Easter Weekend

Well today on our trip to southern Moravia, I was blessed with fertility for the year by some young Czech boys. I was chased with a long stick decorated with ribbons and was spanked by some boys. They thought it was so funny and it probably was. This is truly one of the funniest Czech traditions I have witnessed and learned of. Some boys chased us and smacked all of the girls with their sticks, but only after politely asking our guide, Tereza, if it was okay. It was all in good fun and tradition. Easter Monday is when the young boys typically go to the homes of young girls they know and spank them with this willow twigs, in exchange for some candy. I believe that when the boys are older they spank the girls in exchange for some Slivovice, or plum brandy. Only in the Czech Republic :) Spending Easter Monday in such small Czech towns has been wonderful, and the weather here is absolutely beautiful today. Southern Moravia also happens to be wine country so I would be lying if I said I wasn't on the train drinking Moravian wine while writing this right now.

We spent the rest of the Easter weekend in Prague and Dresden, Germany. As always, our travels were interesting and so fun. In Prague, we visited the Prague Castle and the Jewish Quarter, as well as touring the city in the meantime. Having seen both of these sites before, I was still really interested to hear about each from Jan and Martin. They have so many interesting facts and knowledge about every attraction we visit. My favorite part of being in Prague this weekend was the Easter markets and going to Easter mass at St. Vitus Cathedral. The mass may have been in Czech, but being in such a beautiful (and very, very cold) church was an experience. The food and atmosphere at the Easter markets was wonderful as well. Music was always playing and there were desserts, sausages, and all sorts of traditional Czech foods. I has sausage, some sort of grilled smoked cheese with cranberry sauce, mulled wine, langoš (fried bread with garlic and cheese), and probably some Czech pivo throughout the weekend. I also got to spend some time with Thea while in Prague, which was great.

The Lennon Wall in Prague

On St. Charles Bridge

The Easter Markets in Old Town Square. Where you could always find me with a sausage and a beer :)

The Easter Markets at Náměstí Míru

A life changing "grilled cheese" and mulled wine from the Easter Markets.

A few of us at Prague Castle after having lunch and beers at Strahov Monastery. My favorite brewery in Prague!

Happy I finally got to go to mass at St. Vitus Cathedral, even if it was in Czech :)

We had a lot of fun in Prague too. I made everyone go to Lucerna, a music club that plays 70's and 80's music and videos every weekend. If you know me, you know that this is right up my alley. I'm just glad that the Czech's love ABBA as much as I do. We went back to a great underground pub called U Sudu, with cheap Czech beers. We definitely had our fair share of fun in Prague.

On Saturday, we took a train to Dresden, Germany. I had no expectations of what Dresden would be like. I knew that it had been heavily bombed during WWII, so I expected a more modern city than what I saw. All of the buildings in the city center had been rebuilt exactly as it was before. There is a beautiful Lutheran cathedral that has been rebuilt using some of the original stones, mixed in with new stones from after the bombing. It was a beautiful city. Dresden was also the seat of a German empire so we visited the Zwinger Museum, which had a lot of historical art. Some of us went to the gallery while some went to a museum of Turkish armory. We had delicious pasta for lunch, and some traditional German desserts of course.

Taylor and I had a delicious French breakfast at Cafe Louvre before heading to Dresden. A Viennese coffee, croisannt and Camambert cheese, and an omelet :)

The beautiful Lutheran cathedral in Dresden. The darker stones are original, whereas the rest of the church was reconstructed after the bombing of Dresden in WWII. Dresden was the home of Martin Luther so the cathedral is especially beautiful.

Views from the top of the cathedral.

Today in Znojmo and Mikulov has been absolutely magical. The small villages were quiet because of the Easter weekend, but it was such a great change coming from Prague, which is always so packed and busy. We wandered around Znojmo, and saw the church and castle, which had wonderful views of the city and the country side. We found one of the few restaurants that was open for lunch and had wine and schnitzel. It was delicious. We then headed to Mikulov, where we saw a Jewish Cemetery and hiked to the top of holy hill, which was breathtaking. We drank Moravian wine and had such a great time in the Czech country side. Some of us even commented that seeing the country side reminded us of home. It's no wonder that so many Czech's settled in Nebraska, with the landscape being so similar.

Views from the castle in Znojmo. Znojmo is a small Czech village in the southern part of Moravia, aka wine country :)

We climbed to the top of Holy Hill in Mikulov and had wonderful views of the town. 

Enjoying some Moravian white wine at the top! 

"No one leaves southern Moravia sober." - Ann

The church in Znojmo

Lunch. Which consisted of white wine, pork schnitzel, chicken schnitzel, and fried cheese. Really healthy.

The "historical drinking team"

What a wonderful day in Moravia :)

Overall, this last week in Olomouc, Prague, Dresden, and southern Moravia has been magical, as Europe always is to me. I really enjoyed this last week as we got to be more independent in Olomouc and even on our field trips. We have plenty of time to explore which I really enjoy. I am still loving this opportunity and can't wait for the weeks to come. A short week of class and Budapest next weekend!

Our classes were cancelled last Monday, so on a whim, some of us decided to explore Bratislava for the day! Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia. This dial shows the distance between Olomouc and Bratislava.

The Blue Church in Bratislava

The view from the castle.

The castle looked beautiful lit up at night.

My delicious Slovakian lunch. I'm not 100% sure what it was but it tasted great.

na shledanou nebraska

Found this gem while scrolling through my Tumblr feed in the Chicago airport. Here's my blog where you can listen to me gush for the next three months about how much I love everything that is going on around me. I am extremely excited to begin this experience in Olomouc, Czech Republic!

After a long day of flying, I was ecstatic to be back in Prague. There is just something about that city, that I absolutely love. It never gets old. This time around, I got to stay in Thea & Rudi's new flat and even show the city to a few of my friends, David and Hana. We took a walking tour of the city, hit the pubs and clubs, and ate a lot of good food in our time in Prague. We learned a lot and had a lot of fun, and I was happy to have them there with me. One night at the flat, we even made homemade schnitzel and spätzle, which is a traditional German dish with homemade noodles and stinky mountain cheese. It was amazing. I was really thankful that I had my sister living in Prague, not only because I got to crash on her couch, but she was hospitable to my friends and helped show everyone the ropes, even those from UNK that I had just met. 

During our week in Prague we hit all the sights, like the Prague castle, the Lennon Wall, the Jewish Quarter, and Old Town Square. I was surprised by the amount of tourists in the city this time around, though. The city is just as crowded as when I was here in June, but I am thinking it's because of the Easter season. 

Found my favorite beer, Matuška!

St. Charles Bridge

Hana and I on St. Charles Bridge

Old Town Square

The Easter markets in Prague, and Olomouc as well, are so cute. They build little wooden houses, and each one sells sausages and all kinds of delicious dishes and desserts. I even tried the mulled wine which was the perfect way to keep warm. The Czech's love their Easter traditions, even though they are a very secular country. They say that the young Czech boys make a long stick out of twigs and decorate it, and go from door to door and whip the Czech girls on the butt, haha. And the girls paint eggs, which you can find in all of the markets. They say that Easter was one of the only celebrated religious holidays during the Communistic times, but they called it something like "The First of Spring" so the traditions lived on.

Had to have a sausage at the Easter Markets 

Thea and I at the Easter Markets in Old Town Square

Next, it was time to head to Olomouc. I was so excited. I knew my sister had saved this Czech city for me to discover on my own, and with all of things I had heard about it, I was ready. We were all so tired on the bus but we ended up talking the whole way about how excited we were. When we finally arrived, a group of us just literally dropped our bags in our rooms and headed to town to meet some local Czech students that would be showing us around the city for a beer. We had fun just talking about what the semester would look like and getting to know each other.

This first week was full of tours, history, orientation meetings, sight seeing, welcome parties, food, beer and one very fun Olomouc style pub crawl. I think Taylor and I, my roommate and partner in crime, finally unpacked our suitcases just a couple days ago. We just wanted to see and do everything., including learning about the city from our professors and leaders, but also from the locals. We definitely love the nightlife in Olomouc. It's been a blast. The students here are so welcoming to us, it's so fun getting to know them and asking them questions about their lives and for advice.

Where I have class!

View of the town square from the town hall

The cathedral

Taylor and I at Holy Hill Basilica

Dr. Pepernik giving us a tour of the city

Olomouc, as a city, is a such a gem. I think there is something to be said for the fact that aren't many tourists and hardly anyone speaks English. I feel like I am getting the real Czech experience. As beautiful as Prague is, if you don't ever get off the beaten path, you are never challenged to learn the language or the locals. Olomouc feels authentic to me, and I really like that. And it's incredibly cheap. We can eat huge Czech meals at nice restaurants for about $6. A taxi home to our dorms costs about $2. And the lunch specials are amazing! Pivo, soup, and a main course for about $4-5. It's insanely cheap here.

This first week was incredibly fun, and I can already feel myself settling into this new home of mine. I feel like I already know the city. With the help of the locals, I have discovered cafes, restaurants, and pubs that have become my favorites. I can't wait to keep exploring this city and immersing myself in the culture for the next three months. I already know that I'm going to come home 10 pounds heavier, but I don't really care. "Do the thing you are supposed to do in the place you're supposed to do it". Here, that means lots of pork and potatoes.

But in summary, I am glad I have experience with the culture in the Czech Republic and in Europe. I have my family to thank for that, because duck, sauerkraut, and dumplings is served at every family Christmas. I love the food, the people I have met, and I haven't really had any problems or too much of "shock". Last summer with my sister really helped with that. I haven't had any major problems with the trams or currency, and I even know a few of the Czech dishes when there is no English menu, which is pretty often here. I knew coming back to the Czech Republic that I would feel comfortable. 

I really look forward to learning more during my time here. Jan and Martin are extremely knowledgable about every topic you could want to know, and so far the Czech language class has been difficult but fun. The classes have been interesting and we have been having a lot of fun this first week in Olomouc. I am so glad that I chose to come back and can't wait to see what this semester in Olomouc brings!

Taylor and I at an Irish Pub called The Black Stuff on St. Patty's day! 

We eat way to many late night kebabs, but they are delicious here!

This pub crawl was on the syllabus I swear!

This was a really sweet vintage market in Olomouc. I got a vintage jewelry box and a jean jacket for about $4. I love how cheap everything is here!