One Month

Hello McDonough, it has been a busy few weeks since I last updated my blog. 

I have started class, traveled, and started getting adjusted to living in Prague.I apologize for not posting so long, so this is going to be a pretty long post.

Classes are going well, but are totally different than in the U.S. For starters, the classes are only once a week and last 3 hours. I don't think this is how most European universities operate, but it is nice only having class through Thursday so I can travel. Another odd thing is that grades are made up of fewer assignments. For a couple of my classes, we really only have a midterm and final paper. I know all classes are set up differently, but it is kind of odd not really having tests or quizzes. The weirdest thing to adjust to has been that the professors are almost always late to class. Most of my professors show up right on time to 15 minutes late every day, which I am definitely not used to at Marietta. One of my professors showed up 15 minutes late to class, talked about the field trip we were going on for 5 minutes and was still worried about people arriving late and missing the class. I thought it was very odd that she was so worried about students that would have been at least 20 minutes late to class because you'd be in real trouble showing up to class 20 minutes late at Marietta. While in Prague, I am in a couple of art classes so I get to go on field trips around the city to look at art and architecture which has been really great.

So far, I have traveled to Brno, Brussels, Vienna, and Budapest

I traveled to Brno the second weekend I was here. Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic and about an hour and a half from Prague. I went there just for a day to explore a bit with a couple of friends.

I walked around the streets a bit and up to the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.

Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul

We also heard about an art gallery in Brno that we decided to check out. It was pretty interesting because the exhibit they had was about Czech housing estates under the communist regime. It was fascinating to see how much communism influenced the urban planning of the country and how you can still see signs of it today. That exhibit just made me think more about the Czech Republic's history, especially because it can be easy to forget some of their history when Prague is so nice.
 

 I also visited Brussels, Belgium on February 16th through the 18th. Just walking around Brussels made me realize how little diversity Prague has. Prague has become more diverse recently, but its still mainly Czechs and almost entirely white. Brussels is still significantly less diverse than a lot of other big cities, but its way more than Prague. Brussels was also having a large celebration for Chinese New Year, so there were a ton of decorations for that up throughout the city. I hear that there was also a lot going on throughout Prague for Chinese New Year, but I didn't see any of it personally.

One of my Czech professors was actually talking about Brussels the week after I came back from my visit. He said that a lot of Europeans, including Czechs, have a negative impression of Brussels because it's seen as full of bureaucrats. He explained that its seen this way because Brussels is the home of the European Commission which is a branch of the European Union. I don't know a ton about the European Union or their bureaucracy, but I've always thought it was something Europeans liked. It was just interesting to hear a Czech's perspective on bureaucracy and the European Union. Bureaucrats or not, they're got some really pretty architecture in Brussels.

I went to a lot of the common sites throughout Brussels. The Grand Square is really beautiful and has the Museum of the City of Brussels, and Town Hall. Grand Square is really pretty because all the buildings on the square have gold embellishments on them.

Not far from the Grand Square is "Manneken Pis" which in English translates to "Little Man Pee." Manneken Pis is one of the best know symbols of Brussels, but its an odd one. Its a two foot statue of a boy peeing and draws massive crowds. It's supposive to symbolize Belgians' sense of humor and its definitely an odd landmark.

After seeing Manneken Pis, I saw the Royal Palace which is the official palace of the King and Queen, although they don't live there.

Not far from the Royal Palace was the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium which I also visited. The fine arts museum was one of my favorite things in Brussels even though I'm not that into art. It was a massive 8 floor building full of art from between the 15th and 21st century. After spending a couple hours at the fine arts museum, I went across the street to the Museum of Musical Instruments which had some interesting exhibits too. After that I headed to the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon. These were two really pretty churches, and I was able to see some of the architectural characteristics I had been learning about in class.

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

Finally, my roommate and I just walked around Brussels some more to see the city a bit without having any specific destination in mind. The next day we really wanted to see the Atomium and make our plane back to Prague. The Atomium is a giant model of an atom built for the 1958 Worlds Fair in Brussels.

Atomium

It's really nice because from the top you can all of Brussels. Included with admission to the Atomium is admission to the Art and Design Museum, so we also checked that out as well. After seeing that and getting lunch, we caught a bus back to the airport and flew back to Prague.

View from the Atomium

February 22nd through 25th I was in Vienna to Budapest. After missing my train, I took a bus to Vienna on Thursday night. It was less than a 4 hour bus ride, so I got in late Thursday and met up with some other friends that arrived earlier in the day. Nobody had eaten dinner, so we went to the cheapest place we could think of that was still open at midnight, McDonalds. I don't know if it should be comforting or concerning, but the food tasted the exact same in Vienna as it does in the United States.

The first place I went to in Vienna was the Schönbrunn Palace which is the former summer residence of the monarchs of the Austrian empire. The palace was giant and lavish, and it covered a lot of Austrian history focusing on Franz Joseph.

After touring the palace, I walked around a bit until lunch when I tried Wienerschnitzel. Next, I walked around a bit more and went in the St. Stephen's Cathedral.

After walking around the city center for a while, Itook the metro to the Belvedere castle. When I got there it was already closed, so I just walked around the grounds.

After about 36 hours, I got on a bus to head to Budapest.

I got in to Budapest at about 2pm on Saturday. After checking in to the AirBnb, I headed out to the Szechenyi Thermal Bath. Budapest is well know for it's thermal baths that are all over the city. The Szechenyi bath that I went to dates back to 1913 and is one of the oldest still operating in the city, but the baths have been a tradition in Budapest since the time of the Roman Empire. They're a huge attraction for tourists, but plenty of Hungarians also go to them. Many Hungarian doctors even prescribe visits to the baths, and they offer other spa services inside too.  It was right around freezing when we got to the baths, but the water was 27°C of 80°F. It sounds really weird to sit in a pool with hundreds of strangers from all around the world, but it was strangely relaxing.

I spent about 2 hours relaxing at the bath before changing back to my clothes to see some more of the city. We walked towards Heroes' Square which has the statues of the leaders of the 7 Hungarian tribes and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

After seeing that we walked back and saw the City Park Ice Rink and Vajdahunyad Castle.

We walked back to the Chain Bridge which connects Buda and Pest. After taking some pictures of the Bridge and the Buda Castle from across the river we headed to dinner.

We found a Hungarian restaurant and tried Hungarian goulash. Goulash is very common in both Hungary and the Czech Republic, and both versions tasted very similar. We were seated in the basement of the restaurant and the waiter put on 80's American music from YouTube which was very strange and funny.

Then next morning I went back to the Chain Bridge and crossed it to visit the Buda Castle.

We took the funicular up to the Castle and walked around. It was really cool being able to see the whole city from the hill and walk around a bit of the 1.8 square mile castle grounds.

After taking the funicular back down and walking around the city some more, I headed back to the airport to return to Prague.

I've been visiting a lot of places around Europe, but I'm also still learning about Prague and the Czech Republic. I'm taking two art classes, so I've been able to go on trips with those classes and learn about some important Czech sites and their history. Most of my professors are Czech, so it's great being able to hear them explain Czech history.

I've gotten a lot of comments on my other blog about how I descried Czech people on public transportation. While the Czech's are definitely more reserved and quieter on public transportation, it's not like they're cold or rude. From talking to Czech people at the metro stop, to the farmers market, to at the grocery story, they have been nothing but nice and helpful. I've also gotten to ride public transportation in other countries, and they pretty much act the same. Public transportation has also been pretty great in Brussels, Vienna, and Budapest too.

I've also been in 4 European airports so far, and they're very different than American ones. Security is a lot more relaxed, and most airports don't even require you take off your shoes. Also, they don't announce your gate until right before the plane is boarding. In the United States you can wait at your gate for hours before your flight takes off. In all the European airports I've been to you wait in one large terminal waiting area, then around 20 minutes before boarding your gate is announced. Additionally, boarding never actually starts when its supposed to. Boarding really starts right around when the flight is supposed to take off, then the flight leaves about 20 minutes after its supposed to do. Even though all the flights leave late, mine have all still arrived on time or early. It's not a huge difference, but the airports have definitely been an odd adjustment coming from the United States.

Charles Bridge from across the river

Old Town from the top of the Astronomical Clock.
This is the Church of Our Lady before Tyn

Old Town Square from across the astronomical clock

Charles Bridge from the Vltava River

The edge of the Charles Bridge and the bridge tower from the Vltava River

Prague from the Vltava River

Prague from the Vltava River

The Metronome in Letná Park just up a hill and across from the Vltava River. It was built in 1991 to replace a statue of Joseph Stalin that was demolished in 1962

Prague from Letná Park

Diky,
Ashley