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!!!