where i'd rather be: 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.