that I am going to like my Anthropology of Central Europe class. It actually just focuses on Czech culture, so between the language, the art, and the culture, I think I am going to know the Czech Republic really well before I leave. 

I also successfully cooked my first full meal in the apartment today. It sounds insignificant, but when you don't speak any Czech, just buying the correct groceries to make a meal feels like an accomplishment. Also, it doesn't help that the most advanced appliance in our kitchen is a hot plate. 

I've really enjoyed just wandering and getting to know the city. Sunday and Monday were both beautifully sunny days, and it's amazing what a difference it makes. The sun reflects off of the gold that is on so many of the buildings and just makes everything look spectacular. I honestly love this city more and more every day that I'm here.

...By the way, the picture at the top is of the Lennon Wall. It is an unofficial memorial to John Lennon created by students in Prague shortly after he died. It's constantly being updated with new art, signatures, and Beatles lyrics and it's right behind my school!

All Settled In

     After two full days in Prague I think I'm finally settled in. My body's clock is still completely off considering that the earliest that I've woken up while I've been here is noon (and that was only because I was required to be somewhere at 2) but I'm working on it. 

     The six hour layover in Chicago went by surprisingly fast. I must have just been excited about getting to Prague. On the flight from Chicago to London, I actually sat in the same row as another girl in my program. Since our flight was delayed out of Chicago, instead of having a 3 hour layover in London, we actually only had about 40 minutes to get to our connecting flight. I got to the gate literally two minutes before it was closed. Not surprisingly, considering the short connection time, my luggage did not make it to Prague with me. There was actually a lot of other kids whose baggage didn't come either, so I didn't feel so bad. 

     A large group of us got delivered to our apartment around 8:30 Wednesday night. There are six girls total in my apartment and there are two other apartments each with six boys in our same building. Chris, Sarah and Dana all go to University of Wisconsin, Lisa goes to University of Arizona, and Sammi goes to Cal State Fullerton. The apartment that we're in is pretty cute and seems like an authentic apartment where actual Czechs would live. We live on the sixth floor of our building and the elevator that we take to get to our floor is absolutely tiny. 

     The set up of the apartment is actually a little weird. Our apartment opens to a foyer that is actually accessible to the rest of the building because it is where the building laundry room. There is one door off of the foyer that opens into our common area. The common area consists of a couch, a coffee table, a dinner table and the "kitchen" which includes a microwave (which can't even pop popcorn) sitting on top of a mini-fridge, and a countertop with a hot plate, a sink, and a dish drying rack. There goes my dream of honing my culinary skills while I'm abroad. Off of the common room are the three bedrooms. Sammi and I live in one room, Chris and Dana live in another room, and Lisa and Sarah live in the third room which connects to Dana and Chris's room. We only have one bathroom for six girls which is a little rough. The only entrances to the bathroom are through Dana and Chris's room or through the foyer, but we have to lock the entrance that goes through the foyer at night for security, which means we have to go through Chris and Dana's room if we need the bathroom at night. This has already caused a bit of a problem since Sammi and I are earlier risers than the other girls, but I think we'll figure out a system over time. The best part of the apartment is the balcony outside Lisa and Sarah's room. We can't wait until it gets warmer so we can hang out out there every evening. 

     A few minutes after we got to our apartment the first night, our neighbor Matt came over with a batch of fresh baked cookies. He is an American exchange student who has been here since September on scholarship and has apparently been bored to death without any study abroad students to hang out with. He actually took the Wisconsin girls and Lisa out to a gay bar that first night but Sammi and I stayed in because we were both missing our bags and felt pretty gross. Thankfully, our bags were delivered at one that morning, so we were able to unpack and get settled that night. 

     The next day we had our orientation at school at 2 p.m., which seems surprisingly early when you can't fall asleep until 3 a.m. Since we didn't have any of the food at the apartment, I got a sandwich from the Subway restaurant that is right across from our building. It's funny having something so American right nearby, but I think that it will be comforting to have something so familiar so close. We all took that tram across the river to our school for orientation. The school is in a gorgeous old building, but we all are under the impression that Anglo-American University is something of a community college...I mean, just look at the name. The orientation was fairly pointless, but I found out that I got all of the classes that I requested. I'm taking Elementary Czech, Prague Art and Architecture, Anthropology of Central Europe, and Modern Intellectual History. I have three classes on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday, which means FOUR day weekends every weekend! I'm even considering switching my Thursday class to one of Wednesday so that I only have two days of school a week, but I literally have no idea what I would do with that much free time.

     After the orientation, I went with the Wisconsin girls and Lisa to an apartment where a big group of the Wisconsin girls' guy friends from school live in Old Town. We got very jealous to see their full kitchen, large bedrooms, and three bathrooms, but we still like our apartment a lot. Theirs is definitely nicer, but ours has more character AND a balcony. We walked home from their apartment which gave us the chance to see more of our area beyond our tiny little street. The boys live right off of Old Town Square which is very old and classic, but much more touristy. Our area, New Town, is much more modern and urban. It seems more authentic as far as getting the experience of being a temporary native. We live right by Wenceslas Square and the National Museum. Our street connects to a a very busy, energetic street with a lot of appealing shopping stores.

     After we stopped back at the apartment, we made our first venture on the metro to go to Tesco (the Czech version of Walmart). The metro was actually very easy to navigate and I feel like I will be able to get around the city pretty confidently using it. At Tesco we just got some essentials that we had been missing for the apartment and some snacks since we were all starving. When we got back to the apartment, we met up with Sammi and we went out to eat a a restaurant in Lucerna, which is something like an indoor mall across the street from our apartment. That night, we all went out with to Prague's famous five story club, which sounds pretty crazy, but it was actually pretty disappointing. The interesting thing about going out in Prague though is that you meet people from a lot of different countries that are also traveling. We met a guy from Australia who is traveling around Europe for eight weeks before going back to Australia to start college. I can't imagine doing something like that at only 18!

     Yesterday, we had a walking tour of some of the sights of Prague hosted by one of the women who works at CEA. It was cool to get a chance to see more of the city, but it wasn't the ideal tour. It was cold and cloudy out and our guide wasn't really cut out for the job. We had the chance to see Prague castle, St. Vitus cathedral, Charles Bridge (which I actually will get to walk across every day to get to school) and the astrological clock in Old Town Square. I'm looking forward to going back to all of those places when it is warmer and when I have a guidebook for better information. I would like to go on another smaller, more professional walking tour, so I am going to look into reputable guides for when my dad comes to visit. 

     Once we got to Old Town Square, the Wisconsin girls, Lisa and I broke off from the tour to get some food. We went to one of the many pizza places in Old Town for some comfort food. When we got back to the apartment, they got some sleep for the first time since they've been here and Sammi and I went with our neighbor Matt to an adorable ice cream and dessert place right down the street. There was a grocery store that was much less intimidating than Tesco in the same building, so we stocked up on some food beyond snacks. It's really nice to have Matt here because he already knows the city pretty well and (more importantly) knows how to speak Czech. 

     That night, Lisa, Sammi and I met up with some other girls from the program to go to a cute place in Old Town called Bar and Books. It was a small, quiet bar and it was really nice to have a more relaxed night. When we got home, the other girls were stilling getting ready to go out for the night. Some of the boys from the apartments downstairs came up and it was nice to get to know them a little better. They were all going to go out and the boys had to stop in their apartment before they left, but when the girls went down to the boys' apartment to meet up, there were police outside the boys' door! And not just a couple, like six or seven. They came back upstairs and were freaking out and then a few minutes later we got a knock on our door. We thought it was just the boys' from downstairs, but when I went to the door the Czech police were there. Thankfully, the only problem was that we had been too loud the first couple of nights, but seeing the Czech police at my door was definitely not on my list of things to do while I'm here. Part of the problem is that our building has quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and noise carries a lot more in this building than it would at home. The Wisconsin girls seemed to really downplay the situation, but I don't think they realize how loud they are when they are talking in the common area or when they are waiting in the hallway for the elevator. I guess it's just another thing we will all have to adjust to, but I really don't want to ever see the Czech police at the door again...

     Today is our first free day. Considering that I only have class three days a week I'm actually going to have a lot of free days, but it feels nice to not have anything scheduled. I'm kind of getting to the point already where I could use some silence and some alone time. You would think that I would be used to a lack of personal space after living in a sorority house for two years, but I think this is just a lot more concentrated living situation and the personalities are a lot more extreme. 

     Sorry this post was so ridiculously long! There was just so much that happened in the first few days. I will try to be better about keeping up with this blog. I miss you all a lot already. Take care!

On the way to Praha!

Hey Friends and Family!

I usually hate blog type things, but my mom wanted me to make a blog because I always forget to tell her what I did on trips until like six months later. 

Right now, I am on a six hour layover in Chicago waiting to fly to London. I was supposed to be on my flight already, but I missed my flight out of Indy thanks to terribly snowy roads. Mom and I actually got hit by another car on the way here and almost skidded into oncoming traffic, so it was a pretty scary drive. I figure the trip can only get better from here, right?

Any way, I will do my best to update this frequently with all of my travels and adventures. I love getting emails, so be sure to keep in touch!