A bittersweet end.

We started our last week together travelling around southern Bohemia. We spent this week in Litomyšl, Kutna Hora, Česky Budejovice, and Česky Krumlov. I absolutely loved Česky Krumlov. Such a cute, little, fairytale town. 

Views from the castle in Česky Krumlov.

In Litomyšl, we toured the cathedral, the castle district, and spent the afternoon slowly wandering around the tiny village. We had delicious meals, found a cute Choco Cafe, and went out for drinks that night. We stayed at the YMCA, which was a really cute little place to stay in the castle area.

The castle.

Our delicious dinner and dessert.

The next day we headed for Kutna Hora. Having been to Kutna Hora last summer, I was excited to see St. Barbara's Cathedral again, and this time we toured the old silver mines in the city. That was a really cool experience. At times the path was tiny and narrow and I think I had to duck the whole time but it was fun. I can't even imagine having been down there with nothing but a candle in the medieval times. Scary. 

That evening we all ordered pizza and had some local wine, playing fun games and enjoying our last nights together.

On our way to Kutna Hora, we stopped at this little spot. It used to be a village, and is now a memorial. During WWII, the village was burned to the ground and everyone was killed because of suspicion that the villagers were involved in the assassination of the highest German official in the Czech Republic. This also happened in one other Czech village.

Memorials were the houses used to be. Each stone showed the names of those who lived there.

Touring the silver mines.

St. Barbara's Cathedral in Kutna Hora.

That next day, we left for Česky Budejovice to tour the Budweiser Budvar brewery. I had a lot of fun on this tour and we got multiple samples :) Our guide was the sweetest older man, and he was funny. We walked through the brewery, learned about the brewing process, I'm a pro now thanks to Budvar and Guinness and my home brew, and it was a really fun afternoon. 

The cutest lady serving us tasters.

Pivo prosim!

We left for Česky Krumlov that afternoon, got checked into our hostel, and wandered around the city. It was really like a fairytale village. We popped in and out of shops, they had so many jewelry shops for Czech garnets, had a trdelník, and eventually made our way to dinner at a cute medieval place. There weren't any lights, only candles and a fire, but it was a cool place and the food was good. After dinner we headed to Apotheka, a vintage cocktail bar were we had a few drinks and just talked. I had a basil martini, YUM. This was my favorite day, just wandering around and enjoying the city. 

Our hostel balcony.

A vanilla cream trdelnik.

Basil martini. YUM

On our last day, we headed for a tour of the castle, and went rafting. The castle was beautiful and we had some great views of the city and the Vltava river. Česky Krumlov has a rich history, and you could tell that it was wealthy city back in the day. We saw the castle theatre which was really beautiful and we learned how plays and operas were orchestrated during the renaissance times. That afternoon, after waiting out the rain, we all went rafting. It was pretty cold, but there may have been some liquid courage involved. It ended up warming up, and our rafting trip was really fun, even though I practically broke my knee cap, lol. 

The castle. 

Beautiful views.

Waiting out the rain, with beers of course.

Ready to go rafting!

That night we headed to dinner for our last group dinner of the trip. We had great Czech food and wonderful company. It's bittersweet that our time together is coming to an end. Tonight is my last night in the Czech Republic. I can't believe how fast this program has flown by. But I'm excited to spend these next couple weeks checking the rest of Europe off of my bucket list. I'm so excited to spend the next month living out of my backpack, but I'm sad to leave Olomouc. I'll miss this little city and everyone so much. Who knows when I'll get back to the Czech Republic and to Olomouc. Until then I'll be loving this next week in Spain!

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.