London

Finally getting a chance to blog! (this post might be a long one) Tara and I flew out of Chicago on Monday, March 10th to London. We stayed in London with a couple of Tara's friends for about 3 nights. We did a lot of sight seeing and walked over 7 miles each day. Although, I have never been to New York City I would assume London could be compared to it in terms of size and amount of people. So many people everywhere. I don't think there was a point where we weren't crammed on the tube or on the streets. The people were relatively nice and it was easy to navigate because we were still in an English speaking country and of course, Tara's friends helped. The tube (underground rail system) was an experience for me. I have never had to use a subway system, so that was a learning experience, especially because Tara and I got lost on our way into London from the airport for about 2 hours. Fun stuff, lugging our suitcases and backpacks up and down stairs multiple times. Also, whatever stop you get off of on the tube is like a different city. Some of my favorite areas were Oxford Street, Westminster, Picadilly Circus, and Coventry Garden. Coventry garden would probably be my favorite. They had a lot of outside markets and street performers, but it also seemed like an area that I could live in. We also had a chance to go onto the London Eye where we really realized how large London is. It's just massive. Although, it was only 3 days, I feel like we got a lot in and I got to see everything I wanted to see.

                                                                  (In the London Eye)

                                                        (Tara and I in front of Big Ben)

                                                    (Street performer at Coventry Garden)

We flew out of London at 7am Friday, March 14 and into Prague. Kami, our instructor, picked us up from the airport and took us back to our hostel. We stayed at the Mosaic Hostel, which I highly recommend to anyone. It was full of younger people, frequently had parties in the lounge area, great breakfast, and a great location. I napped for a bit and then left with some people to check out Prague. I immediately fell in love. Everything about Prague is beautiful. It is a touristy area, so a lot of English is spoken there, which was good for us. We went on a walking tour and saw all of the old areas of Prague, as well as the new. After the tour was over we decided to go have a tradition Czech meal. I got duck, cabbage, and dumplings. Literally, one of the best meals that I have had in a while. I am a huge fan of cabbage, so I think I will like a majority of the meals here. I also had my first Prague beer at this dinner. It was called Kozel and so far it is my absolute favorite! It has a slight aftertaste of coffee and unlike American beer it has hardly any carbonation. After dinner we went to a shopping mall called, Palladium. It was 3 floors and in a small area. Very different from an American mall. Once we finished looking around the mall we headed back to Mosaic and I went to bed. The next day in Prague we went out on our own and explore. We went to the big pendulum, which apparently is where a huge statue of Stalin used to sit. It oversees all of Prague and the view is breathtaking. We also walked across the Charles Bridge which gave us a great view of Prague as well. After that hike up there everyone was a little tired. We went back to the hostel and everyone rested for a bit. Then a few of us decided to go out on the town. The next day we were off to Olomouc!

                                                                  (Dinner in Prague)                                                              

(Pendulum)

                                                                     (Charles Bridge)

So far I am loving Olomouc. It is much smaller than Prague, but has just as much history. Got in on Sunday. Got our rooms all situated and then went into the town center where we had dinner. I had a stuffed chicken with a side of bread. Also, very very good. Then afterwards it was off to bed. Monday we had a lecture and then a small tour of Olomouc. We were able to go up the bell tower in the town center and get a full 360 of Olomouc and it was beautiful. Towards the end of the night we all went to a small club/bar. Our first night in Olomouc was a memorable one and I think everyone had a good time. Tuesday we had a small lecture in the morning and then we were off to go visit some caves in Sprava jeskyni. To get to the caves we had to walk through another town to get there. I can't remember the name of the small town, but it was a cute town with a small town square. We also passed by a spa, but it was not like a typical American spa with massages and facials. This spa was specifically for healing. People would go there for this special water. It apparently had some type of cleansing and healing power. We got a chance to drink that when we were there. It tasted like carbonated water with some type of mineral in it. A little bit of a bite to it, it seemed like. After that we finally arrived at the cave where we were lead on a 50 min tour. It was a cave that used to hold the water that we all drank, so that was interesting. Then we hiked all the way up this small mountain to view the deepest abyss in Europe. It looked like a massive hole in the ground. Afterwards we rode the train back into Olomouc where we had dinner and then everyone went to bed. So far we are all still trying to find our way around Olomouc and trying to get the tram schedule down. Tomorrow we have a tour of the city, so hopefully that will help us all out.

                                                                       (Health Spa)

                                                                             (Abyss)

(Olomouc Town Square)