Praha, Vienna, Pilsen, Oh My!

Hey Everybody

I don't even know where to begin.  The last week or so has been a whirlwind.  I went to the ballet in Prague, my sister Marie came to visit, I went to Vienna, Austria for three days, and I went to Pilsen, the fourth largest city in Prague, with my classmates for a day trip.  So let's begin with the Opera.  A week or so ago my roommate Amanda had an extra ticket to the ballet at the State Opera House and asked if I would like to go, of course my answer was yes!  We, along with some of her friends, went to see Phantom of the Opera as a ballet.  I guess Phantom of the Opera was originally a book, then made into a ballet, and then made into a musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber.  The ballet was amazing but the theatre itself was even more amazing.  We had a great night and great seats, I will definitely be going back.  Below is a picture of Amanda and I before we headed to the theatre.  We dressed up for the occasion :)

Now I will skip ahead to Pilsen because that is the order of the photos (haha).  Pilsen is a city about an hour outside of Prague.  It is most famous for its Pilsner Brewery, one of the oldest and largest in the world.  My classmates and I took a tour of the brewery, which was awesome, then had a traditional Czech lunch at the brewery.  We spent the afternoon taking a walking tour of Pilsen.  Below is a picture of a beer vending machine.  I had to have proof that such a thing exists.  For about a dollar you could buy a beer before heading on the tour.  The Czech Republic is so great!
After the tour we climbed St. Bartholamew (wrong spelling) Cathedral.  Its in the middle of the Pilsen town square and the climb itself was an adventure.  It was 301 steps of death-defying stairs.  I honestly was not sure if I was going to survive the excursion, especially back down.  The picture below if of the view we had from the top of the church steeple.  It was beautiful.
Here is another picture from the brewery tour.  It is nothing special but I liked the sign.
Now, we can move on to my three days in Vienna with Marie and Matt.  The three of us took a 4 hour bus ride to Vienna.  I hoped that Marie's german-speaking background was going to help us out, but it didn't.  Luckily, most people spoke english and we had no major problems.  Vienna is a huge city with amazing history.  The picture below is probably of the most famous building in the city, the Hofburg Palace.  This palace housed the Hapsburg family for over 600 years.  Today the palace is used to house to many exhibits and museums.  My favorite exhibits were that of the Crown Jewels and Coronation Outfits and the Imperial Apartments.  The apartments were furnished with Emperor Franz Joseph and wife Cecilia's possessions.  It was so cool to walk where they walked and see how they lived.
This is just a funny picture.  On our first day in Vienna Marie and I passes a perfume store named Schmidt.  We thought it was so great so we took a picture below it.  Yeah for German heritage!
This is a picture from inside the art museum in Vienna.  It is of a room filled with sculptures of heads from the Roman Empire.  It was actually a very weird and creepy looking exhibit so I felt the need to capture it on film.
At the same museum there is a coin collection. (Dad, I think that you would love this exhibit)  The coolest coin in the whole exhibit is the one million dollar coin made by the Canadian mint a few year ago.  It is made out of pure gold.  It was so big and so cool, but I do not understand the reason behind making such a coin.  
Below is a picture from the silver collection of the Hapsburg family stored inside the Hofburg Palace.  This is a picture of a portion of a pure gold centerpiece.  The piece itself is over 35 meters long.  Although is may appear gaudy, it was actually quite beautiful.  I cannot imagine how much it is worth today.
While walking around Vienna I decided that I should try to use the self-timer on my camera to capture some photos of me with the buildings, below is one of my best attempts.  I am standing in front of the butterfly and botanical garden exhibit behind the Hofburg Palace main entrance.

I now must get back to studying for my midterms.  I leave on Thursday for my spring break trip to Italy and France.  I hope all is well.  Go Badgers! Go Louisville! Go Marquette!  

Karlovy Vary

Here is a picture of me, Kayla, Cheryl, and Maja looking over the town.  Thanks for taking the picture Renata!

This is a picture of my friend Cheryl walking down one of the streets of Karlovy Vary.

This is a picture of the hot springs in Karlovy Vary.  This spring shot up about almost three stories.  There were other springs that you could drink from.  We tried the hot spring water, it tasted like warm, sulfur-like well water.   Let's just say, none of us were going back to drink more.

The spa that pampered all us girls.  It was an absolutely beautiful spa that cannot be describe in words.
Does this not look like a fairytale city?  I swear these are real buildings!

This past weekend, Thursday through Saturday, I spent time in a small town west of Prague called Karlovy Vary.  It is a famous spa town known for its annual international film festival in May.  I went with my friend Cheryl, a neighbor in my apartment building, and we spent the weekend walking around, shopping, and most definitely relaxing.  We spent 4 hours on friday at a beautiful spa in the heart of the town.  Cheryl and I had massages, oxygentherapy, baths, and spent a great deal of time hanging out in the the hot springs pool and laying around the spa.  It was unbelievably relaxing and definitely worth the $70 fee.  The  cheap price was thanks to the fact that we went in the off season.  The hotel we stayed at, the Palatin, was also extremely nice and only cost 38 euro a night for a double room.  It was a cheap and relaxing three-day weekend.  Three of my friends, Renata, Maja, and Kayla joined us in Karlovy on Friday and spent Saturday at the same spa as Cheryl and I.  We took the bus to Karlovy Vary, it was about a 2 hour trip each way and the bus only cost $14 round trip.  On the bus they showed a movie and provided free drinks, no complaining here! :)  

When Cheryl and I got home on Saturday afternoon I unpacked and did some homework.  There were so many people visiting this weekend, including Kristen's boyfriend, Kate's sister, and Nicole's friend that I felt a little overwhelmed.  The house was packed, loud, and busy.  I stayed in on Saturday night as everyone else went out.  I was too tired and decided that watching a movie instead was a necessity.  Sunday I learned how to make a copy of a key, as my key broke in the lock to the front door, did some grocery shopping, and finished up my homework for the following week.  I will spend thursday and friday of this week working on a big paper and presentation that is due the week after spring break.  

Marie, my sister, and Matt come on Saturday morning, so more sightseeing and museum trips are definitely in my future.  We will be heading to Vienna the following week for a few days together before the two of them head to Croatia for the remainder of their vacation. It will be nice to have some family around, and I think that some of my homesick roommates will be more than jealous.  Although I am not homesick, having some Marie-time will be nice.  I hope the rain stays away while the two of them are in town, maybe the sun will even peak through the daily cloud-filled sky for them, but I doubt it.  Despite the gloomy weather, the city never fails to amaze me.  Its beauty is never ending and new experiences are always popping up.  I am officially in my second month of this adventure and am sad that it is going by so fast.  I am enjoying every day to its fullest while trying to discover a way to slow down time. :)  I hope this finds each of you well.  Love from Praha - Anna

A visit from a friend!

This is a picture of a stained glass window inside St. Vitus Cathedral on the Prague Castle grounds.  These windows are phenomenally intricate and amazingly beautiful.  I think that Uncle John would enjoy the craftsmanship of these windows.

This is one of many photographs I have of the Jewish Cemetery.  This photo is just a glimpse of what this small, but vast, area looked like.

This is just a picture overlooking the Vltava River, Prague Castle, and St. Vitus Cathedral

Hello-

Well another week has flown by in Prague and I have been here for almost a full month.  This week was full of celebrations, reminiscing about the past, and new experiences.  Two friends had 21st birthdays this week in Prague and the festivities of lent began all around the city.  On Fat Tuesday we celebrated a birthday by going to a club with a masquerade theme.  On the way home my roommates and I noticed that something was being set-up in the Old Town Square.  The next morning, Ash Wednesday, we realized that lent festivities had taken over Prague.  Old Town Square had been turned into a mini-medieval town.  There are semi-permanent vendors and almost a constant array of bands, dancers, and performers hanging out in the street.  Everyday since Wednesday the square has been filled with people eating, drinking, and celebrating.  We don't know when it ends but we are assuming it last through Easter Monday.

A friend from home, Sarah Johnson, came to visit for the weekend.  On friday we went to dinner with some friends and then out to an underground pub.  Saturday we spent seeing the sites.  I took her to the John Lennon Wall, the Bridge, the Square, the Castle, and everywhere in between.  Saturday night we attempted to find U Fleku, one of the most famous beer halls in Prague, but upon arrival we were saddened to find it closed.  Instead, we went to the cocktail lounge called Nebe across the way.  

The following morning we woke up and headed for the Jewish Quarter.  A group of us toured the synagogues and the Jewish Cemetery.  This was one of the most emotional sites I have ever seen.  This cemetery was established in the 15th century and burials took place until 1787.  Today, the cemetery contains 12,000 headstones, but the number of people buried their is up to 100,000.  The size of the cemetery was not large enough so earth was brought in to make room for more graves, so while I walked the path I was truly walking over thousands of tombs buried below the surface.  The experience, was to say the least, humbling.  It is a site that I hope all people get to see one day.

As the weekend ended and the cold I was developing got stronger, a nap and hot chocolate was the cure I needed.  I woke up this morning, endured 6 hours of history class and I am now ready for a box of kleenax and my bed.  I hope you are not freezing or drowning in the snow but I have an inkling you are. Love. Anna