Piwo, pwwease.

This past weekend I went to Krakow, Poland. It was a very unique trip for me because it was both depressing & enjoyable at the same time. I know that sounds contradictory, but Krakow is a beautiful & interesting city in a country whose history is extremely dark. The first day we did a tour of the city center & castle, tour of the Jewish quarter, a tour of the Krakow Ghetto & went to the newly opened Oscar Schindler Factory museum.

A church a block from our hostel

Polish-Japanese Embassy?

Krakow Castle

Friends @ the castle

Sweet tree vines

Close up of the castle

Market hall

Main city square

Jewish quarter

Entrance to the oldest synagogue

Jewish cemetery

Schlinder's factory

The second day we went to Aushwitz-Birkenau. It is hard to sum up into words what I felt before, during & after visiting. Before we went, I was nervous. I knew the history of the Holocaust, especially the notorious Aushwitz & was almost dreading seeing the place up close. We went on a very dreary day when it had snowed the previous night. During the tour, I felt that the 2 camps had a very eerie, almost hopeless feeling. The bad weather further intensified my feelings because I could not have even imagined how freezing it would have been back then. However, at the end, I felt relief. I found a quote by George Santyana at the museum that I think sums up what I felt: "The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again." Overall, the fact that these camps have been turned into a museum & monument and that they receive over a million visitors each year, made me hopeful for the future.

Entrance to Auschwitz I

Auschwitz II (Birkenau)

Found eye glasses

Crematorium/gas chamber

On a lighter note, we did karaoke at the hostel & got to watch 3 drunk scottish guys sing some Elvis songs. Krakow also had a lot of cool bars and restaurants for extremely reasonable prices. The city is a lot smaller than Prague so it was very manageable to see it in such short of time. I'm not gonna lie, I almost like Polish food better than Czech. It's a (little) more vegetarian friendly, my favorite dish being Pierogis. I had them for dinner two nights in a row. They are similar to dumplings & can be filled with anything from meat to cheese to fruit to even walnuts & cottage cheese.

Karaoke

Close up of the Elvis impersonator

Pierogis

I'm off to Berlin tomorrow (at 7am) to meet up with best friends. Can't wait!

 - Charlotte

*Number of Czech Words I Learned Today: Many, Midterm is Monday...

Praha Days & Praha Nights

I've been in Prague for exactly a month from today! I've been in class for 2 weeks now. They are all going well & I feel like I am learning so much about Czech history, culture, & art. Not to mention, the classrooms are absolutely gorgeous:

I'm taking five classes including Elementary Czech Language, Gothic, Baroque, & Modern: Arts in Bohemia (an art history course focusing on Czech art/architecture), Life & Culture in a Totalitarian Regime (a really interesting class where we learn about the Czech's life under Nazism/Communism), Prague as a Living History (a WALKING tour around Prague where we get to learn about all of Prague's landmarks) & Czechs, Americans & Europeans: Cultural Contrast & Common Ground (a practicum type of class where we discuss with the international students about differences in our cultures and conduct interviews).

On Friday we did a day trip to Litomerice, a small town about an hour north from Prague. It was an adorable little village which had stayed intact after the war (like Prague) and therefore had a lot of old buildings. We did a walking tour of the town and then ate at a Czech restaurant located in a series of underground tunnels. After that we went to a castle/palace on the outskirts of town where our program director's parents used to be the landowners!

Litomerice

Town square

The city walls

The palace

Inside the palace

Disturbing statue in the palace...

Decorative ceiling (and an angled shot of myself)

The herd (sp?) of palace Peacocks!

Everybody on the trip!

Then afterwards our program took us to the most amazing wine tasting! Czech wineries mostly specialize in bilé vino (white wine, my favorite). The wine was delicious, a million times better than the cheap stuff I'd been buying in Prague. It was a great ending to a fantastic trip.

The next night we decided to make crêpes at our house for our friends birthday. It was a huge success! Sometimes it is just nice to stay in (far away from the heavy Czech food) and relax. Grocery shopping is so cheap here, which is also a plus!

Asparagus, potato & brocoli, and pepper & shroom crêpes

Yum!

Observations made so far:
-Hummus does not exist in Prague. With that said, I asked my Czech buddy, Jakub, and he directed me to this small obscure arabic store in which hummus comes in a can & kinda smells like fish. With that said, I've still been eating a lot of it.
-Prague, although mostly full of picturesque buildings & cute little cafes, is littered with KFC & TGI Fridays. Both are acronyms & I've asked several Czech people who have no idea what either stands for, but still cite them as some of their favorite restaurants.
-When addressing a Czech person, especially females, the context of the name within the sentence changes the ending. Whenever my Czech teacher points to me in class she calls me "Charlotto." In addition to that, all Czech female surnames must have the female endings. So even when talking about, lets say, Michelle Obama, on the news, she is referred to as "Michelle Obamová". Therefore, my official Czech name is Charlotto Hellmuthová.

Lately, I've been feeling like a true ex-pat here. Walking on the streets people will approach me for directions and I will (usually) be able to point them the right way! At stores, clerks address me in Czech even after I say "Dobry den" or "Ano" or "Dêkuju" (although quickly realize after my blank stare that my Czech is extremely limited.) I feel 100% comfortable with the transportation system, although lately since the weather has been nice, I choose to spend a little extra time just walking around...

Lennon Wall in Mala Strana

STL friends in Praha!

Wenceslas Square

Old Town Square in day

and at night.

Dobrou noc,

Charlotto

*Czech words I've learned today: The first 3 chapters of my Czech language book, I have a quiz tomorrow so wish me luck!

Budapeshhtin'

This weekend I went on a trip to Budapest in Hungary. It was an amazing weekend & I really enjoyed the city! Not only that, but I had my first official hostel experience, which was an all-around positive one. My friend & I stayed at Carpe Noctem Vitae, not too shabby for only $7 a night!

At first I was a little skeptical sharing a room with 4 other strangers. But it turned out fine, we had different roommates each night, Canadian, Korean, Spanish & even some Texans.

The first day we wandered around the city. Budapest has a similar layout to Prague, it is divided by a river (the Danube) which separates the castle/old district side (Buda) from the cosmopolitan/city side (Pest). I would consider Budapest Prague's larger, grittier cousin.

Synagogue

The National Museum

Outside the Grand Market Hall

We stopped by the Grand Market. It had a bunch of veggie & fruit produce, meats & pastries, clothing & street food vendors. I got some fried bread, or langos and it was DELICIOUS. It looks kind of like a pizza, but it tastes way better. 

Langos

More delicious food, this one's even called a "Strawberry charlotte"

We went on a free walking tour, which was the best & most interesting tour that I think I've ever been on. Our tour guide was really cool & had more unconventional things to say. However, it was absolutely freezing outside and started blizzarding midway.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Hanging out with a fat Hungarian man (too much Langos)

Ugly communist-era building

Buda castle

Parliament building

Yes, this is a DOG, its a Hungarian breed called Puli

One of the things everyone must do in Budapest is go to the baths. There are naturally heated hot bathhouses throughout Budapest. We went to the Szechenyi Baths which were located in the city park. It was amazingly relaxing & there were people of all ages and from so many different countries.

The entrance to the park

The bath house

The main outdoor bath!

Now I'm back in Prague & ready to start my 2nd week of classes. I love traveling, but I am so glad to be living in Prague & it feels good to be back at my apartment.

<3 Charlotte