PRAGUE.

Haven't blogged about last Friday yet, so here is a brief overview: had class til noon again today. Afterwards, I met some exchange students from Oregon that are currently taking classes at the same University as our group. They were really sweet, and seem much more qualified to be studying in Europe than we are, considering most of them have a substantial background in German; one girl has been taking German for 6 years. I didn't feel inferior AT ALL... :) Lunch at the Naschmarkt, where I got falafel, Polish pickles, and a loaf of bread with tomato hummus. Not a bad combination! One of the Oregon students we had just met 20 minutes prior met back up with us at lunch and we spent the next few hours around Vienna. I had to go back to the British bookshop to purchase a book for my Humanities class research report. My intention was to do a paper based on the history of European cuisine, but since that topic is far too broad, I decided to instead focus my attention on Julia Child's and the effect she has had on American food/cooking. Hopefully, it will be interesting and an enjoyable paper to write! After returning to the hotel, Mrs. Swann and I ventured to the nearest pharmacy to get my thyroid prescription figured out...basically my insurance company wouldn't allow my endocrinologist to prescribe me more than one month's supply of pills at a time, despite the fact that I would be out of the country for three months. Thankfully, the pharmacy here was easily able to supply with 100 pills for only 9 euro! I went running at the beautiful Belvedere palace again today. The weather was breezy, sunny, and mid 70's. Back to the hotel where my roommates and I organized our clothes and luggage then the rest of the night was spent relaxing and hanging out. Late Friday night, I got to talk to Megan on the phone for the first time since I've been out of the country. I miss her and all my other family and friends very much! We went to bed early anticipating a great rest of the weekend in Prague!

We left Vienna Saturday morning around 9am. We were introduced to Daniel, our wonderful travel agent/ tour guide (for out of the country excursions). The bus ride to Prague is approximately 4 hours, which was not bad at all, considering I slept some of the time (even though the rode was EXTREMELY bumpy), journaled some, and talked the rest of the way. Once in Prague, our first stop was to the public restrooms, which require a 50 cent euro piece to enter (ridiculous, I know), and then to the bank to exchange some money from euros to Czech crowns. Kat and I just happened to be at the back of the line at the bank exchanging currency (as we were told to do), next thing we know, our entire group had left!! For the first 30-45 minutes, we were both freaking out because we had no way to communicate with anyone in our group. We were in a foreign city with no idea what/where anything was! After a while, we realized the only thing we could do was enjoy the city with each other and rendezvous back with the group at 730...6 hours from the time we were left. We had a great time, to say the least. First, we scouted out a great place for lunch, a cafe near the downtown district of Prague. We split a vegetable quiche, garden salad, and mozzarella cheese pizza.  THEN, we splurged on dessert by sharing a chocolate mousse cake, chocolate cookie, strawberry torte, and a chocolate eclair. It was incredible. Our bill was pretty pricey, but well worth it! After lunch, we continued exploring the city, where we ventured into one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen: the Basilica of James (featured in this post). I honestly could have stayed all day in this church. The ornamentation and decorative style of the church was more elaborate than anything I have previously seen. Then, Kat and I started exploring our shopping options, winding up in a Patagonia outlet store for at least an hour. She and I both bought new fleeces for about $50 which originally cost $200. We were happy. That was my first clothing purchase since I've been in Europe, and I would like to think it was a good investment. After, we began to hear techno music playing throughout the city. Little did we realize that an anarchy festival/parade was overtaking the streets of downtown Prague. This was quite an experience. Pictures do not do justice to how ridiculous and obnoxious some of the participants were dressed. Entertaining to say the least. I wish all of you could have experienced this. During this festival, we also witnessed a live modeling photoshoot, which was also something I have never experienced. Although we were aliens in a new land, Kat and I made the most of the time we had together (alone) in Prague, and I wouldn't change a thing about that day! We met back up with the rest of our group, drove to our hotel for the evening, and had a great "family" conversation with the Swanns, Andy, Filchak, Kirk, and Kat. Bedtime around 1130.

Today we had our wake-up call at 730, delicious continental breakfast at our hotel in the suburbs of Prague, and then headed out for our official tour of the historic and beautiful Prague. Daniel arranged for us to have a professional tour guide, named Ava who was not only informative, but very interesting and easy to communicate with. Although I can not recall all the sights we were shown, these are the highlights: Charles University, the oldest university in central Europe, Prague Castle, one of the biggest castle districts in the world (nearly 570 meters in length). Also, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Royal Palace, and a mountain overlook to see a gorgeous view of the entirety of the city. After the tour, we had our last two hours free in the city to eat lunch and finish exploring. Lunch: chicken kebab in baguette. We also went to Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter, which I wish I had been able to spend more time in. Great few days in Prague. The city is just beautiful and I feel like I accomplished a lot as far as sight-seeing for the short time we were there. The bus ride back was more difficult than the first because my motion sickness began to sink in. Sleeping+ a full bottle of Sprite nursed me back to health within a few hours. Now, we are back home in Vienna and have been working on some German homework and studying for our second Humanities test that will be taken tomorrow morning. All is well. Good afternoon/good evening depending on what corner of the world you are viewing this from!