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| "Sarah!" This one is for you Grandma! |
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| Tetra for Danny!! |
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| Baby Jesus Church for Christmas Mass |
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| St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle |
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| Charles Bridge |
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas in Prague!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Budapest, Hungry!
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| Great Synagogue |
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| Inside the Synagogue |
with Annika Leigh
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| Annika and I in front of the Weeping Willow |
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| St. Stephen's Basillica |
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| Inside St. Stephen's |
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| Hungarian Parliament |
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| Danube River and Bridge and St. Stephen's |
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| City from Castle |
Saturday, December 18, 2010
FEFL Course Finished
I finished the TEFL course Friday! I am consumed with relief and happiness!!! We had a champagne celebration and a "diploma" ceremony. Everyone in our course passed! There was a great celebration at the end... Euro techno clubs are hilarious. We had a great night.
Now my friend and I are off to Budapest on Sunday! We will be there until the 23rd and then return to Prague to meet my parents for Christmas Eve!!!
Pictures will be posted soon.
I wish a very Merry Christmas to those celebrating Christmas.
Much love,
Samantha
Now my friend and I are off to Budapest on Sunday! We will be there until the 23rd and then return to Prague to meet my parents for Christmas Eve!!!
Pictures will be posted soon.
I wish a very Merry Christmas to those celebrating Christmas.
Much love,
Samantha
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| My teaching group: Odon, Catie and Me |
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| TEFL group Nov-Dec 2010. Last course of the year! |
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| Only two students... no it wasn't me that scared them away. |
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Hockey game!!!
Praha has 2 teams. Slavia Praha and Sparta Praha. The O2 Arena is 1 metro stop from my apartment, and it is the home rink to Sparta. So Kevin, Tim, Hayley, Kate, Annika and I all went to cheer on Sparta! It was different than NHL: no checking, much less violent than the NHL... (so not quite as exciting), a lot more advertising, and they played American 80's rock music during the breaks! It was so much fun! The fan were crazy, but not in a scary way. There is a home section right behind their goal and an away section. The home (Sparta) section was all in red and the cheering was constant and very organized!! It was hilarious to watch and try to participate. Although we had no idea what we were saying, it was fun to get into it. At the end Sparta was 3-2 and they lined up facing the home crowd and charged the boards and then all slid on their stomachs into the boards. It was hilarious!! Apparently a tradition if they win. Beer is so cheap and the fried cheese is incredible... Yes I can feel my arteries clogging with each bit, so I don't get it often. (I have no idea how they are so small here!)
Enjoy the pictures!!
Praha has 2 teams. Slavia Praha and Sparta Praha. The O2 Arena is 1 metro stop from my apartment, and it is the home rink to Sparta. So Kevin, Tim, Hayley, Kate, Annika and I all went to cheer on Sparta! It was different than NHL: no checking, much less violent than the NHL... (so not quite as exciting), a lot more advertising, and they played American 80's rock music during the breaks! It was so much fun! The fan were crazy, but not in a scary way. There is a home section right behind their goal and an away section. The home (Sparta) section was all in red and the cheering was constant and very organized!! It was hilarious to watch and try to participate. Although we had no idea what we were saying, it was fun to get into it. At the end Sparta was 3-2 and they lined up facing the home crowd and charged the boards and then all slid on their stomachs into the boards. It was hilarious!! Apparently a tradition if they win. Beer is so cheap and the fried cheese is incredible... Yes I can feel my arteries clogging with each bit, so I don't get it often. (I have no idea how they are so small here!)
Enjoy the pictures!!
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| After Sparta's 2nd goal!! |
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| Sparta fan section |
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| At the end, they all dived towards the fans!! |
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| Hayley and her hotdog! |
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| Annika and Kate making a nice face. Tim in the background. |
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Praha to Krakow
So Friday the 3rd of December my friend Hayley and I bought train tickets to Krakow, Poland. We left Friday night at 10:30pm and took the over night train. We didn't get a sleeper car (because it was cheaper), but we had a compartment to ourselves where we could stretch out on the seats to sleep. We arrived in Krakow at around 8am. We wandered to our first choice hostel, but couldn't find it. So on to our second choice, The Pink Flamingo. We found that one! We arrived and paid for a night and asked if we could crash now. So we slept in beds until 10:30. Had complimentary breakfast before 11 and went out sightseeing. We started at the Old Town market.
It looked a lot like a smaller Prague. Krakow is really small and much much colder than Prague. The square was all lit up and the market was really cute. We toured the shops and then walked around the covered market. We then walked to the opposite end of Krakow to see the Castle. And when I say castle, I am talking about a medieval castle with iron draw gates and huge walls. It looked like there should be a moat around it. There was the river around one side, so I guess that counts. In side we saw the church attached with buried royals in the basement along with Poland's great poets and Chopin! It was amazing to be in the presence of so much history. We then walked around the courtyard covered with at least 2 feet of snow! It was a very foggy day, so we couldn't see much past our noses, but surprisingly it was somehow more mysterious and magical this way.
We then started to walk back but our stomachs stopped us short of our destination. So we stopped in a small restaurant and had some warm hot chocolate and coffee. (now when I say hot chocolate, I am not talking about powder or Hershey's, I actually mean melted bars of chocolate. Literally "hot" chocolate. Amazing!!! Then when we had gotten our warmth and courage to face to cold back, we walked back to the square and went inside the main church there. It is an amazing, elaborately decorated gold interior. Candles everywhere as the only source of light.
We then walked through the museum a bit further (meaning 3-4 blocks from the square). Krakow was one of the only cities to go mostly unscathed during the World wars. We didn't see all the exhibits because we didn't want to pay about 20 US dollars.
Then we went back to our hostel and relaxed for maybe 20 mins to check email, but were interrupted by the sound of drums and horns in the distance. The music was getting closer. We went to our window and marching down our street was a large band followed by carriages of older men dressed in what looked like bishop outfits. I still don't know who they were, or if they were actually important people or just people dressing up. They did wave back to us when we made fools of ourselves by opening the window and waving ferociously to keep our hands from freezing ; )
We then shut the window and started packing our bag. We were going to try and catch the overnight train back Saturday night. So we went out to taste some local vodka to kill time.
We sampled only Polish vodka and met some guys dressed in what at first looked like funny military outfits. Oh no, they were the marching band guys. They bought us a round or drinks. it was great fun to try an communicate with our total lack of Polish and their total lack of English.
We arrived a few mins early for the train, but when we got there was no sign for Praha on the board. Turns out the online time was different than the actual time, so we missed it by 10 mins at the most. So after swearing wildly for about 15 mins, we knew we didn't want to spend a whole other day in Krakow and then arrive Monday morning before class, so we found a train going to Krakowice and then connect there to go from Krakowice to Praha. So we went to bed and get up early the next morning.
The train was delayed by 30 mins and we were getting nervous because it meant that we would have about 2 mins to catch the next train in Krakowice. Not to fear, the Krakowice train was delayed by 40 mins and then once we got on the train it turned into an all day affair. It was delayed by 2 hours. So we left Krakow at 10:15am and arrived in Praha at 7pm. Good thing I brought work! It was a wonderful adventure and we had a great time. I have now been to Poland! It was such a great experience and I am so glad I went, but that is enough Poland for me ; )
Pictures will be posted this weekend.
Hope you are all doing well!!!
- Samantha
It looked a lot like a smaller Prague. Krakow is really small and much much colder than Prague. The square was all lit up and the market was really cute. We toured the shops and then walked around the covered market. We then walked to the opposite end of Krakow to see the Castle. And when I say castle, I am talking about a medieval castle with iron draw gates and huge walls. It looked like there should be a moat around it. There was the river around one side, so I guess that counts. In side we saw the church attached with buried royals in the basement along with Poland's great poets and Chopin! It was amazing to be in the presence of so much history. We then walked around the courtyard covered with at least 2 feet of snow! It was a very foggy day, so we couldn't see much past our noses, but surprisingly it was somehow more mysterious and magical this way.
We then started to walk back but our stomachs stopped us short of our destination. So we stopped in a small restaurant and had some warm hot chocolate and coffee. (now when I say hot chocolate, I am not talking about powder or Hershey's, I actually mean melted bars of chocolate. Literally "hot" chocolate. Amazing!!! Then when we had gotten our warmth and courage to face to cold back, we walked back to the square and went inside the main church there. It is an amazing, elaborately decorated gold interior. Candles everywhere as the only source of light.
We then walked through the museum a bit further (meaning 3-4 blocks from the square). Krakow was one of the only cities to go mostly unscathed during the World wars. We didn't see all the exhibits because we didn't want to pay about 20 US dollars.
Then we went back to our hostel and relaxed for maybe 20 mins to check email, but were interrupted by the sound of drums and horns in the distance. The music was getting closer. We went to our window and marching down our street was a large band followed by carriages of older men dressed in what looked like bishop outfits. I still don't know who they were, or if they were actually important people or just people dressing up. They did wave back to us when we made fools of ourselves by opening the window and waving ferociously to keep our hands from freezing ; )
We then shut the window and started packing our bag. We were going to try and catch the overnight train back Saturday night. So we went out to taste some local vodka to kill time.
We sampled only Polish vodka and met some guys dressed in what at first looked like funny military outfits. Oh no, they were the marching band guys. They bought us a round or drinks. it was great fun to try an communicate with our total lack of Polish and their total lack of English.
We arrived a few mins early for the train, but when we got there was no sign for Praha on the board. Turns out the online time was different than the actual time, so we missed it by 10 mins at the most. So after swearing wildly for about 15 mins, we knew we didn't want to spend a whole other day in Krakow and then arrive Monday morning before class, so we found a train going to Krakowice and then connect there to go from Krakowice to Praha. So we went to bed and get up early the next morning.
The train was delayed by 30 mins and we were getting nervous because it meant that we would have about 2 mins to catch the next train in Krakowice. Not to fear, the Krakowice train was delayed by 40 mins and then once we got on the train it turned into an all day affair. It was delayed by 2 hours. So we left Krakow at 10:15am and arrived in Praha at 7pm. Good thing I brought work! It was a wonderful adventure and we had a great time. I have now been to Poland! It was such a great experience and I am so glad I went, but that is enough Poland for me ; )
Pictures will be posted this weekend.
Hope you are all doing well!!!
- Samantha
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