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.

Prague like a local.

So I'm super behind, but after my wonderfully fun week in Estonia, I returned to Prague and got to spend about two weeks exploring this lovely city and even some other towns in the Czech Republic. It has been so much fun, and I truly have gotten to see the city like a local. I have the metro and tram system down, and after spending a few days completely on my own, I have fallen in love. Prague is so beautiful, it feels smaller than it is and the culture and history is so rich here. The time that I get to spend with my sister is absolutely amazing. She shows me her favorite spots, stores, and the best restaurants and pubs of course, and even the cool places around her neighborhood.

Of course, I had to see all the beautiful churches and buildings around Prague to start. I saw St. Vitus Cathedral, the Prague Castle, the Old Town Square with the astronomical clock, the Lennon Wall, and a few others. I have absolutely loved Prague. It's different when you get to spend entire days wandering around by yourself. You find interesting places and things and it's honestly really fun.

One night, we were wandering around Old Town and there was a wonderful little Italian festival going on. So we had wine, prosciutto and fresh melon, and cheese for dinner. Then a spritz, which was something I've never had before too. I think it was then that Thea and I decided we wanted to go to Italy out of all of the places we were considering for our little week get-away.

The Beatles fan in me came out and I absolutely loves the Lennon Wall and I even drug Thea to the overpriced Lennon Pub for a beer. -overpriced being like 2 American dollars :)

But my time in Prague has been absolutely wonderful. I've found my favorite bakeries and coffee shops, a park to run in, bookshops and stores that I love. I check out a new cafe almost day, except for my now favorite Cafe Jen, which is just down the street from Thea's flat.

But all in all I absolutely love the Czech Republic and I can't wait to come back and study here in the Spring.


Our Lady before Tyn Cathedral in Old Town Square.


The astronomical clock.


Stopped for coffee and dessert at the Grand Cafe Orient in Old Town. Delicious!




Sitting on St. Charles Bridge.




The Italian Festival where we stopped for dinner and drinks.




St. Charles Bridge










Golden Lane at the Prague Castle












The Lennon Wall


Had to add my name :) Later learned it was a crime.










The Lennon Pub


Drinking some wine in the park. Later found out that wasn't allowed either :)

One day we went to the Prague Minibrewery Festival at the Prague Castle. It was so much fun and the beer was as always delicious. My goal was to try them all but I think some very bad things would have happened if I actually did. Thank god for the Tavern (the best burger I've ever eaten - take notes Nebraska) after all of the free tasters :)




After a few too many tasters, we decided to ask for a full one to go :)





We even decided to brew our own beer one night! It's still fermenting in the closet so I can't tell you how it tastes. I wish we had a store like Beer Geek in Nebraska! I could finally have a hobby!



One day I explored Lover's Hill (yes, alone) and the Strahov Montastery. Monks liked to brew their own beer and the St. Norbert's Amber Ale was the best beer I've ever had. A mini brewery called Matuska might give it a run for its money but I definitely got one to take home! The views from the monastery were absolutely beautiful and there was a really cool historical library too.