For those reading...

Photos will be added as soon as I return to the US... so come back and look for pics in about 2 weeks! :)

Photo shoot Time

Our morning began at 10 am at the studio. We tried on our costumes and made any last minute adjustments. A makeup artist met us at school and we got our makeup done by her. We had drawn out ideas and taken ideas from images found online. I think what I envisioned and what she saw in my drawing were two different things because I ended up looking like Mimi from Drew Carey with tons of blue eye shadow, pink blush and pink lips. I guess it matched my 80’s inspired costume but it was still a bit too much. The only part I did like was the flower she drew on my face, which matched the flowers on my top and headpiece.

The photo shoot went well. We took group photos with other characters that went with our character and also individual photos. I didn’t feel like the lighting was that great or that the pictures were going to turn out but they looked better than I thought.

That night after a lovely nap, Jess and I had dinner at Sudicka, my favorite restaurant. We met everyone back at the pension and went out to a 5-story club near the Charles’ Bridge. It was a ton of fun and was really 5 stories. It was my favorite club that we had been to. Jess and I danced with this really small Hispanic or Italian man who was hysterical. He loved to dance and would be funny and serious and do whatever you wanted him to do or whatever he felt like doing. It was a priceless night. I wish there was a video of this crazy little man. And by little, he was very little about 5 feet tall at the most. That was a very fun night. 

Second to last week in Praha

Monday- We went on a field trip with literature and studio. I worked on my pattern for my cocktail dress during studio.

Tuesday- I went to the APED fabric store with Keely, Rima and Eleanor. Nina met us there and helped us pick out fabric for our dresses. Jess met us there later and got fabric for her dress as well. That afternoon Jess and I had a picnic in the grassy lawn in front of the clock church near our hotel and finished reading our book that we had a write a paper on for the next day. Luckily I was able to finish the book that afternoon and write the paper that night.

The rest of the week was spent working on our cocktail dresses and finishing our costumes for the photo shoot on Saturday.

Back to the US but for just one of us.

Michael and I hung out until we had to go to the airport. We both tried really hard to act like it wasn’t a big deal but really we both were upset to see his trip over. After leaving Michael at the airport I busied myself with things like the grocery store and studio but didn’t accomplish much.

Even though leaving the airport and heading back without Michael was really hard I saw a few really ridiculous things on the way home. After I got off the metro I first saw a homeless man laid out on the side of the road, practically wrapped around a street sign pole with his klobasa all over him and the road and also with a bucket of sauerkraut spilled all over him and the road. There was a possibility that he was dead considering that it was around 1:30 pm and he was still laid out on the road. I thought about trying to wake him but thought it was in my best interest to not touch him and leave him to someone who spoke Czech and could do something about the situation.

About a block up the road I saw this girl wearing this ridiculous jean jumper posing for pictures in the middle of the sidewalk. Not only was she wearing a terrible jean jumper it had an open back and her black bra was hanging out for everyone to see.

Next occurrence about 10 steps away from the jean jumper girl 2 huge remote control airplanes almost knock me out. First a teenage boy comes out and I have to stop to let his 5-foot long airplane pass in front of me. I think I’m clear of death via remote control airplane when this boy’s dad walks out with another 5-foot long airplane and really does almost knock me out. By this point I was done with ridiculous occurrences, but it wasn’t over.

Next I see a girl with neon-felted hair. Possibly dreadlocks but they looked like crafting felt and were multiple neon colors. It was the most ridiculous hairstyle I had ever seen. Let me note that all of these occurrences happened between the pension and the metro stop. Maybe a 10-minute walk…. It was craziness; I barely knew what was going around me. 

Last day in Cesky

Our first stop was the Eggenberg Brewery for a tour. It happened to be that this day the English tour guide was not available and we needed to go to the main square to find a guide. So we went to the main square. Hung out, had some more homemade chips, and some awesome ice cream for10 crowns a scoop! It was great! We went exactly where we were supposed to for the brewery tour at 1:05, we were supposed to be there at 1 pm. They said that the tour guide had just left without anyone to lead. They called him and he came back and gave us a free tour. It was an enjoyable tour and the tour guide was really nice. I said that the brewery reminded me of a fraternity house because there was beer all over the floor and you had to watch your step. Other than that we got an all-inclusive tour plus some and learned a lot about beer and the history of Cesky Krumlov.

After that we had a good lunch at a little deli near our hotel and the brewery. Michael and I have decided that we are going to open up a deli somewhere in the Czech Republic and also design, sell and produce touristy t-shirts that are unique and don’t look trashy. All we wanted was a brewery t-shirt and they were definitely lacking in that department.

Next I really wanted to go canoeing down the river. It was a nice day and seemed like the perfect thing to do in the afternoon before we took our bus back to Prague. But… just like the brewery tour we ran into a few roadblocks. The first place we went to said they weren’t offering boat tours just around town today, the next place said we could do it at 4:30 but we had to get our luggage at 5 from the hotel. So we were going the scrap the whole boat down the river thing. But decided to get our luggage leave it at the boat place and try anyway. It ended up being almost a waste because it took only 20 min to get from where we got in the water to where we stopped… so after all of the organizing times and what not it was almost not worth it. What was worth it was the antique store we stopped in on our way out of town. There were multiple necklaces made with very unique glass beads that I had to have. That put a smile on my face after the ridiculous blown up canoe adventure.

We made it to the bus just in time to grab a snack at the convienent store and get on the bus. Our bus back to Prague was super nice. With an “in-route” video (though in Czech), internet on the bus, how crazy, and other things like an airplane. We got back to Prague late, grabbed a pizza and packed up for Michael to leave on Sunday L. 

Friday in Cesky Krumlov

Friday- April 10

We had breakfast in bed. Nothing special, they just deliver breakfast to your room. Breakfast kept coming and coming. First was a plate of cold cuts, cheese and a few veggies. Then a basket of bread, and a basket of yogurt and apples and some snacks. 5 minutes later there is another knock on our door and we get a plate of sunny side up eggs. But they weren’t your normal sunny side up eggs. There were cooked on top of a slice of ham and there was some cheese on top of the eggs. They were delicious!

After our lovely breakfast we headed out to the Castle. We went up inside of the tower and took pictures of the town. Again a beautiful town and beautiful pictures. We wandered through the castle and then through the castle gardens. The gardens were really pretty and looked like they had just been opened and were being worked on some but they were still nice. There were manicured gardens then a path through a woody area, which led to a small pond. It was a nice place to walk through. We spent half the morning wandering through the gardens. As we walked back through the castle Michael got a slushy, which he had been wanting for quite some time, and I got a scoop of gelato.

We went into the main square and there were a few booths of homemade things and then this booth that had homemade chips… Just amazing. That’s all I can say. So good we had them 2 days in a row… After walking around some we went and had lunch at a little place on the river. Just picnic tables next to the water. It was a nice place and yummy lunch. We ate well while in Cesky.  Next we went into a little church that was up a little bit from the river. After that we laid around and rested in a near by park.

We had dinner at a very Czech touristy restaurant. The food was good and so was the beer. We had cerny (dark) Eggenberg beer. Eggenberg is actually brewed in Cesky Krumlov. It was a good dinner. We went to the bar next-door for one drink. It had a good atmosphere but wasn’t that exciting. We left there and ran into the traveler’s bar. We got a cheap beer there and hung out for one drink. It was filled with people our age but not really our crowd. We kinda stood out amongst the backpacking crowd. Michael led us to the main square and another bar. There we had becharova, which is Czech liquor that tastes like cinnamon. After you take a drink of it “you feel the angels rise up from your chest” is what Art always used to say. We hung out there for a little bit and danced with the local teenagers. It was overall a good night. 

The Adventures of Katelyn and Michael- Cesky Krumlov

I was all packed by the time I went to studio Thursday morning. I had to work on my costume since I was running out of days. Michael met me for lunch and was packed for our trip to Cesky Krumlov as well. We had lunch in Old Town Square with Jess. The Easter Festival had been going on the whole time Michael was visiting so there were food vendors and craft vendors. It was a fun little thing to walk through and get some “fair food” for lunch. Of course we had to have some gelato for dessert. Michael and I wandered around some buying final souvenirs before we headed to the bus station for our adventure to Cesky Krumlov 

We made it to the bus station, which was kinda in the middle of nowhere and found where our bus was supposed to be. Luckily I had purchased tickets a head of time because even though it was like a charter bus, people buy tickets and just ride standing up, but if you have a pre-purchased ticket you had an assigned seat. It was a really crowded bus for half of the trip and there was even a girl with her dog on the train. We finally made it to Cesky Krumlov and headed off looking for our hotel. My bag had started to break so my super nice boyfriend carried it for me so the straps didn’t rip off.

It was perfect timing when we got there because the sun was just setting and it made for lovely pictures. We took and few pictures and then walked through town looking for our hotel. Luckily the town is pretty small and it didn’t take more than 20 minutes to get from one side to the other. We finally found our hotel on the opposite side of town from where the bus stop is and got in and settled into our precious little room. It was a nice place and the lady who worked there was really nice.

That night we had a good Czech dinner at a restaurant down the road. They had really good garlic soup there along with everything else we ordered. After dinner we walked around some and took a few pictures. It was getting a little cold so we weren’t out too long. 

Hump Day- Back to school for a bit

I had to go to studio to work on my costume. Michael went on “secret” adventures on his own. He wouldn’t tell me where he was going. He showed up to meet me for lunch with flowers for me and Jess and all of his souvenir shopping done. I was very impressed. The flowers were beautiful.

That afternoon Michael and I went to Vyserhad since we couldn’t go on Sunday. We went inside the cathedral and this time I took pictures even though I don’t think you were supposed to. We got to walk through the cemetery before it started to rain a little. We hid out inside of an art gallery while it was raining. The rained stopped for a little while so we took more pictures and walked around the castle grounds some. It started raining again and we hid out inside of a tree house in a playground area. It was a perfect spot to get away from the rain. Even with the rain we had a nice visit to Vyserhad.

Michael and I headed back to the pension exhausted and took a little nap. We ended up meeting Jess and Laura-Nelle for dinner at the Crazy Cow. It’s the best place that Jess and I found to have hamburgers. They put crazy toppings on a few of their burgers. It was an enjoyable dinner. Michael and I stayed in Old Town for a little bit and had a drink at a Jazz Club. The cover was a bit steep but we just sat at the bar and didn’t have to pay cover. For one drink it was perfect.

We headed back to the pension and found everyone heading out to Acropolis the club within walking distance. I felt like I hadn’t really taken Michael out so we went out dancing with everyone. They were playing good music that night and we all had a good time. It was fun finally getting to go out with Michael. 

Tuesday- Lets tour Prague

All three of us, Me, Michael and Jess all had a lazy morning. We finally got going and Michael and I went to Bohemian Bagel for brunch. I had to show Michael where we go for free refills on coke and American breakfast.

We met Jess at school and headed to the Charles Bridge and up to the Castle. The Charles Bridge was packed because the weather was finally nice. All of the artists were out and we got to look at all of the neat jewelry and artwork of Prague. We ventured up to the castle. The treacherous journey completely uphill. Of course there is a tram that will take you all the way to the top but we skipped that and walked. We made it up to the castle which also has a great view of Prague. This time we got there with enough time to buy tickets and actually go inside places. We went into St. Vitus cathedral, which is large but almost more impressive from the outside. We also went inside St. George’s Basilica which was a much older church. It didn’t have much decoration but had a few nice details. Next we walked down Golden lane and went inside the tiny houses which have now been turned into shops and a strange torture museum. After that we walked around the castle grounds and out to the gardens. Sadly the gardens were not open. We finally hopped on a tram down to the bottom of Malastrana.

While on the tram there was a little “tram jam”. Three trams got into a jam and none of the trams could move. We were right where we wanted to be so we just hopped off the tram when this happened. Not sure if that’s what we were supposed to do but it worked. We were near the senate gardens and they were open so we ventured inside. We got to see all of the peacocks. The colorful one had its feathers out and spread. Jess got a lot of good pictures, because of course my camera and Michael’s camera died… It was a really nice garden and we wandered around there for a while.

On our way home we stopped by the John Lennon wall. It was not quite what I expected but something worth seeing. It had some interesting graffiti on it but too many people had carelessly written or drawn on top of nice artwork so it looked a little over taken 

We had planned on Crazy Cow for dinner but ended up having Sudicka with Jess and then Lauren met us there for a drink. Our literature teacher was playing with her punk rock band at Lucerna but it was a hefty cover so we ended up not going. We had a nice time at Sudicka and then a few more drinks at the Peach Pit right down the street. 

Monday.. I have to go to school :(

May 6

I went to Literature class like a good student and left Michael to wander around. When he came back an hour later he had walked all over and to places I had never been. I was very impressed with his adventures. We had a good lunch of salad and quiche, my favorite, at Gourmond a French deli near school. I had to go back to studio that afternoon to work on and finish my costume. Michael hung out a little bit and got a feel for what the studio was like. He was there for a eventful day when all of the sudden we were invited to be a part of the Art to Wear pre-show. We had mixed feelings about it due to the short notice.

That afternoon after class we ventured around Old Town. We stopped in this store called Art Deco which had neat vintage things. I got two necklaces that I liked a lot. We then went up the in Astronomical Clock and looked out over the city. It was a really nice day so the city looked really pretty and you could see pretty far. The red roofs shown brightly. After taking in the city we walked to the Dancing Building. I hadn’t seen them yet and it is a Prague landmark. It is right on the water, so we hung out by the water a little bit. We were going to go paddle boating but we also had plans to make dinner with Jess and it was getting late so we skipped out on the paddle boating.

We went to the Albert, the lovely grocery store and picked up what we needed for dinner. Jess and I made Michael our famous spaghetti for dinner. It wasn’t as good as I remembered but it was still really good.  

The adventures of Katelyn and Michael begin

Sunday, April 5

Our first stop on our Adventure was Vyserhad but… we couldn’t get there. There were police everywhere and we had no clue what was going on. Everyway we tried to go to get there was blocked by police. It turns out that Obama was staying near there and also EU conferences are held in a building near the Vyserhad metro stop so it was all blocked off. I was really disappointed but luckily the rest of the day didn’t go like that.

Next we headed to St. Michael’s Fair. I had left the directions at home but remembered where it was from when Aneal showed it to me on a map. We went to the right metro stop and then got on the correct bus. Though Michael didn’t say anything I’m sure he was thinking “Katelyn are you sure you know what you are doing”, especially because I just kept saying maybe its this way maybe this bus will take us there, lets just follow the kids. Haha. Well we made it to the fair and it was just like the NC Fair except the images on the rides and booths were a lot more provocative. It was amusing to walk around and look at “carnies” in Prague and compare them to “carnies” in NC. There wasn’t much difference. We rode one rickety rollercoaster, had a yummy klobasa for lunch and then a delicious waffle with Nutella and banana for dessert. I was in heaven. Michael has a pretty funny picture of me with Nutella and powdered sugar all over my face.

There was a really pretty park next to the Fair so we walked around the park some. We ventured into the nearby neighbor and wandered some more. We stopped into a little cemetery and it was a typical Czech cemetery with over grown graves and just beautiful and calming. I was glad I could show Michael this because the overgrown cemeteries are one of my favorite things in Prague.

We then saw a sign for the zoo and knew that was our next stop. At first we thought we could walk to the zoo from where we were because the signs seemed to say that but we were mistaken. We took a tram back to the metro where we say a bus that said ZOO. We hopped on and it took us right to the zoo. We spent about 3 hours walking around the largest zoo on earth. It was huge and we saw lots of animals. Though we saw tons of animals apparently we missed out on exciting things like hippos, a bat cave, baby giraffes, etc. These were all things that other people saw and told us about when they went to the zoo. We still saw cool things though and had a nice afternoon.

After the zoo we went home exhausted. We didn’t go too far for dinner, just up two trams stop and had dinner at this place called Pizza Dali. It was yummy and cheap and we got a lot of food.  That night we had a chill night just hanging out at the pension. 

Saturday- Michael ARRIVES!

April 4 

Another eventful day. Keely and I went to do laundry. I needed clean clothes to look cute for my boyfriend. Ha Well, at the laundry mat Keely and I were going to use my “detergent” which was not laundry soap, but fabric softener. I was wondering why it hadn’t been lathering up when I was washing clothes by hand. That’s what I get for a language barrier. At least my clothes were soft. Hahahaha

I laid out some early afternoon because it was a beautiful day outside. I worked on my costume outside and read some of my book for literature. Then I cleaned up and headed to the airport to get MICHAEL! YAY!

Of course Michael was coming on the same day as Obama… It didn’t cause any delays at the airport, which was good, but I think it was the reason for Michael’s 5-hour lay over in Frankfurt Germany. I think that I may have seen Air Force One while on the bus going to get Michael. Who knows maybe not, but if so it was cool. 

After waiting FOREVER he finally shows up. Who ever new waiting at the Prague airport would be such a restless event? There were a few guys in the same boat as me and we were all pacing back and forth and kept changing places where we were standing. It was funny. Once I finally got my dear one I tossed him into my Prague life immediately. We took the bus and the metro to get home. No taxi, sorry I’m a cheapo and the metro is a TON cheaper.

We met some people for dinner at Ordinary people, but ended up eating on our own. We had a nice dinner and it was a perfect start to Michael’s visit. 

Friday Bee Keeping Field Trip

April 3

Though I’m not in the Bee Keeping class I went on the field trip anyway. It was out in the country, which was refreshing to go out there and get away from the city. It was a gorgeous day and the place we went was really pretty and fresh, right on the river. We took a train there and then had to take a ferry across the river. The ferry was really funny. It was run by one man, just a small little metal boat that fit about 10-15 people. The “captain” would motor across half of the river then cut off the motor and drift to shore which he would ram the boat into and run up and wrap a chain around a pole so the boat would stay on shore. It was very amusing to watch all of this take place.

Once across the river we met Dalibor, the bee-keeping teacher. He showed us his beehives and talked some about bees. Then he took the bees out of the hive. We got to hold to comb with the bees on it and then got to even “pet” the bees. It was an interesting field trip. He then took us to the Bee Institute where he works and where research is done. We all had lunch and the Dalibor showed us all around. We saw the laboratories and got to have a honey tasting. Each different type of honey tasted very different from the one before it. My favorite might have been the creamed honey, which is a less messy consistency and can be spread on bread. It was good. We also went down into the cellar and saw where mead was made. I didn’t like what it tasted like though. It was too strong for me.

After touring the institute Andrew and I climbed trees and took silly pictures. We all laid in the grass for about 30 minutes before the ferry would take us across the river. It was gorgeous weather that day. We missed the first train back to Prague but caught the next one 20 minutes later. It was a good day.

Once we returned to Prague, I attempted to find the bus station to buy ticket for Michael and I to go to Cesky Krumlov. Of course I was unsuccessful finding the bus ticket the first time and then by the second try I found the station, but bought the WRONG tickets. I didn’t realize this till I was back at school at which point I had to turn around and go back and get the correct tickets. It was quite an excursion. Whooo what a day. 

Week before Michael come to Praha!

Tuesday Jess and I went to APED a fabric store near our pension and got the rest of the fabric we needed for our costume. It was good and I finally became motivated to work on and finish my costume. We both had all kinds of ideas in place but it was difficult finding the materials we pictured especially because we aren’t familiar with all the stores and such and there isn’t such thing as a JoAnn’s. But the APED fabric store is HUGE and AWESOME and AMAZING and has everything you could ever ask for. Wish we had something like that near Raleigh.

Thursday was a very productive day costume wise. Also we began putting together ideas for our cocktail dress since of course we are all running out of time. That afternoon a big group left for Amsterdam. It felt really empty in the studio.

David, one of the landscape student’s mom and sister were in town. David invited us to dinner with them. We all went to Sudicka, my favorite restaurant of all time. At the end of the meal David’s mom paid for everything which was really nice. His mom and sister were really nice and cute and reminded me of home. It was nice to hear a familiar southern accent.

That night I went out with Jeremy, Lorna, Ben, Bryan, and Andrew. We went to Andrew’s friend’s apartment which is directly across the street from our pension. It was a fun night. The other people there weren’t that interested in talking to us but we created our own party and had our own fun. It was a lot like a party at home which was fun. 

Berlin- Last Day

March 30

We started the day off with a trip to the Bauhaus museum. There were some interesting textile pieces in there. I saw a piece by Anni Albers who my double degree program is named after. Also, NC State design school is based off of the Bauhaus ideals and it became more apparent when we walked through the museum. It was really cool and I could have stayed there longer than we did.

Next the group went to the bombed church again, Jess and I broke off and tried to go jean shopping. We were unsuccessful.

Before we headed back to the hostel to pick up our luggage and go back to Prague we stopped by the East Side Gallery. It’s a part of the Berlin wall that is left standing and artists and everyone just paints and writes all over it. It was pretty interesting and we got some good pictures.

And that concludes our trip to Berlin. The train ride back was fun and I got some funny pictures of people. We arrived back to the Pension to find it over taken with Swedish high schoolers … very amusing but they were loud! 

Berlin Day 3

March 29

We left with the whole group to go to the Pergammon Museum. It was ancient art, mostly sculptures and not everyone’s favorite museum. For most of the time we just sat on a bench and people watched and napped. The building is apparently really nice but it was under severe construction and the whole outside of the building was covered in scaffolding and plastic.

Right next to the museum was another small flea market. We had street sausages for lunch again and walked around the flea market. I found a few more cool things and vintage jewelry. There was some really nice vintage pieces but they were a little above my budget.

As a group we went to another part of the Berlin wall. It’s a place where they have left it all in tact. You can see the “no mans land” in between the East and West side. It was really interesting but I wish I knew more about World War II and the history of Germany/ Berlin. Next to the wall was a new modern church. There used to be a gorgeous church there but it was blown up because it was in “no man’s land” and served no purpose. The modern church was made with wooden slats. It was neat inside and more of just a sanctuary.

Next Jess and I broke off from the group. We went to the Charlottenburg Palace. The inside had just closed but we walked through the gardens and enjoyed the afternoon. There were a lot of locals there with their children just hanging out, riding bikes, and feeding ducks. It was a nice place. We hung out there for about an hour and then headed on our way. We decided to hope a fence to skip walking around the whole front of the palace, but that resulted in Jess ripping her jeans completely open. Luckily she had been wearing leggings underneath because it was cold. But that was the end of those jeans.

To continue on our separate journey we went to another church. It’s a church that was bombed in WW II but was left standing and a modern memorial church was built next to it. It was really neat to see what buildings looked like after they had been bombed. It was something I had never seen before in real life and not just in pictures.

In typical Jess and Katelyn style we jumped on trampolines next to the church. The kind that you get harnessed into and go really really high. It was a lot of fun and we took funny pictures. We did back flips and everything. Definitely worth telling stories about.

That night we had dinner with a group of people at a typical German restaurant. I had a Radler, which is light beer and sprite and cheesy schpetzal. It was all really good. We were too tired to go out that night. 

Berlin Day 2

March 28

Jess and I decided to have our own adventure this day and we explored Berlin on our own. First stop the grocery for some breakfast snacks. There we found AWESOME HUGE pastries for less than a euro. Great way to start the day.

Our first stop was the San Juni 17 Flea Market. It was the greatest place on earth! Every booth had something great to look at. I could have spent hundreds of dollars and a whole day there. I got a lot of beads and pendants and things to make jewelry with. I also got the most amazing blazer. It is navy blue with golden apples all over it. It fits lovely and was a must buy.

After the flea market we walked through the TierGarten. A huge garden with large paths and giant trees. As we walked through and along the edge of the garden we saw multiple monuments. We were walking towards the Bradenburg Gate. One of the sites we saw was the Reistag. It was neat and it would have been great to go inside and see the dome but the line was too long. At the Brandenburg Gate we stopped and had lunch at a little stand. We had the famous Berlin currywurst. A sausage cut up smothered in ketchup and sprinkled in TONS of curry powder. It was pretty good but quite an interesting flavor.

A few blocks away was the Holocaust Memorial. Which is like a maze, covering a whole city block. We walked through a little and then went to the museum underneath the monument. It was a really interesting museum, talking a lot about the people that were affected by the Holocaust and how it affected their lives. It was a very sobering museum but I learned a lot.

 

Next stop was Check Point Charlie. Not much to see but a little guard stand. Seemed more like a tourist ploy. We had the most amazing 3euro pizza for a snack. It was the best thing we could have found at that moment.

Next historical site/museum: The Jewish Museum. And yes we went inside. It was a very interesting museum and very very modern. My favorite parts were the specially designed room for meditating and such. When we got to the top where the actual history of Judaism was, I was less enthused. It didn’t help that I was getting very tired. But t was a good museum and we were glad we went there.

On the way home we stumbled across a Mexican restaurant. The best thing we could have ever found. I have delicious avocado soup and we split fajitas. We also had the BEST mango margaritas on the planet. It was a lovely way to end our adventurous day.

That night we went out with almost the whole group to Club Fritz. It was walking distance from the hostel and huge. They played good music and we all had a good time. 

Pictures to come when I'm not paying for internet... :)

Berlin- The Beginning

So let me  update you on my trip to Berlin, which took place a month ago... Woops 

Almost everyone went to Berlin. It was a Landscape Architecture/ GER trip but some Fashion kids and professors tagged along as well. 

We began our trip on Friday morning super early. Catching a train around 8 am. The train seemed like a great way to travel. Very spacious, more room than an airplane for sure. Our hostel, Pegasus Hostel, was orange and yellow and impossible to meet. It was a pretty nice place minus the issues we had in the beginning with paying for the rooms that the fashion people were staying in. Ladislav, my fashion professor got into quite an argument with the hostel staff. It was pretty amusing though because he is the sweetest man and to see him heated was funny. 

We all headed out to the Railroad Park. It was really neat. Its where railroad tracks have just be left and nature has taken over. It was really pretty. We walked around, looked at nature and some of the modern sculptures that were all over the park. It was a really huge park. We walked and walked and walked.

After the park we went to the Sony Center. Fernando wanted to show us it at night. It was really neat and modern. Majority of the architecture in Berlin was modern. It was really different from what we had seen in Paris, Barcelona, and what we see everyday in Prague. We walked around some more with Fernando our guide and ended up having dinner at a mall. We were all starving so it didn’t really matter what or where we ate.

Fernando had another street he wanted to show us at night. It ended up being lined with prostitutes. Prostitutes in Berlin in March wear tight jeans, tall stiletto boots, a puffy jacket and then a corset on top. It was amusing; we counted over 20 just on a few blocks. They weren’t really trashy looking besides the strange corset over the puffy jacket. The prostitute road led us to this very interesting art place. Fernando wanted us to take a look inside so we did. Mind you Fernando is Hispanic and eccentric and what he says is interesting you might want to second-guess. Well it was this overtaken building COVERED in graffiti. There was some interesting art but you wonder what drug influenced such artwork.

After the art house we headed back to the hostel and a few of us attempted to go out. We got turned away at the first club, either because there were 9 of us, we were with a graying crazy man named Fernando or it was a gay fetish club. One of the three. So after that Fernando led us to a karaoke bar. It wasn’t a normal karaoke bar but we still had a good time. The music was strange but we made our own fun. We managed to accomplish a lot in Berlin that evening especially after beginning our adventures around 4 pm.

Old Salem in the Czech Republic

Friday morning we all woke up early to go on a field trip with Martin to Prerov Nad Labem. There were doughnuts for breakfast and we were all excited. For some of us this was the first time we were up on a Friday in time to get breakfast. We took a bus 45 minutes outside of Prague to the middle of nowhere. It kind of looked like Indiana driving down these straight roads with fields on either side for as far as you could see. When we got there it was this little preserved "town", a lot like Old Salem. There were rooms with mannequins and scenes set up to look how it looked when people actually lived there. Not sure of the time period, I guess I wasn't paying that much attention. Some of the scenes were set up for Easter. There was this one crazy room with people wearing costumes and scary figures. It was reminiscent of a horror movie set. Very creepy. It was freezing cold that day and possibly a pointless field trip but I got some good pictures out of it. In the little gift shop they had decorated eggs since Easter is a big deal in the Czech Republic. I bought a few to bring home and give as gifts. 

That afternoon after a lovely nap, Keely, Jess and I went to the fabric store and got some material for our costumes. Finally starting to work on the final piece. 

That night Jess and I wanted to try out this Piano bar we saw when exploring the neighborhood one day. We talked Bryan into going with us not realizing it was a gay bar... It was really funny and interesting though Bryan was a bit uncomfortable. I didn't even realize it was a gay bar until Bryan pointed it out at least 5 minutes after we had been there. We had a good time a made friends with Henrique and Pablo. Pablo enjoyed buying us drinks and dancing with Jess. It was hysterical and led to a headache and many great stories the next day. 

Quick Prague Update

The highlights from a long time ago... goodness I'm getting behind. 

Tuesday- St. Patrick's Day 

No worries, I sported green all day. We did another group present thing like we did for Valentines except this time it was "Sketchy Leprechaun". You were supposed to take something from the person's desk and hide it along with a little surprise. Some people got really creative and wrecked havoc on some peoples desks. It was fun with people running around trying to find clues to lead them to their belongings and special surprise.

That night, Jess and I started the night out with the grad students. We first tried to find this bar, Molly Malone's. We went searching and searching and finally followed the people wearing large St. Patty's Day hats and found the bar. It was super crowded a very interesting crowd. The minute we walked in Lorna's red hair attracted attention and next thing you know the girls all had free Guiness in our hands. We met an Irish guy living in Prague and he loved talking to us. Funny thing was he was missing one of his front teeth. It was an interesting start to our night. The guys didn't enjoy it as much because the beers were expensive and the guys definitely out weighed the girls at the bar. They left before us and after we finished our beer and left our new Irish friends we went to go find them. Of course we found them playing foosball at another Irish bar. This one was just as crowded and the beers were just as expensive but they were happy with their foosball table. There was a "band" playing there but they were TERRIBLE. Jess and Blakely hopped on stage with them though and ended up singing into the microphone... Quite commical. When the band was done playing we left looking for another Irish Pub. We didn't find what we were looking for but overall it was a good night. 

Wednesday:

The highlight of the day was that I GOT A JOB! Its with Cotton, Inc for the summer and hopefully will carry over until the school year. I am really excited for it and so glad with how it all worked out with being abroad. 

Thursday night Jess and I went to dinner with Tucker and Doug. We went to the Crazy Cow and got hamburgers and steak. It was delicious and Doug and Tucker are always fun to hang out with. 

Vysehrad

Saturday was a good day as well.

Jess and I went on a run to the TV tower and then to the Russian Orthodox cemetery which is next to the new Jewish cemetery. It was a nice run and we got to see more of our neighborhood. On our way home we found a mall and  a movie theater. It was a good start to the day and wasn't too cold. 

We decided to spend the rest of the day at Vysherad. We took the metro there and then walked to the castle. It is one of Prague's other castles. There were a lot of people there but it seemed like somewhere to just hang out on a nice Saturday. We took pictures of different buildings along the way and then found another small but neat cemetery. There was a part that was a lot like the last scene of Sound of Music. It was really neat. We took lots of pictures of the elaborate grave stones. 

We made it inside the Church of Saints Peter and Paul just in time. It was a gorgeous church and sadly we couldn't take pictures. The whole church was painted in the Art Nouveau style. The paintings are gorgeous and pull you in and you can't take your eyes away from them. The paintings traveled from the columns to the ceilings. There were also amazing stained glass windows. It was a gorgeous church and I'm so glad we made it in before 4 when it closed. 

After the church we just walked through the park and looked out over the river. We walked a large perimeter of the castle and looked out over the city. It was a really nice Saturday afternoon. 

We headed back to the hotel to relax after a bunch of walking. We ended up having dinner at Putna, a restaurant near our hotel which is always good and a good dinner fall back. We tired to lay low and rent a movie on iTunes but of course it took hours to upload so we watched a few episodes of the Office which Laura-Nelle had. 

Back to Lego Land

Back to Prague life. 

We visited Kafka's grave at the new Jewish cemetery with our literature class. The cemeteries here are really interesting and a lot different than in the states. In studio we are working on pattern making. Making a bodice that is fit to each individual.

Wednesday night we went to a new club called Mecca. It was really far away. We all had a pretty good time. Once it was time to leave it took us over an hour to get home because we had to take multiple trams and they only run every 30 min after midnight. It was a late Wednesday night. 

Friday, Jess and I explored the neighborhood near our hotel. We found a new cheap pizza place, a bead store which was pretty awesome, the busiest bead store I have ever seen. We went to the Prague TV tower and went up inside of it. It is a large out of place looking structure with huge abstract black babies climbing up the side of it. You see a great view of Prague from the top. All of the buildings in their many colors looks like a Lego town. At the bottom of the tower is a small cemetery which was cool to take pictures of.

I randomly decided to dye my hair Friday afternoon. We finally found a drugstore that was a lot more like home. The hair dying experience was interesting because I couldn't read any of the directions but it turned out good. We had dinner at a mex-czech restaurant called Cantina with Jess, Terry, Keely and Andrew. It was a good dinner but a little expensive. I look forward to cheap Mexican and cheap margaritas when I get home! Friday night we went to a bar near the hotel called Peach Pit. It was recommended to us by some friends that had been to Prague before. Its supposed to be a Hollywood themed bar. It was a fun and easy night and close enough to walk home and not have to deal with the late night tram mess. 

Finally we see sun on SB '09

Friday we had a bit of a slow start. I had a cold shower but at least I was clean. 

We headed into town away from Grandpa Island and first had brunch at this cute cafe kind of like a Panera. I wanted to try and find a flea market and so we looked but since it was off season there weren't many vendors out. 

We wandered down to the Cathedral. Palma de Mallorca is a lot smaller than we thought so getting around wasn't too difficult. The stained glass at the Cathedral was really pretty and the colors were rich and different than colors you usually see in stained glass. There was also one chapel that was very modern and looked like it was underwater. The walls looked like waves coming up about to crash. It was really interesting. After the Cathedral we walked around Parc de Mar which was right next to the Cathedral and a great view of the ocean. 

We decided to walk to the Castle which we saw in the distance. It couldn't be too far right... wrong. It was quite a walk. The beginning of the walk was nice, walking next to the water and harbor. It was warm and sunny and we had some gelato. When we started heading up hill is when it started getting bad. We hiked up hill for quite awhile and finally made it to the edge of the castle. The boys decided to lead us on a path up to the castle which was more like rock climbing... Mind you that Jess and I have on boots, but not hiking boots, cowboy boots. The two of us were quite a scene trekking up this mountain. The boys were having a splendid time as we struggled behind them. Once we got to the top it was worth the trek. The castle was really cool but again we were the youngest people there. There were multiple packs of grannies enjoying the castle with us. It was a neat castle because it was circular and you could see out over the whole city from the top. I guess it was worth the hike. 

Jess and I did a little shopping after the castle but didn't cause any damage. We all headed back to 5 Islas to drop off cameras and freshen up before dinner. 

We had dinner at this silly little Italian place near the water. It was a pretty good dinner and fun atmosphere. We wandered into a Jazz Bar after dinner and had a blast! They had a "Jazz" band playing fun songs in English. We sat front row and sang along and danced the whole time. We headed home late to get up early to make it to the airport to get back to Barcelona and then back to Prague. 

Overall Spring Break 2009 was successful and a lot of fun. 

Welcome to Grandpa Island

After the adventurous night in Barcelona we arrive in Palma de Mallorca. I was a bit burnt out and was hoping for an easy two days. Not, quite... Of course we ran into a few road blocks. 

1. We didn't know where our hotel was. None of us had printed off the information. Ben had reserved it and it was in his name but he didn't know where it was. From the airport we took a cab into the center of the city and asked if he could take us somewhere with an internet cafe. We were successful with the internet but not yet successful with food. We did have some amazing orange juice while we were figuring out where our hotel was. It happened to be 25 minutes outside the city at the end of the bus line... 

2. We were starving. Nothing near by seemed to be serving breakfast/food at 9:30 am so we ended up at McDonalds. McDonalds breakfast in Mallorca is not the same as at home. I ended up having a cheeseburger and fries at 10 am. We then found the bus and headed to our hotel. 

3. We were the  youngest people on the bus and especially when we got off the bus at the last stop where our hotel was supposed to be. Apparently during off season Palma de Mallorca is a haven for German retirees...

4. After some wandering and asking for directions from a taxi driver we find our hotel... locked up and looking very closed. We call the number on the door with Jess's cell phone and are told that someone should be there in 10 min. Oh, 30 minutes later this old man with very broken English shows up. We are the only people in the reservation book, he can't find the key to the room we are supposed to get and we end up getting two separate rooms which was actually a good thing. Jess and I get to our room, find very scary looking beds, mold on the walls and when we tried to take a shower the entire room, not just the bathroom floods. It was a disaster. After debating to head back into town and to a Marriott we just got a different room at 5 Islas. There were plenty to choose from since I believe we were the only people in the entire hotel. Our second room was much better.

5. Sadly the night didn't get much better from there. We found the boys at the corner bar. Literally that's what it was called. Jess and I had a glass of wine there and tried to look on the bright side of things. We wandered to another bar 

for a second glass of wine. We watched an older man win tons of money on a slot machine. Apparently this is normal to have at any bar. 

6. Dinner: our final disaster... There were hurricane like winds blowing and the only restaurant open was the Nautical Club restaurant. We walked around the whole town making sure there wasn't anywhere else to eat and then headed back to the Nautical Club.  We were the only people in the entire place and it was quite expensive. We ended up having a lovely meal of paella with fresh seafood but it was an ordeal getting there. 

After all of that it was bed time and I got in my sketchy bed with clothing covering my entire body, even a hood over my head. 

Last Day in Barcelona

So sorry it is taking me ages to update everyone on Barcelona... I'm working hard on it I promise. 

Our last day in Barcelona started out slow but of course we couldn't leave the city without one last adventure... 

Bryan, Jess and I explored the last bit of Barcelona we hadn't seen yet. Our first stop was La Mercat de Boqueria. It is an awesome open market full of fresh food. Tons of vegetables, and fruit, and any kind of seafood you could ever imagine along with any kind of meat/animals parts. I couldn't stay at the meat counters too long. It was a little too much. We walked around there for awhile and just enjoyed taking pictures and taking in the whole experience. The ladies cleaning and cutting the fish were the most impressive. It was very interesting. We got a cup of fresh fruit juice for one euro which was delicious. 100% fruit juice, freshly squeezed. 

Our next stop was another market though I was hoping it was more like a flea market but it was just like Mercat de Boqueria. But on our way from one market to the other we witnessed a very strange protest in the street. It looked like a large group of students, probably our age and we had no idea what they were protesting but it was interesting to see. After realizing the second market was the same as the first we headed to our next destination. 

We ran into the Arc de Triomphe of Barcelona. Much like the one in Paris. From there we walked to the Parc de Ciutadella. At this point it had started to rain and wasn't the most pleasant weather to be walking around in. We still went to the park, walked around a took pictures. There was a nice fountain/dragon pond. Near the pond were these teenagers doing some sort of interpretive dance with drums. It was quite strange. We found this huge elephant/mammoth that we took pictures on and by this point we were getting cold, and were wet and tired. 

We headed home to dry off a bit and then went to Starbucks to relax and warm up. It was a nice relaxing afternoon. Jess and Bryan went back to the market and got fresh tuna with some veggies and we made dinner at home. The tuna was great and it was a nice final dinner in our cute apartment in Barcelona.

Ben had found a travelers bar that afternoon and we thought there was trivia there that night so we headed over there for a drink or two after dinner. We didn't stay long because we had a early morning and trivia was at the other location of the bar. And thats where the adventure began. 

Ben got pick-pocketed in an alleyway right outside of the bar. A bunch of guys gathered around him and were just bugging him and stole his wallet. After we realized what had happened it was too late. There just happened to be an undercover cop at a nearby bar and the host of the bar and him tried to help us some. With my Spanish and the host's English we tried to figure out to do. We partially filed a police report but honestly we knew nothing was going to happen, especially since we were leaving for Mallorca that morning at 7 am. We ended up heading to the US Embassy at midnight to see if they could help us at all. Nope, the all night guards speak zero English and were no help at all. It was quite an adventure getting to the Embassy as well. We ended up making it home around 2:30am to get up at 5 am to make it to the airport in time to catch our flight to Mallorca... Goodness what a way to finish off our time in Barcelona...

Museum Day-Barcelona

Tuesday- feels like Thursday...

Up early, if 8:30 am counts as early. 

Off to the Picasso Museum. Without breakfast... I was starving the whole time! The museum was interesting and had an interesting collection of Picasso pieces. Not the famous ones you would expect. More like his personal collection that he donated himself or his closest friends and family members donated. It was interesting seeing more of his process and earliest and oldest works. 

LUNCH TIME!!!! yay... We found a little cafe and order the bocadillo del dia, sandwich of the day,  without the slightest idea of what it was... Well luckily I was starving and would eat anything because it was a sausage link sandwich with tomato paste something as a dressing. It was certainly not something I would have thought was appetizing any other time. Luckily it was really cheap. 

Next stop: Catedral de Barcelona 

A very lovely church. There was mass going on in a side chapel. I stepped in for a little bit. It was really refreshing to be listening to mass even if it was in Spanish. Mom and Abie, you would be so proud I understood what was going on for the most part. I recognized the Padre Nuestro, Our Father, from my many years with Senora Walling at Memorial. 

Palau Musica

A concert hall in the middle of a neighborhood. It was built with the hopes that the residential areas would be torn down, but they never were so the front facade is very difficult to see and take pictures. of. The inside was very elaborating decorated with mosaics and stained glass. Parts of it were meant to imitate an outside garden and there are flowers and large windows everywhere. We just happen to be there when an orchestra was rehearsing and we got to hear them practice. It was neat hearing music in the actual concert hall. Our tour guide was precious too which makes the experience all the more worth while. 

After the Music House we continued the tour that Bryan and Jess were leading through Barcelona. We walked around looking for Casa Botella, a house designed by Gaudi. Finally arriving there we found out it was 13.50 euros and Ben and I decided to go to the National Art Museum instead. We had both been wanting to see it from the day before when it was closed. 

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

There are multiple great exhibits. The first one we went into was one of my favorites and full of Spanish art. The paintings were huge and took up the whole wall. They were also full of bright vibrant colors. They were very inspiring and made me want to pull out the oil paints. The Modern Art exhibit was also very inspiring and full of great pieces. There was a room full of Picasso's as well which were a few of the more famous and well known Picasso's. It was an overall nice museum to wander through. 

After we left we went back towards home and walked through Mercat de Boqueria and went looking for a good restaurant. It was strange because there weren't many restaurants open around 6 and then when we went back around 8 there were twice as many restaurants open and all looked lively. We ended up eating at Mama Cafe and which was really good. 

Dow Jones Bar

Drink prices change like stocks in the stock market. There weren't that many people there since it was a Tuesday night but we still had fun. It usually draws a lot of Americans but it was a pretty cool atmosphere. This was another place recommended by everyone who gave us information about Barcelona. We ended up walking home but it wasn't too far. Our motto was just walk down hill and we'll get home...ha

Barcelona- Montjuic

Monday- We all had a slow start from our late night of Sangria and some other questionable something Bryan got for us. But no worries there were still many adventures for the day. 

Adventure 1: Port Vell

We wandered around the port, saw the largest aquarium in Europe but didn't go in. Some more wandering led us to random architecture and lots of boats. 

Adventure 2: Cable Car to MirMar

Next we decided to take a cable car to MirMar. It didn't seem that high up until inside the elevator to the top and you just go higher and higher. It was a good view of the city except it was pretty smoggy, so I didn't get the best pictures. The elevator up was almost worse than riding the cable car across the ocean to MirMar which is at the base of Montjuic. The park in front of MirMar was pretty and a start to our day of gardens. 

Adventure 3: Montjuic Castle 

Luckily I had a nice cold icy treat for another trek the boys subjected us to. We hiked up the mountain to the castle from MirMar where the cable car dropped us off. After finally making it to the top, we walked around the castle grounds, saw many cats and an awesome view of Barcelona. It happened to be Monday so after we wandered around and wanted to go inside, we found it was closed. Monday, the Spanish day of rest. It was still worth the trek and another site to check off our list. 

Adventure 4: Montjuic Gardens 

We took the metro back to the center of the city and tried to go to the National Museum but of course it was Monday and it was closed. So instead we went to some more gardens. The gardens are never ending and gorgeous. We wandered around there for quite some time. Took some nice pictures and again enjoyed the green. We weren't quite sure exactly where we were but it was really pretty and a nice afternoon. 

Adventure 5: Shopping! 

Of course after finding a metro down from the gardens Jess and I convinced the boys to go shopping. They didn't last long but offered to go to the grocery to get stuff for dinner... how nice! But no worries Jess and I had a blast! I found the rain boots I had been wanting and looking all over for! Our new favorite store is Mango and we found multiple items of clothes we wanted but didn't purchase. We headed home to the boys and their groceries. We had tacos for dinner which were delicious! 

Adventure 6: Night Pictures and Jazz Music

After dinner Ben wanted to try and get some night pictures so we all walked around the neighborhood and up to Placa Cataluna. A bit more wandering led us to a Jazz Club. We ventured in for some dessert, drinks, and Jazz. What a nice ending to a nice day. The music wasn't that great but the drinks and dessert were, so we didn't complain. 

Tuesday will be coming soon...

Barcelona- Park Guell

After our lovely first night in Barcelona we made it up the next morning, had some lovely chocolate chip muffins Jess and I purchased at the grocery and started out on our adventure. We went looking for Internet which we never found and instead found subway sandwiches...

We took the metro toward Park Guell and then proceeded to hike up to the park. After trekking up a very steep hill there were escalators in the middle of the street which took you up farther. The boys decided to climb over a stair rail where there was caution tape and explore. Of course we followed... and of course Jess had a dress on, luckily with leggings because it was a little chilly. We explored and found that they were doing construction and we couldn't go any further, but it gave us a good view of the city. We hiked back down and ventured on to the main park. There was a large open area surrounded with mosaic benches and lots of people were hanging  out and kids playing with soccer balls. There were also artists selling handmade things and then "Gaudi inspired" earrings and pendants on umbrellas. 

We went to the Gaudi house/museum which is within the park. There was furniture and household items that Gaudi had designed. My favorite was the upholstered furniture, the fabric was very elaborate with many different textures. The outside of the house looked like a version of candy land with  many curved lines and all kinds of colors. After visiting we continued to wander around the park which was gorgeous and never ending. At this point my camera died, which I was slightly devastated but everyone else took good pictures and offered to share.  I could have spend the entire day there just hanging out, people watching, and enjoying the green. 

Next was La Sagrada Familia, the unfinished cathedral designed by Gaudi. It is huge and is barely half way done. I want to return in 30 years to see the expansion and everything added on. The architecture was very unique and interesting to look at. Gaudi took inspiration from nature and it was very apparent in his architecture. The columns were like tree trunks and then the ceiling was designed like the canopy of all of the trees together. There was a museum in the basement explaining where the inspiration came from and also information about other artists that contributed to La Sagarada Familia. The sculptors of people surrounding the whole cathedral were in the cubist style and we awesome. they might have been my favorite part. 

We tried to go to the Picasso museum but the line was ridiculous. We later found out from our German friends at our apartment that it was free to get in because it was the first Sunday of the month.  

We found Internet at a restaurant 5 steps from the apartment and had a glass of wine and tapas while informing everyone that we were alive and had made it to Barcelona. 

For a late Spanish dinner we went down to the water and had delicious paella and sangria at Toc de Mar. We enjoyed the sangria thoroughly and called it a night after dinner. 

Chupitos Gratis?

Ok.. sorry that it has been way too long since I've updated this, but here is what happened over Spring Break...

Saturday Ben, Bryan, Jess and I head to the airport ready for Barcelona. Everything is fine for the most part. We get to Barcelona, find the AeroBus which takes us to Placa Cataluna, find the metro and make it to where we are meeting Rebekah to get our keys to our apartment. While looking for the Cosmos cafe, we come across a street festival/parade and watch some crack heads get in trouble with the cops right off of Las Ramblas... where our apartment is. It wasn't the best part of town but I didn't really feel uncomfortable either. 

After settling into our apartment and meetings the young German couple that was staying there also we walked up Las Ramblas and saw all of the "street performers" and vendors along the road. There were some very interesting people dressed in very extravagant costumes. One of the funniest ones was a man in all white sitting on a toilet with his pants at his ankles. There are also pet stores along the side of Las Ramblas... would you like to purchase a bunny as you stroll down the road?? 

Next on our list was dinner. We went to Princessa 23 which was recommended to us by Michael's friend Alex, who had been in Barcelona last semester. We found it relatively easily and had a good dinner with a pitcher on Sangria. It was good but really sweet. And then on to the adventure of the night... 

We wanted to go out at Port Olympic since it was a Saturday night, get a little clubbing in. 

Well it took us quite some time to get down to the beach. We took the longest way possible. 45 minutes of walking later past 100 restaurants and the ocean we made it to Port Olympic. We walked over to where the bars where for a little pregame and every single one of them was empty. It was around 10 and we were ready to go but no one else was there. We wandered around a bit more and then decided to start the party ourselves. Every bar was offering free shots -chupitos gratis- and we even talked them into giving the guys free shots! I think I only paid for 2 drinks the whole night. We bar hopped down the strip. Jess and I danced on a platform, made friends with some Germans that bought us roses, and then were told to get down by a security guard because the "professional" dancers were ready to perform...hahahaha We then gave our roses to some awkward guys at the next bar, got plenty of free drinks and were ready for some untz untz.... (the noise at a dance club). 

Every club had a 20 euro cover or there was a guest list. We tried multiple ways to get in. I tried some Spanish... etc, etc. Nothing seemed to work and being cheap college students that we are we did not want to pay 20 euros to get in. We walked down to the beach, because the club entrances were up top, just to see what was going on an ended up just walking into Club Opium. It was crowded and fun. We danced all night, listened to a "local" singer, sing and dance and had a good time. We walked home again ( we learned that the metro runs all night on Saturdays, after the fact...) ragged and beat to get up and have an adventurous Sunday. 

More to come soon! 

Quick update on the past week and a half in Prague

Saturday- An attempt to find a flea market with Jess, Keely and Doug. Let me tell you it was freezing cold, as always and precipitating something cold. We went looking for two different flea market. 

First stop- deserted flea market. Instead we found this huge store which was a cross between Lowes, Wal-Mart, and Big Lots. I was entertained but I'm not sure how the rest of the group felt about wandering around such a store. 

Second stop- NOTHING... absolutely nothing. The tour book said get off at this Metro stop and there will be a flew market... No, only a slightly sketchy part of town, which we par

tially explored. 

To make the day worthwhile Keely, Jess and I went to the Mucha exhibit right in Old Town Square. It was very interesting and inspiring for my Mid-Summers Night Dream project in studio. 

Saturday night was a fun night out at Lucerna. It was 80's/90's night. There was this large man that liked to dance in the middle of the stage and sing every word to every song. It was very entertaining. Our group of course hopped up on stage as well and danced there the rest of the night. 

Tuesday- Mardi Gras!! 

Almost the whole group went out for Mardi Gras/ Carnival. We ended up at this party/bar where 99% of the people there were American but of course we were the most festive group. We all had some crazy head piece on. It was a lot of fun and meant that Wednesday morning and class came very quickly. 

 

Wednesday and Thursday- multiple field trips

• Museum about Baroque Costume
• Chocolate Museum- our professor's son owns the Museum 
• Kafka Museum
• Fabric Store- with bolts and bolts of fabric. a whole warehouse full. Simply Amazing! 

Friday- getting ready for Barcelona!!!

Tuesday- The Adventures of Katelyn and Jess Continue

Monday was a normal day of classes...3 hours of animated film in two different languages that we couldn't understand, supposedly for inspiration for our Mid Summers Night Dream project. Not sure how much it helped, but thats besides the point.

Tuesday... The adventures continue. 

Lunch at OUT cafe, a yummy fresh chicken wrap with a salad. 

Next we headed towards the Charles Bridge. It was absolutely freezing cold and there weren't many vendors/ artists out. I saw one artist whose jewelry is sold at Beleza. It was pretty cool seeing it in Prague. I am going to go back when its warmer and there are more artists out and see if I can find new stuff for Beleza! 

After we trekked an hour up to the castle in the FREEZING cold we got to the ticket counter and were told everything was closing in less than an hour. The young ticket guy nicely sold me and Jess two voice guides for half of the children's price. So we just wandered around inside the castle walls which is more like a little town in again the FREEING cold and snow on the ground. It was great actually making it up to the castle but it was cold, cold, cold. We wouldn't have lasted more than an hour in the cold so our timing wasn't too bad.  

Of course when we left we wandered into a cute little cafe for some hot chocolate and the special dessert of the day which was AMAZING. Strawberries on top of heart shaped pancakes filled with sweet raspberry filling. It was a great way to thaw out and prepare ourselves for the cold journey home. 

We wandered through Mala Strana- Old Town, on the way home and walked past the cutest, quaintest shops and restaurants. We stopped in a quaint little grocery and got fresh veggies for dinner and picked out restaurants we wanted to go back to. 

We attempted to take the tram home because it was just too cold to keep walking. We got on the right tram but going to wrong way. We figured it out only 2 stops past where we got on which was good, so we back tracked but gave up on the tram and just made it to the closest Metro and found our way home from there. 

Just a little adventure to add to "The Adventures of Katelyn and Jess" 

3-day weekend..Oh wait I have one every weekend

Friday- Ski Trip # 2... Yes I know you are all jealous that I went skiing two weekends in a row. This trip we went with more people and it had been snowing that week so there was fresh snow which made it an awesome day. The group was Jess, Laurna, Ben, John, Jordan, Andrew, Lindsey, Tucker, David, Lauren, Jeremy, Bryan and myself. It was a big group but we could split up and still be with a enough people.

Since we were a bit more comfortable with the runs we decided to venture off into the woods which was the best part of the day. Vickers family, you would be so proud of my skiing ability!! No going down the mountain backwards butt in the air... Going through the woods led us to open areas that were not really marked or skied on much so we were skiing through at least a foot of powder. It was really fun. We all had dinner together when we got back at the "Orange Pizza Place" near where we live. 

Saturday- Happy Valentines Day! Jess and I made it to Bohemian Bagel by around 1:30 and decided on lunch instead of breakfast. Ran into half of our friends there. Bohemian Bagel is definitely the American kid hang out on the weekends. Its pretty hard to find a table on the weekends. After lunch we met Laura-Nelle and went to the top of the astronomical tower in the center of Old Town Square and got a great view of the city. It was partially sunny so the view was even better. We got to see all of the roof tops and spires. Next the three of us went to a Dali exhibit right in Old Town Square and saw a lot of interesting works. I didn't know he did had so many different styles. It was a pretty interesting exhibit. 

We all went out as a group, almost everyone was there. We are still trying to convince Doug and Tucker to come out with us. We all went to Chapeau Rouge which is off of Old Town Square and a bar/club. Its a crowded bar upstairs and there is a dance floor downstairs. They played strange techno no words music but we all had fun dancing to it. Laurna was especially entertaining that night. Its fun when we can all go out together, "Fashion Kids" and "Landscape Kids". 

Sunday- Jess, Keely and I "got up early" (10:30) and went to do laundry. The laundry mat isn't too far away but we did take a tram a few stops so it was funny with us carrying our laundry. It was also funny to see what people brought their laundry in. The guys that work there are really nice and speak English. They offered us tea and coffee and they have free Wi-Fi so you can relax while your laundry is going. Also there is this really cute sitting area with comfy red couches. I took a little nap after waking Michael up at 6am on a Sunday to chat for a bit... haha. The rest of the day was a typical Sunday. Going to studio, attempting to do work, catching up on Skype with everyone and maybe blogging.  

Something Educational...

Wednesday we went a branch of the National Museums at St. Agnes cloister. We went to see an exhibition on St. Wenceslas but also went to an exhibit on 14th century artwork. It was all religious works and very interesting. There were lots of Madonna and child pieces, many of which had blonde hair which I thought was interesting. My favorite works though were by Master Theodoric who was the court painter for Charles the IV. His painting were very interesting. They were portraits of important people and saints. There were interesting because the proportions were skewed and he painted outside of the frame and with 3-D texture. 

Thursday we designed a Valentines dress during studio. It could be in any style it just had to incorporate a heart. I 

designed something I would want to wear and 

feel good in. The heart was sort of an afterthought because I didn't know how to incorporate it after I had designed the dress, even though now I can pictures hearts on the belt. 

Just wanted to add those two details. 

back view

Week 3 in Prague

Monday we had class and then we all went bowling as a group. Not bowling like you would expect in the States, but it was a lot of fun once we got there. It was quite a trek to get there. We ventured out on our own because the adults who said they were coming weren’t there at the set time and headed to the unknown bowling alley. We took the Metro then walked through a strange neighborhood and had to cross what looked like a highway. After walking along side the highway we made it to the bowling alley, which was at the top of 5 flights of outside steps. It was in a sports resort type place and only had three lanes in a bar. It was very interesting and we all had a good time. After bowling and getting back to the neighborhood where our hotel is, we stopped in a few bars for a little bit then called it a night. Luckily I don’t have class on Tuesday as it ended up being a late night.

Tuesday, I did sit in on Czech class but then took it easy the rest of the afternoon. Laura-Nelle, Jessica and I did some exploring around Old Towne Square and then towards to river in the afternoon. We found a lot of old and interesting buildings but of course by the time we got there they were closed. We made note of places we wanted to go back to. The three  of us had Chinese take-out that night that we found during our adventure around town.

Tuesday night was Art Rice’s last night in Prague. He is a landscape professor and comes over to orient students and show them good places to eat and drink. We all already miss Art. So as a group we all went to a Jazz club call Agartha and listened to a really good jazz band for a few hours. It was really good music and a good night. Art said that listening to a jazz band for Czechs is like going to a good movie. We obviously stood out in the small crowd but I believe everyone enjoyed it. Afterwards some of us headed back with Art to his favorite bar called the “Shitting Cat” only to find it closed since it was past midnight and a Tuesday night. We ended up at a bar called Puerto Rico and had a few drinks. It was a good last night with Art and there were a few good toasts to the beginning of our journey and the end of his trip in Prague.

Wednesday and Thursday was more class and less going out. Jess and I cooked dinner both nights at the Institute. Some of us decided to participate in a “Secret Valentines” event and were making cards and such during the evening. It was a fun way to get everyone together and do something fun and relaxed. Everyone had a good time with it.