It's Been Far Too Long...

St. Vitus Cathedral

Hey everyone! So I know it has been far too long since my last post, and since I'm sure you are all just sitting by your computers, waiting for me to update my blog, I will fill you in on everything that I've been up to in the last couple of weeks (if I can even remember that far back).  So on my last day of Czech class (hallelujah) our teachers took us to a theater where we were able to watch an Acadamny Award winning Czech film. Although I've seen movies with subtitles, I had never seen a foreign Czech film before, nor had I ever even considered trying to watch one. Despite my specualtions, I really enjoyed the film! If a movie can make me cry while I am focusing on subtitles at the same time, I consider it a success. That friday I got to experience my very first hockey game! Although I was a little disappointed about the fact that fighting in hockey is illegal here in the Czech Republic, it didn't seem to take away tooo much from the experience. We all had so much fun eating stadium food and attempting to chant for our team in another language. Unfortunately our team lost agains Moravia, but at least Sparta managed to hold their own. On Sunday night, a large group of us (mostly girls) went to go see the ballet Copellia in a beautiful baroque theather. The dancing and costumes were amazing and I found the ballet to be much more entertaining than the opera. Some of us have even been looking into buying tickets for Swan Lake in a couple of weeks.

Inside the Ballet Theater

After a great weekend, classes finally started. As interesting as some of my courses may be, I find it a little difficult to concentrate when my classrooms have the most amazing views of the castle. The scenery outside the windows definitely makes for some excellent daydreaming though. For one of my favorite classes, Art and Architecture, we basically spent the first day of class walking around Old Town Square and discussing the architecture as we saw it. Being able to learn outside of the classroom makes everything so much more interesting and hands on. After a "grueling" three days of class, my weekend started on Wednesday and the adventures began.

Hanging out at the Castle!

On friday, Dani and I decided to take an adventure and explore one of Prague's most beautiful sites, the Prague Castle. The weather was absolutely beautiful and only continues to get better as we come closer to spring. Before we went up to the castle, Dani and I stopped for lunch at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in Prague. It is on a boat that is docked right on the river next to the Charles Bride, with an amazing view of the castle. Once we finished lunch we hiked up to the castle just to walk around in awe of its beauty. We sipped on hot wine as we looked out onto the city, feeling like we were on top of the world. We then decided to go to the top of the St. Vitus Cathedral, because apparently where we were jsut wasn't high up enough for us. Well, after 10 minutes of panting up a spiral staircase, and 3 rest stops later, we finally made it to the very top. The view was breathtaking... literally. We could see for miles on end and it felt as though we were looking over all of Prague. It was definitely worth our burning leg muscles to make it up there.

View from the top of the Cathedral

Yesterday (Saturday) was another amazing day as well. As the weather slowly gets warmer and warmer (and by warmer I mean 35 degrees), the tourists continue to come flooding in. Each weekend here gets more and more crowded with people from all over the world. As much as I love kind of having the city to ourselves during the weeks, I love the energy that all of the different people bring on the weekends. Old Town Square was filled with musicians, food vendors, and even jesters juggling with knives (sketchy...). The thought of being inside on such a beautiful day was an impossible one, so Dani and I, clearly attatched at the hip, decided to cross the Charles Bridge in an attempt to explore what is on the other side. There we discovered a charming little bookstore and the perfect ledge to take our books to read. The ledge is right next to the river, with a backdrop of the Charles Bridge and jazz music playing in the background. To put it simply, its perfect. I can't even begin to describe how much I love it here. Prague is such a beautiful city with so much charm and history that can be seen in both its architecture and its people. I am so fortunate that I will be able to share this experience with Mack in only three weeks!! I am counting down the days and I can't wait!