Living it up in Praha

Things have been so busy around here that I find myself skipping meals throughout the day and instead venturing off to some new activity in this busy city. Every day I learn something new, make new friends, or discover something amazing that I would have never realized if I had never made this move to Prague. I have been in Europe now over two months and it's crazy to think that midterms are already sneaking up on us in a couple weeks. One of these weekends I am going to have to just settle down for a few days and get some real studying in to make up for all the studying I probably should have been doing all along. But hey, when your in Europe or some foreign country how can you not have the urge to travel to another country when you have four days off in a row. For me this is the best moment to see as much of Europe as I can and to make the most of it.

This past weekend I was in Amsterdam once again. I have decided Amsterdam to be my favorite city of all the city's I've been to so far. There is just something magical about that city, whether it be the kind people, city architecture, amazing history of the area, or endless amounts of activities to keep you busy with. I flew over with a few of my roommates for the Amsterdam Music Festival which is considered to be one of the biggest electronic music festivals in the world. It did not disappoint. The only negative factor about the trip was the long train ride back home. For you future travelers out there, if your to do a night train..Buy a couchette. A seat may seem like the cheapest way to go to get back, but you will find yourself in a bind trying to get a good nights sleep. Just my little piece of advice.

This coming weekend my roommates and I have decided to make one last trip out of the Czech Lands before we hammer down on studying the next week. Our travels will take us through the Slovakian capital of Bratislava..through Hungary again and to the Serbian capital of Belgrade. We thought we'd take a challenge and venturer further down into southeast Europe which may seem treacherous to many. We thought about making it even more adventourous and tried renting a car to drive down to Belgrade. However, Serbia is not part of the European Union and we were told by the company we weren't allowed to drive there. So the car will have to wait for another trip.

As soon as I hit Slovakia I will post pics!

Life in Prague Thus Far..

Its crazy to think how fast time has flown by already when I initially flew in on September 4th. Its already been a month and it feels like to has been so much shorter than that. However, this past month has been filled with different activities and wild nights that have definitely made for some memorable times. Classes officially started last week and with it will come homework and projects to eat up some of my free time. This past month I also made sure to get in as much traveling as I could before school started. My roommates and I have traveled through Vienna, Budapest, and Munich for Oktoberfest. Each city was beautiful and had it's own distinct features to help you remember the good times you had there. I still have a long list of places I'd like to visit this semester so we'll see how many I can get to.

Life in Prague is definitely interesting, especially living in a cramped dorm with five other guys. I currently have two other roommates from Colorado and three from Calgary one of whom I share a room with. We have an extremely small kitchen for the amount of people we have and of course have to utilize the space we have the best we can. Our first week we did a ton of shopping at the shopping center called Kauffland, where we bought all the home necessities, bathroom materials, and food. We also stopped by Ikea a few times to pick up new bed covers, sheets, and desk items since the material provided was awful. This included coming across dead bugs in the bedding to blood stained sheets. However, now that we have settled in things have gotten much more comfortable and everyones been able to adjust quickly.

The Czech food is very bland, not much taste, and all potato based. Czech food form what we have come across is mostly beef/pork with a side of sour cabbage and "dumplings" which are nothing like Chinese dumplings. It's basically a few pieces of moist bread that mix in with the dish sauce. There is also gulash in every restaurant which is a beef soup and tar tar a dish that consists of raw meat, something I personally have yet to try. My roommates and I have however scouted out other good restraunts to eat at if we are not stacking up on grocery at the local Albert's or Kaufflands. Its amazing how quickly we eat our food and have to go back out within a couple days to buy another shopping cart full of food. The grocery shopping though has made for some great cooking experiences between all the roommates as we have experimented and made some delicious meals. For restaurants we have come across some nearby places that fit our budget, provide a decent meal, and have good priced beer. The beer here is great and have a great amount of options for us to select from. What's more enticing is beer is a third of the price of water and Czech people here have a problem with just giving you straight faucet water. They will always bring you a glass bottle for which they charge you of course.

Czech people are a mixed sort. Obviously wherever you go you will come across both friendly and unfriendly people. However, the Czech people are definitely a more reserved and self absorbed type who keep strictly to themselves. No one socializes on the trams or tries to engage with others. I believe it has to do with the cultural history of the country, having gone through so many social changes especially with the Communistic control. Many Czech people don't speak English either, especially the older generations who speak to you in some mixed type of sign language with each question you ask them. The younger generation are a bit more open and enjoy getting to practice their English when they have the chance. My Czech Language class will definitely come to use here this semester. A majority of my classes don't include Czech students which is a bit of a bummer, but at the same time I get to meet many other foreign students. I have made many new friends here and have met many other US students as well. Colorado definitely dominates as the state with the most students studying here.

I will update soon with photos of some of my journeys to the other countries soon and life in Prague again when I find a few mins to spare.

Reunion in Portugal (Originally Aug 29 - Sept 4)

It had been about a year since I was last dorming with my Portuguese roommates in Vilnius, Lithuania. That was my first time really living the dorm life with anyone so it was quite a new experience. Also for it being my first time in Europe and studying abroad it made for some great memories and remarkable friends. Living with three US students and five Portuguese students for a summer really makes you immerse quickly into a new lifestyle. Since I was coming through Europe again I decided to make a small trip to Porto, Portugal to visit them.

When I landed in Porto I was fortunate enough to have my friend Pedro pick me up from the airport. From there he toured me around the city of Porto for a while before taking me to his hometown Vila do Conde which had a beautiful seaside. He introduced my to a local Porto speciality Franceshina which was delicious. He was actually leaving to study in Lithuania again the next day, so I returned to Porto that evening to check out the city before meeting up with another Portuguese friend. The next day I spent exploring the historic old town of Porto which was beautiful and different than the other European cities I had seen. From the artwork to city architecture it was refreshing to walk through a totally different environment.

The next day my good friend Tiago came by to pick me up. Tiago was very kind to give me both a place to stay and transportation around the city during my stay in Porto. I couldn't have asked for a better tour guide as he showed me all the local hotspots and introduced me to many new people and food. Each night was filled with some new adventure or crazy party. That weekend also happened to be his parent's 25th wedding anniversary and he invited me to join in the celebration. His parents were great hosts and made sure to give me the full Portuguese experience from trying out various wines, to Portuguese dancing, and to having lunch on the Douro River.

Tiago also showed me part of his family's business which included growing kiwi's. We drove through his classic Volkswagen beetle and headed out to see the countryside of Porto which was really remarkable. From the old town homes and dirt roads it was definitely had a uniqueness of its own. I had never seen a kiwi farm before and he gave me the full lowdown on how the farm worked. As we were leaving the kiwi farm we also ran into a forest fire that had just started burning. I had never been that close to a forest fire before and it was definitely intense to see how fast forest fires can grow. After finally finding a road out that wasn't out Tiago realized his car was having issues. We realized on the highway that it was just about out of gas and hurried to find a station. Luckily, we reached one in time and made our way back to the city to see his school and have some scrumptious seafood snacks.

We were also able to see another one of our friends, Joao who studied with us in Lithuania last year as well. He joined us in doing activities around the city, having dinner, and showing me around the Port Wine district on my last day in Porto. We also joined a Sandeman tour where we learned some of the Port Wine history in the region and a little tasting as well of course. It was great being able to see some great friends once again and on my last night had a great night out. It was September 3rd and I was to fly out of Lisbon to Prague on Sept 4th. I took a bus out that morning to Lisbon and stayed in a hostel for a day before flying out the next day to Prague!