So I have been here for two weeks, and it is funny how settled in I feel. I now can navigate the subway systems without looking at every sign, know most of the streets around where I live, and have discovered where to buy groceries. So I thought today would be a good day to talk about life in France in general, and how it differs from live in America.
The food would be a good place to start. There are supermarkets here, but they are nothing compared to ours. In general, most people go to stores individually for their needs, stopping in one store for bread, another for their cuts of meat, another for cheese, another for dessert and so on. It can get a little frustrating sometimes, because I just want one stop shopping. There are some huge stores that have it all (there is a Monoprix and an INNO in particular, but both are far from me, at least when you consider carrying all of your groceries through the metro.)
When I walk into my local G20 or Franprix, here are the things that strike me as being different. To begin with, the meat selection is really absymal. One ground beef patty is three euros, and in general, the selection of salmon outnumbers the red meat selection. This puzzles me immensely. And as far as I know, there is no roast beef in France. It is never offered on sandwiches and I've never seen it in a supermarket. Weird.
France, in general, I find is not a culture of convenience. I have yet to find ziploc bags in a supermarket, and there is not a huge selection of tupperwear. The focus is on eating your food in one sitting and not saving it. The baguettes go bad in a day or so, and most French people buy enough cheese for one meal or maybe two. This adds up to lots of grocery shopping, especially for me considering we have no freezer in our apartment!
Now some of the plus aspects of their food system. For one thing, when I do get to the Monoprix it is amazing! The one closest to me looks like a nightclub on the outside, and on the inside, the aisles are small and winding, like you're walking through a cave. It is quite an experience. It is really incomparable to anything in the US. You can also make your own meal there, there is lots of prepared foods.
For any wine lovers out there, France would be your dream. I read somewhere that people in France spend 15% of their yearly income on wine. In supermarkets, the cheapest bottle of red wine is around 1.50 euros. The soda, water, juice, and milk is much more expensive. Even in a cafe I went to, a drink of Coke (the larger size, about 50 cl, which isn't even that much, maybe a cup in the US and one refill) was 8 euros, while a medium glass of wine was 3 euros. No wonder no one is fat here, it's because the sugary soft drinks are so expensive! Really, I've seen one fat person the whole time I've been here, and it was a tourist on a Segway by the Louvre.
The dessert selection in French supermarkets is also amazing. Cookies, cakes, for aisles, most of which I've never seen before. They also sell tiramisu, chocolate mousee, chocolate tarts, etc. in the cold food selection. I think the French have something for yogurt too, because the wall of yogurt in my supermarket is larger than the wall of meat, cheese, or eggs.
For lunch, what you would eat as "fast food" would usually consist of a sandwich, a galette, or a crepe. Let me explain these further. The concept of Subway where there are about a billion different ways to make your sandwich, and a lot of different choices, and "please, without this or that" is an American concept. If you get a sandwich here you might get the choice of "tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil" or something like "poulet crudites." Either way it comes on a 12 inch baguette, this concept apparently not being very different from our footlong sandwiches. That's about where the similarities stop. A poulet crudites sandwich, which is what I usually get, comes with chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, some sort of mayonnaise, maybe a few other vegetables. I can't imagine what they'd do if I told them to leave off something. You just sort of take what they give you. This is true among a lot of the other countries I visited, but it is more true in France.
A crepe is a wonderful invention of the French, and I think it would take off in America. It consists of a large, about 12 diameter pancake, very thin, layered with all sorts of fillings. I usually get the crepe sucree, which is sweet. You can get jam, nutella (which is quite wonderful, and recently discovered by me here. But you can get it in your local Publix, it is a chocolate hazelnut spread. My friend Sean says it is like eating frosting, which is basically true), nutella, banana, and coconut, nutella, and Grand Marnier (the idea of a liquor on your dessert in the middle of the day being funny to me), or a bunch of other stuff on it that I haven't translated yet. They are really cheap on the street, and they'll make them in front of you so they are nice and hot.
There are also galettes, which I haven't tried yet, but they are basically the non sweet equivalent of the crepe. They have eggs, cheese, ham, onions, chicken, etc. on them.
In general, Paris is the calmest big city I've been in, anywhere in the world. Things move slower. It takes longer to get your food at restaurants, shops close for 2 hour lunch breaks in the middle of the day, and people are not in a hurry to knock you down on the street to get past you. Eating food is an experience to savor and not to rush. In a lot of aspects, it reminds me of New Orleans. New Orleans is the best American city I can compare it to, in that people are polite and friendly, food is important, the pace is slower, alcohol is important and flows freely and that people are very diverse. And of course that people speak French in New Orleans doesn't hurt the comparison.
Well, I realize now that I said I would talk about life in France and I've droned on for paragraphs about food. But I think food is really indicative of the culture in any place and tells you a lot about what is important in that culture. Plus, you know how much I appreciate food. All my friends here and I talk and dream about food. So I hope this wasn't a boring entry for you guys.
I really appreciate all of the nice emails and comments I've been getting from everyone (I am particulary thinking of ones I've gotten recently that I haven't responded to, including, but not limited to, emails and comments from Darden, Leah, Courtney and Gran). Thanks for the comments, and keep them coming!
Love to all,
Emily
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Giverny, Versailles, food, and shopping
Hey there guys!
So let's see what's been happening... we went to Giverny on Friday. It was really gorgeous. We saw the ponds that Monet painted his Waterlily paintings off of, and it looked just the paintings. It was beautiful. Then we went to Versailles on Saturday. It was quite ornate. The Hall of Mirrors was open after a years long restoration. It was nice, but really crowded. The gardens were pretty too. We walked to see all of Marie Antoinette's houses. It was a nice afternoon visit.
Classes are going well as well. A lot of reading to do though! But we get to go on excursions everyday in Film. On an exciting note, the sales started today in Paris! France regulates the sales in France, and pretty much all stores have to have sales in June and July. Most stores are 30 or 40% off, but some are up to 70% off. Of course, all the girls on the program went crazy. My roommate woke up when the stores opened today and went out. I am not that devoted, but I did go later to look around. I bought a really chic French outfit. I am quite happy with my purchase!
I have started to meet some really nice people in my program. We got together on Saturday night and cooked dinner together. I bought the pasta, someone else bought the dessert, someone bought the sauce, so forth. It felt very French and foreign, eating in a big motley group in the Latin Quarter (where the guy hosting it lives), looking over the rooftops. We decided that we would all get together once a week to cook together and eat together, in someone else's apartment each time.
Yesterday we went to get gelato and ate it by the Seine as the sun went down. As you can probably tell, I fell in with a good group, because we are all obsessed with food. We decided that we should all eat our way through the Latin Quarter. The Latin Quarter is a good choice, because it is where the Sorbonne is located, so all the French students hang out there, and there are a bunch of cheap restaurants, mostly with international cuisine. At night it's fun too, because it gets really bustling.
Our group tends to hang out on the Left Bank. This is traditionally the arty, younger, more bohemian bank. The Right Bank is a little more upperclass, more expensive. We venture over there for excursions though. It's funny that we have only been here for 2 weeks, and already everyone knows what section of town they like, where they like to eat, and shop, and buy groceries.
Tomorrow we are having a group dinner with everyone in the program (paid for by the program!) in the Latin Quarter. We are having North African cuisine, probably couscous. North African food is really big here, so I am excited. We already had couscous once, but hey, if it's a free meal, I don't complain.
Well that's it for now. Hope everyone else is well! Write me to tell me what you're doing!
Love, Emily
So let's see what's been happening... we went to Giverny on Friday. It was really gorgeous. We saw the ponds that Monet painted his Waterlily paintings off of, and it looked just the paintings. It was beautiful. Then we went to Versailles on Saturday. It was quite ornate. The Hall of Mirrors was open after a years long restoration. It was nice, but really crowded. The gardens were pretty too. We walked to see all of Marie Antoinette's houses. It was a nice afternoon visit.
Classes are going well as well. A lot of reading to do though! But we get to go on excursions everyday in Film. On an exciting note, the sales started today in Paris! France regulates the sales in France, and pretty much all stores have to have sales in June and July. Most stores are 30 or 40% off, but some are up to 70% off. Of course, all the girls on the program went crazy. My roommate woke up when the stores opened today and went out. I am not that devoted, but I did go later to look around. I bought a really chic French outfit. I am quite happy with my purchase!
I have started to meet some really nice people in my program. We got together on Saturday night and cooked dinner together. I bought the pasta, someone else bought the dessert, someone bought the sauce, so forth. It felt very French and foreign, eating in a big motley group in the Latin Quarter (where the guy hosting it lives), looking over the rooftops. We decided that we would all get together once a week to cook together and eat together, in someone else's apartment each time.
Yesterday we went to get gelato and ate it by the Seine as the sun went down. As you can probably tell, I fell in with a good group, because we are all obsessed with food. We decided that we should all eat our way through the Latin Quarter. The Latin Quarter is a good choice, because it is where the Sorbonne is located, so all the French students hang out there, and there are a bunch of cheap restaurants, mostly with international cuisine. At night it's fun too, because it gets really bustling.
Our group tends to hang out on the Left Bank. This is traditionally the arty, younger, more bohemian bank. The Right Bank is a little more upperclass, more expensive. We venture over there for excursions though. It's funny that we have only been here for 2 weeks, and already everyone knows what section of town they like, where they like to eat, and shop, and buy groceries.
Tomorrow we are having a group dinner with everyone in the program (paid for by the program!) in the Latin Quarter. We are having North African cuisine, probably couscous. North African food is really big here, so I am excited. We already had couscous once, but hey, if it's a free meal, I don't complain.
Well that's it for now. Hope everyone else is well! Write me to tell me what you're doing!
Love, Emily
Friday, June 22, 2007
Paris news!
Ahhh so much to write about, so little time! So let's see...
The first day at Orientation we went on a guided tour of Montparnasse, then saw "Paris Story" a really hokey movie across from the opera. Reid Hall (where our school is located) is in Montparnasse. It is a really nice building, set around a courtyard. There is a friendly cat there, and there are a bunch of other schools that learn there as well (including Columbia, Smith, Emory, and Hollins).
The second day we went on a guided tour of Montmartre which was nice, except it was on the tail end of a 10 hour day so we were all exhausted. We did see Sacre Coure, but we didn't go in. We also ate dinner there in an Italian restaurant. The boat ride was nice, though it was really hot outside.
Wednesday classes started. I like my teachers. Dr. Nygren in particular is really nice (he's my film teacher) and we go to excursions practically everyday in his class. We went to the Cinematique Francais and the Museum of Arts and Metiers (which is a museum of technology with things in it like Lavoisier's laboratory and the first computer). It was really interesting, though they weren't places I would normally choose to go. But that's the nice part of going on this program. In the Museum of Arts and Metiers in particular, I wouldn't have understood anything without Dr. Nygren's tour commentary. It's funny, whenever he's giving us a tour and telling us things, people who are just passing through stop and listen and learn about what we're doing.
Today we went to Giverny, the home of Monet. The town was also used as a place for all sorts of artists (inclusing a lot of Americans) to come in the 19th century to learn how to paint in the Impressionist style and they all painted together. We went through Monet's Japanese water garden (where the water lilies, bridges, etc are located). It was really surreal, just seeing the same places that are from the paintings. It really did look just like the paintings. His house was also beautiful. His kitchen in particular was amazing. Bright, beautiful, blue, the walls were pure tiles, hand painted, and gleaming copper pots. The kitchen looked out into his gorgeous garden. It was the kitchen of my dreams, with tons of room to work. My kitchen in my apartment is super tiny, about 7 feet by 5 feet. Andrea and I can't stand in it at the same time.
So let me tell you a little about my apartment. It is located in the 7th arrondissment, about 2 blocks up is Rue de Sevres, which, at the end of the street, is located the Eiffel Tower. It is a gorgeous view. From our kitchen, you can see the Eiffel Tower. About a block down is a street that leads to the Hotel de Invalides, which has a gleaming gold roof. Across the street is a center for Aveugles (blind people), and a block up is a school for Jeunes Aveugles (Blind children). Andrea speaks a lot of French, and she told me the transalation early in my visit. I am so oblivious, I probably wouldn't have noticed all the blind people with canes who are around all the time. At night it is really quiet and I feel really safe here. Our building is probably the cheapest building on a really expensive street. I saw an advertisement for an apartment on our street for sale that was over a million euros.
I am learning a lot of French, but mostly it is food words. I find it helpful to know French food words most of all (like framboises, I think that's spelled right, it means raspberries). I am really into jam now. I bought a ton of raspberry tarts in London for dessert one night, and found some here, but had to learn the word for raspberry first. Every morning I have this nutty bread with butter (beurre) and raspberry jam (framboises confitures). All the french people here have been very nice, even if my French is bad. I am sure to say "Bonjour, monsieur" and "Au revoir" when I go into stores. I also try to translate all of the signs I see with a french dictionary I got. So I am slowly learning.
We went to the Fete de la Musique last night. It is a night in Paris where there are musicians on practically every corner in Paris all night long. We went to the Latin Quarter (where the Sorbonne is located, and all the students hang out) and it was crazy! Sort of like Mardi Gras. People drinking in the streets, dancing, so forth. It was fun. It was a pain getting home though, because they closed a lot of the metro lines so I got most of the way home, then we had to walk the rest of the way. But it was quite an experience.
So, any more questions, send them my way! Next week the sales start so let the fun begin! Tomorrow we head to Versailles. Hope everyone is well, love to all!
The first day at Orientation we went on a guided tour of Montparnasse, then saw "Paris Story" a really hokey movie across from the opera. Reid Hall (where our school is located) is in Montparnasse. It is a really nice building, set around a courtyard. There is a friendly cat there, and there are a bunch of other schools that learn there as well (including Columbia, Smith, Emory, and Hollins).
The second day we went on a guided tour of Montmartre which was nice, except it was on the tail end of a 10 hour day so we were all exhausted. We did see Sacre Coure, but we didn't go in. We also ate dinner there in an Italian restaurant. The boat ride was nice, though it was really hot outside.
Wednesday classes started. I like my teachers. Dr. Nygren in particular is really nice (he's my film teacher) and we go to excursions practically everyday in his class. We went to the Cinematique Francais and the Museum of Arts and Metiers (which is a museum of technology with things in it like Lavoisier's laboratory and the first computer). It was really interesting, though they weren't places I would normally choose to go. But that's the nice part of going on this program. In the Museum of Arts and Metiers in particular, I wouldn't have understood anything without Dr. Nygren's tour commentary. It's funny, whenever he's giving us a tour and telling us things, people who are just passing through stop and listen and learn about what we're doing.
Today we went to Giverny, the home of Monet. The town was also used as a place for all sorts of artists (inclusing a lot of Americans) to come in the 19th century to learn how to paint in the Impressionist style and they all painted together. We went through Monet's Japanese water garden (where the water lilies, bridges, etc are located). It was really surreal, just seeing the same places that are from the paintings. It really did look just like the paintings. His house was also beautiful. His kitchen in particular was amazing. Bright, beautiful, blue, the walls were pure tiles, hand painted, and gleaming copper pots. The kitchen looked out into his gorgeous garden. It was the kitchen of my dreams, with tons of room to work. My kitchen in my apartment is super tiny, about 7 feet by 5 feet. Andrea and I can't stand in it at the same time.
So let me tell you a little about my apartment. It is located in the 7th arrondissment, about 2 blocks up is Rue de Sevres, which, at the end of the street, is located the Eiffel Tower. It is a gorgeous view. From our kitchen, you can see the Eiffel Tower. About a block down is a street that leads to the Hotel de Invalides, which has a gleaming gold roof. Across the street is a center for Aveugles (blind people), and a block up is a school for Jeunes Aveugles (Blind children). Andrea speaks a lot of French, and she told me the transalation early in my visit. I am so oblivious, I probably wouldn't have noticed all the blind people with canes who are around all the time. At night it is really quiet and I feel really safe here. Our building is probably the cheapest building on a really expensive street. I saw an advertisement for an apartment on our street for sale that was over a million euros.
I am learning a lot of French, but mostly it is food words. I find it helpful to know French food words most of all (like framboises, I think that's spelled right, it means raspberries). I am really into jam now. I bought a ton of raspberry tarts in London for dessert one night, and found some here, but had to learn the word for raspberry first. Every morning I have this nutty bread with butter (beurre) and raspberry jam (framboises confitures). All the french people here have been very nice, even if my French is bad. I am sure to say "Bonjour, monsieur" and "Au revoir" when I go into stores. I also try to translate all of the signs I see with a french dictionary I got. So I am slowly learning.
We went to the Fete de la Musique last night. It is a night in Paris where there are musicians on practically every corner in Paris all night long. We went to the Latin Quarter (where the Sorbonne is located, and all the students hang out) and it was crazy! Sort of like Mardi Gras. People drinking in the streets, dancing, so forth. It was fun. It was a pain getting home though, because they closed a lot of the metro lines so I got most of the way home, then we had to walk the rest of the way. But it was quite an experience.
So, any more questions, send them my way! Next week the sales start so let the fun begin! Tomorrow we head to Versailles. Hope everyone is well, love to all!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Trip report
AHHH! So school has started and it is rough! We have a 15 page paper due at the end of the semester so I am looking forward to that.
So lets finish the trip report (if you cant tell, now Im on a french keyboard so I get to struggle to type once again)
I found Venice.... underwhelming. I can see how others liked it but I just find it swarming with tourists. Watching everyone feed pigeons in St. Marks just made me think they would all get bird flu. The shopping, however, is great. I got some really cute souveniers, but everything there is nice. I also ate tons of gelato. Kathi and I went to Dorsoduro which was quieter and less stuffed with tourists. The fact that at night all the lights went out and it was less safe to walk home even in a large group was also unfun for me. Thats ok though. Im glad I went, but Im not dying to go back anytime soon.
So a sad parting from the members of my group and a plane to London. London is CHAOTIC!!! I felt that I would get run over on the underground if I went in the wrong side of the escalator. Even on the streets I thought I would get run over if I didnt know exactly where I was going. I usually was headed in the right direction, but I felt bad for the tourists who had no idea where they were going.
The hostel I stayed in was nice, directly behind the British Museum. I love Bloomsbury, I found a bunch of cute parks there and ate dinner there everyday. Im afraid I didnt get a typical view of London because for the four days I was there, it was sunny and beautiful. No rain! Everyone was lounging in all the parks. I think I can safely say that I saw all of the major sights there. The British Musuem, The V and A, Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, Parliament, the National Portrait Gallery, The National Gallery, the Tate Modern, Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Cathedral (the only attraction I paid to go in, I was an expert at saving money), St Pauls, St Dunstan in the East, Spitadfields Market, Notting Hill, St James Park, the British Library and its Museum (my favorite Museum, you know how much I love to read), I probably missed something. You can see how I was exhausted at the end of each day! My favorite thing was finally getting english periodicals! I was so starved for news, I got them everyday and read them all. I also love the magazines there, because they all come with free stuff. I got sunglasses with one, a purse with another and flipflops with another. Another London was kinda stressful (I heard a British guy behind ,e in line describe it as agressive chaotic which I agree with) I dont ever think you could get bored there. There is always so much to do. I feel as if I barely scratched the surface.
My favorite experience there was when I walked into All Hallows by the Tower, a church by the Tower of London. I was there just before it was closing, and the rector saw me and walked up to me and proceded to give me a tour and a history of the church and the City of London (do you know the Queen has to get permission to enter it). He then invited me to go down to the crypt, turn on the lights and have a look around. It was so nice of him. Although I dont know if I want to live there (the exchange rate alone would kill me) I would love to revisit multiple times to see and do more. Just when I have a little more money.
Well thats it for now. Tomorrow we go to the Cinematique Francais. As for the language issue that Court asked about, Im getting on well! I asked for tap water in a restaurant the other day (noone knew how to ask) and I was able to speak to salespeople at H and M today. I am learning more and more everyday. I imagine that if I had a stronger background I would be getting even more out of it.
Later I will write about Montmartre, Montparnasse, our boat ride, and more. Bon soir!
So lets finish the trip report (if you cant tell, now Im on a french keyboard so I get to struggle to type once again)
I found Venice.... underwhelming. I can see how others liked it but I just find it swarming with tourists. Watching everyone feed pigeons in St. Marks just made me think they would all get bird flu. The shopping, however, is great. I got some really cute souveniers, but everything there is nice. I also ate tons of gelato. Kathi and I went to Dorsoduro which was quieter and less stuffed with tourists. The fact that at night all the lights went out and it was less safe to walk home even in a large group was also unfun for me. Thats ok though. Im glad I went, but Im not dying to go back anytime soon.
So a sad parting from the members of my group and a plane to London. London is CHAOTIC!!! I felt that I would get run over on the underground if I went in the wrong side of the escalator. Even on the streets I thought I would get run over if I didnt know exactly where I was going. I usually was headed in the right direction, but I felt bad for the tourists who had no idea where they were going.
The hostel I stayed in was nice, directly behind the British Museum. I love Bloomsbury, I found a bunch of cute parks there and ate dinner there everyday. Im afraid I didnt get a typical view of London because for the four days I was there, it was sunny and beautiful. No rain! Everyone was lounging in all the parks. I think I can safely say that I saw all of the major sights there. The British Musuem, The V and A, Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, Parliament, the National Portrait Gallery, The National Gallery, the Tate Modern, Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Cathedral (the only attraction I paid to go in, I was an expert at saving money), St Pauls, St Dunstan in the East, Spitadfields Market, Notting Hill, St James Park, the British Library and its Museum (my favorite Museum, you know how much I love to read), I probably missed something. You can see how I was exhausted at the end of each day! My favorite thing was finally getting english periodicals! I was so starved for news, I got them everyday and read them all. I also love the magazines there, because they all come with free stuff. I got sunglasses with one, a purse with another and flipflops with another. Another London was kinda stressful (I heard a British guy behind ,e in line describe it as agressive chaotic which I agree with) I dont ever think you could get bored there. There is always so much to do. I feel as if I barely scratched the surface.
My favorite experience there was when I walked into All Hallows by the Tower, a church by the Tower of London. I was there just before it was closing, and the rector saw me and walked up to me and proceded to give me a tour and a history of the church and the City of London (do you know the Queen has to get permission to enter it). He then invited me to go down to the crypt, turn on the lights and have a look around. It was so nice of him. Although I dont know if I want to live there (the exchange rate alone would kill me) I would love to revisit multiple times to see and do more. Just when I have a little more money.
Well thats it for now. Tomorrow we go to the Cinematique Francais. As for the language issue that Court asked about, Im getting on well! I asked for tap water in a restaurant the other day (noone knew how to ask) and I was able to speak to salespeople at H and M today. I am learning more and more everyday. I imagine that if I had a stronger background I would be getting even more out of it.
Later I will write about Montmartre, Montparnasse, our boat ride, and more. Bon soir!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Paris orientation
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH!!!!
Well today was a LONG day! To school at 10 AM, 3 hours of introductions and safety/survival tips, then lunch (they gave us sandwiches), then a tour of Montparnasse where our school is located, then a cheesy movie across from the Opera (called Paris Story, not recommened). Then a screening of Amelie with pizza they gave us. At least they keep us well fed. Tomorrow we have a tour of Luxembourg, the Latin Quarter, and Notre Dame. Then they give us a picnic lunch at Notre Dame. Then a tour of the Seine by boat, then another tour of Montmartre.
The nice thing about the program is that they give us lots of excursions for free, and lots of meals for free. This weekend we go to Giverny and Versailles. Yesterday we had a three course dinner at Chez Fernand that they paid for and a concert at St. Chapelle. It was nice and beautiful.
I really like a lot of the other students on the program, though we were all exhausted at the end of our 10 hour day today that was chiefly walking. Hopefully, we will get some free time soon, because I lost my shower gel in London and need to buy some more, and I have been eating a stale baguette for the past two days because I haven't had time to go out to the market! Soon we should have some free time though. We went down a street today with a bunch of cute clothing stores so I can't wait to go shopping next week when all of the sales start (there are city wide sales at the end of June). You have to understand that I have been wearing the same 6 outfits for the past 3 weeks. My clothes are sick of me, and if I buy clothes here, on the plus side as the director of the center here, Dr. Zachmann says, "You'll look like a Parisian!"
More later. When I have some free time I will catch up on the rest of my travels including Venice. Love to all.
Well today was a LONG day! To school at 10 AM, 3 hours of introductions and safety/survival tips, then lunch (they gave us sandwiches), then a tour of Montparnasse where our school is located, then a cheesy movie across from the Opera (called Paris Story, not recommened). Then a screening of Amelie with pizza they gave us. At least they keep us well fed. Tomorrow we have a tour of Luxembourg, the Latin Quarter, and Notre Dame. Then they give us a picnic lunch at Notre Dame. Then a tour of the Seine by boat, then another tour of Montmartre.
The nice thing about the program is that they give us lots of excursions for free, and lots of meals for free. This weekend we go to Giverny and Versailles. Yesterday we had a three course dinner at Chez Fernand that they paid for and a concert at St. Chapelle. It was nice and beautiful.
I really like a lot of the other students on the program, though we were all exhausted at the end of our 10 hour day today that was chiefly walking. Hopefully, we will get some free time soon, because I lost my shower gel in London and need to buy some more, and I have been eating a stale baguette for the past two days because I haven't had time to go out to the market! Soon we should have some free time though. We went down a street today with a bunch of cute clothing stores so I can't wait to go shopping next week when all of the sales start (there are city wide sales at the end of June). You have to understand that I have been wearing the same 6 outfits for the past 3 weeks. My clothes are sick of me, and if I buy clothes here, on the plus side as the director of the center here, Dr. Zachmann says, "You'll look like a Parisian!"
More later. When I have some free time I will catch up on the rest of my travels including Venice. Love to all.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!
Happy Father's Day, Dad! Love you! (P.S. Everyone, don't forget your fathers today!)
Orientation for school is today and we go out to eat today somewhere, hope it goes well!
Congratulations go out to Elizabeth who got married yesterday! And a pre-Happy Birthday to Leah who celebrates her 20th tomorrow.
Love to all from the city of love,
Emily
Orientation for school is today and we go out to eat today somewhere, hope it goes well!
Congratulations go out to Elizabeth who got married yesterday! And a pre-Happy Birthday to Leah who celebrates her 20th tomorrow.
Love to all from the city of love,
Emily
Saturday, June 16, 2007
PARIS!!!! (finally)
So as you can tell from the title I am finally in PARIS!! And what fun it was getting here. The train was fine, but my metro to my place didn't come so I had to switch lines, then I got lost on the way to my apartment. But oh well. I am here and no longer living out of a backpack like a nomad. The apartment is nice, but the kitchen is super tiny. But oh well, because I can see the Eiffel Tower from my kitchen. And if I walk a block up I can see the whole thing because the street one block up leads straight to it. Such a cliche I know, but it is crazy that I can see it.
My roommate Andrea is super nice, she is letting me use her laptop to type this. We went to the supermarket today and made a dinner of salad, pasta, and french bread. Good times. Tomorrow we meet the rest of the group for a welcome dinner. Mission one tomorrow will be finding a laundromat. I haven't washed my clothes in a week and they are starting to smell.
So back to the rest of my trip and impressions of each city. Vienna was beautiful. More so, there didn't seem to be any ugly parts of the city. The whole city was tree filled and had grand avenues. So many men in suits everywhere. I went around on my free day there with Emily, and we went to the Upper Belvedere and saw Klimt's "The Kiss" and a bunch of other amazing paintings. We then went to the Museum of Modern Art and we went to a coffehouse that had been around since 1890 something. If you've heard of a Sacher Torte, it is a chocolate cake with jam between the layers. It was made first at the Hotel Sacher, and Emily and I went there and ordered it. It was, of course, delicious, with such rich chocolate. We also went to see a concert with Mozart and another Viennese composer at one of the palaces there. Quite an expereince. It was so funny though, the whole time I was there I just kept imagining it was the 1940s and we were enjoying the concert while the Nazis were invading outside. Kathi said she had the same thought after the concert! Maybe it was all the German we heard. It would be cool to do a tour of Vienna about WWII. We reckoned that we were Resistance fighters in our elaborate fantasy. Anyways, long segue. Vienna has so many museums I feel as if I just scratched the tip of Vienna. Next time I come, there will be a lot more things to see
Next was Budapest. Let me just tell you, I LOVED Budapest. One of my favorite cities. Everything is so cheap, it is so lively and the people are so nice. It was funny, 3 times people came up to me and started long conversations with me in Hungarian. I told my tour guide who is Hungarian, and she said that she didn't think I looked like anyone famous who knows. We went to the House of Terror there where both the Nazis and the Communists set up their headquarters. They tortured people in the basement there. It was an interesting museum and we did the audio tour. Very sad though.
That night we went to the Sz(not sure how to spell the rest) Baths, the famous Turkish baths there. It was wonderful. The baths were really hot, and at night the lights lit up and it was beautiful. We chilled out there for hours. We also went to this old dessert shop in downtown Pest. Delicious homemade icecream. I joked with Kathi that I was eating my way across Eastern Europe. I had the famous dessert from each place we went. You can follow them in my entries.
Budapest is divided into two cities, Buda and Pest, by the Danube. We only explored Pest, Buda has the castle and old streets. Next time I go I want to see Buda more. Like I said, I loved, loved, Budapest and would highly recommend it to anyone. I know it is kinda off the beaten track, but it is definitely worth it.
After Budapest was Bled, Slovenia. What a beautiful little town. It has a huge lake with a church on an island in the middle. Kathi and I hiked around it and laid on the dock and sunned ourselves. It was so peaceful, I fell asleep, and promptly got burnt. Naturally. It was funny though, when we were at vistitor information, we asked the guy there that best place to go swimming, and he was like, swimming, you're crazy! But I went in anyways. It was cold, but only about as cold as Wakulla Springs. Everyone else was wimps. Later we went to a cafe to eat and I asked to order and the woman first said "You went swimming?!? How cold was it?" She seemed duly impressed by it which made me feel like a rock star.
We also took a gondala out to the island. Nothing special. On the way back we were in the most packed gondola. And I could tell the people next to us were talking about us in Polish. How embarrasing. Maybe they were disapproving of the swimming I did.
That night Kathi and I went on a frantic quest for Bled cream cake. This is the famous dessert of Bled. We went in SIX restaurants looking for it. We even went into one and asked for it, and the woman was like, what's that, even though there was a huge picture of it on the sign outside. We finally found it. It is pastry crust with vanilla custard on top, then whipped cream on top of that, then more crust, then powdered sugar. Enough to give you a stomach ache just thinking about it. But delicious.
On our last day there I finally fulfilled my mission. I met some Gators! It was an old couple from Gainesville. I knew I'd meet some Gators in an odd place, and Slovenia, there you go.
Next was Venice. More on that later, along with London. Love to all.
My roommate Andrea is super nice, she is letting me use her laptop to type this. We went to the supermarket today and made a dinner of salad, pasta, and french bread. Good times. Tomorrow we meet the rest of the group for a welcome dinner. Mission one tomorrow will be finding a laundromat. I haven't washed my clothes in a week and they are starting to smell.
So back to the rest of my trip and impressions of each city. Vienna was beautiful. More so, there didn't seem to be any ugly parts of the city. The whole city was tree filled and had grand avenues. So many men in suits everywhere. I went around on my free day there with Emily, and we went to the Upper Belvedere and saw Klimt's "The Kiss" and a bunch of other amazing paintings. We then went to the Museum of Modern Art and we went to a coffehouse that had been around since 1890 something. If you've heard of a Sacher Torte, it is a chocolate cake with jam between the layers. It was made first at the Hotel Sacher, and Emily and I went there and ordered it. It was, of course, delicious, with such rich chocolate. We also went to see a concert with Mozart and another Viennese composer at one of the palaces there. Quite an expereince. It was so funny though, the whole time I was there I just kept imagining it was the 1940s and we were enjoying the concert while the Nazis were invading outside. Kathi said she had the same thought after the concert! Maybe it was all the German we heard. It would be cool to do a tour of Vienna about WWII. We reckoned that we were Resistance fighters in our elaborate fantasy. Anyways, long segue. Vienna has so many museums I feel as if I just scratched the tip of Vienna. Next time I come, there will be a lot more things to see
Next was Budapest. Let me just tell you, I LOVED Budapest. One of my favorite cities. Everything is so cheap, it is so lively and the people are so nice. It was funny, 3 times people came up to me and started long conversations with me in Hungarian. I told my tour guide who is Hungarian, and she said that she didn't think I looked like anyone famous who knows. We went to the House of Terror there where both the Nazis and the Communists set up their headquarters. They tortured people in the basement there. It was an interesting museum and we did the audio tour. Very sad though.
That night we went to the Sz(not sure how to spell the rest) Baths, the famous Turkish baths there. It was wonderful. The baths were really hot, and at night the lights lit up and it was beautiful. We chilled out there for hours. We also went to this old dessert shop in downtown Pest. Delicious homemade icecream. I joked with Kathi that I was eating my way across Eastern Europe. I had the famous dessert from each place we went. You can follow them in my entries.
Budapest is divided into two cities, Buda and Pest, by the Danube. We only explored Pest, Buda has the castle and old streets. Next time I go I want to see Buda more. Like I said, I loved, loved, Budapest and would highly recommend it to anyone. I know it is kinda off the beaten track, but it is definitely worth it.
After Budapest was Bled, Slovenia. What a beautiful little town. It has a huge lake with a church on an island in the middle. Kathi and I hiked around it and laid on the dock and sunned ourselves. It was so peaceful, I fell asleep, and promptly got burnt. Naturally. It was funny though, when we were at vistitor information, we asked the guy there that best place to go swimming, and he was like, swimming, you're crazy! But I went in anyways. It was cold, but only about as cold as Wakulla Springs. Everyone else was wimps. Later we went to a cafe to eat and I asked to order and the woman first said "You went swimming?!? How cold was it?" She seemed duly impressed by it which made me feel like a rock star.
We also took a gondala out to the island. Nothing special. On the way back we were in the most packed gondola. And I could tell the people next to us were talking about us in Polish. How embarrasing. Maybe they were disapproving of the swimming I did.
That night Kathi and I went on a frantic quest for Bled cream cake. This is the famous dessert of Bled. We went in SIX restaurants looking for it. We even went into one and asked for it, and the woman was like, what's that, even though there was a huge picture of it on the sign outside. We finally found it. It is pastry crust with vanilla custard on top, then whipped cream on top of that, then more crust, then powdered sugar. Enough to give you a stomach ache just thinking about it. But delicious.
On our last day there I finally fulfilled my mission. I met some Gators! It was an old couple from Gainesville. I knew I'd meet some Gators in an odd place, and Slovenia, there you go.
Next was Venice. More on that later, along with London. Love to all.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Slovenia and Hungary
Hey guys,
Sorry I post infrequently now. The internet is expensive, and the keyboard is confusing. Anyways, sorry for all the excuses. Right now, I am in Bled, Slovenia. It is quite beautiful here. There is a huge lake, with a church in the middle, and a castle. Kathi (one of my Australian friends from the trip) and I hiked around the lake and I went swimming. The water was cold (about 17 degrees celsius, everything with the Austrailians and Europeans is in celsius, kilometers, and kilograms, so now I have started to talk that way as well). Anyways, all of the Slovenians seemed impressed that we went swimming. It was only about as cold as Wakulla Springs but I felt cool regardless. We took a gondola out to the island and walked around as well.
Oh and Budapest! It was just wonderful. Everything was so cheap (they use Forints there) and the people were super friendly. It was so weird though. Twice, a old lady and a young kid came up to me and had long conversations in Hungarian to me. And some guy poked me on the subway then stood there waiting for me to turn around (I didn't, but my friends were telling me about it). We reckon that I look like some local celebrity. Maybe that's why everyone treated me so well. A bunch of girls from my group went to Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna and learned all about Maria Theresa (the mother of Marie Antionette and a queen of Austria) and they kept saying that I looked like her, so they call me a Hungarian princess or Maria Theresa. We think that the old lady was saying "Ah Maria Theresa, it's so nice to see you again!"
The other girls on my trip are really nice. Kathi is 29 and used to work at Yahoo and travelled a lot, but she says me and the other Emily are the only two Americans she met out of work. Before she met us she thought it was bad to have Americans on the trip because she thought we would be annoying, but now we're her favorite members of the trip. It just goes to show you what everyone in the world thinks of Americans. But we've made such a good impression on everyone that we've changed their minds. I think more Americans should travel so we could change their minds. It is hard sometimes to meet people who have pre-conceived notions about you based on your nationality. But Kathi is funny, she says I'm the smartest person she's ever met, and I'm only 20, so I think she has really changed her mind about Americans. It's just important for people to know what the rest of the world thinks about us. Being on your best behavior overseas is important. You might be the only American some people ever meet. So I am trying hard to be gracious, polite and non-demanding all the time.
I go to Venice tomorrow, then fly to London on Tuesday and am there until Saturday. I will write more when I get free internet in Paris. I'll also expand on more of what I did in Budapest and Vienna, and my views of everywhere. Overall though, the people are very friendly, and I am having a good time.
Love to all.
Sorry I post infrequently now. The internet is expensive, and the keyboard is confusing. Anyways, sorry for all the excuses. Right now, I am in Bled, Slovenia. It is quite beautiful here. There is a huge lake, with a church in the middle, and a castle. Kathi (one of my Australian friends from the trip) and I hiked around the lake and I went swimming. The water was cold (about 17 degrees celsius, everything with the Austrailians and Europeans is in celsius, kilometers, and kilograms, so now I have started to talk that way as well). Anyways, all of the Slovenians seemed impressed that we went swimming. It was only about as cold as Wakulla Springs but I felt cool regardless. We took a gondola out to the island and walked around as well.
Oh and Budapest! It was just wonderful. Everything was so cheap (they use Forints there) and the people were super friendly. It was so weird though. Twice, a old lady and a young kid came up to me and had long conversations in Hungarian to me. And some guy poked me on the subway then stood there waiting for me to turn around (I didn't, but my friends were telling me about it). We reckon that I look like some local celebrity. Maybe that's why everyone treated me so well. A bunch of girls from my group went to Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna and learned all about Maria Theresa (the mother of Marie Antionette and a queen of Austria) and they kept saying that I looked like her, so they call me a Hungarian princess or Maria Theresa. We think that the old lady was saying "Ah Maria Theresa, it's so nice to see you again!"
The other girls on my trip are really nice. Kathi is 29 and used to work at Yahoo and travelled a lot, but she says me and the other Emily are the only two Americans she met out of work. Before she met us she thought it was bad to have Americans on the trip because she thought we would be annoying, but now we're her favorite members of the trip. It just goes to show you what everyone in the world thinks of Americans. But we've made such a good impression on everyone that we've changed their minds. I think more Americans should travel so we could change their minds. It is hard sometimes to meet people who have pre-conceived notions about you based on your nationality. But Kathi is funny, she says I'm the smartest person she's ever met, and I'm only 20, so I think she has really changed her mind about Americans. It's just important for people to know what the rest of the world thinks about us. Being on your best behavior overseas is important. You might be the only American some people ever meet. So I am trying hard to be gracious, polite and non-demanding all the time.
I go to Venice tomorrow, then fly to London on Tuesday and am there until Saturday. I will write more when I get free internet in Paris. I'll also expand on more of what I did in Budapest and Vienna, and my views of everywhere. Overall though, the people are very friendly, and I am having a good time.
Love to all.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Times in Budapest and past journeys in Prague, Cesky Krumlov, and Vienna
Hey guys,
Im in Budapest now (sorry if the grammar is kind of wrong, the keyboard here is different). Cesky Krumlov was quite beautiful. A classical, little Czech town). We walked around, and had a local guide give us a tour. We wandered by the river and had some classic Czech food. Cesky Krumlov was a lot cheaper than Prague but quite beautiful. I really loved Prague and felt by the end of the journey that I had gotten a really good feel for the city.
Vienna, in contrast, I felt was less beautiful than Prague but more livable. Every part of it that I saw I felt that you could live in. Trees lining every street, men dressed up for work, not as many tourists. Emily and I went to the Belvedere in the morning and saw The Kiss by Klimt. We then went to a classic Viennese coffeehouse. We asked for a menu and the guy was like we donát have menus, but then at the end I asked for the check in German and he looked really surprised and happy. leah asked about the language difference, and in general, we get by just fine. Sometimes when Im alone, they speak the language first to me, then change to English when they see the blank stare on my face, so maybe I dont scream tourist. I say thank you and hello and such in the language of every place we go, and I think people appreciate that, and sometimes respond in that language as well. We take local transport everywhere we go, which would be impossible to manage on my own, for the first time, which is why Im glad Im in a group. But you get a real feel for the country. Because of construction, we had to change from train to bus, train to bus, train to bus, to get from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna. Right now Im in Budapest, and am going to the famous baths tonight. Sorry my grammar is terrible, but its hard to figure out this keyboard, and I dont have much time left on the computer. Thanks for zour comments and keeping me updated. When I have mroe time in Paris Ill write what the local Czechs feel about Bushs visits and plans for the region and other experiences Ive had (boy are there a lot of stories to tell) so look forward. May not post for a couple of days, but Ill try my best.
Love to all,
Emily
P.S. Leah, you can have my map to Prague, it is great, and was really indispensible to me. I am now the guide in every country, think I inherited Dads good sense of direction
Im in Budapest now (sorry if the grammar is kind of wrong, the keyboard here is different). Cesky Krumlov was quite beautiful. A classical, little Czech town). We walked around, and had a local guide give us a tour. We wandered by the river and had some classic Czech food. Cesky Krumlov was a lot cheaper than Prague but quite beautiful. I really loved Prague and felt by the end of the journey that I had gotten a really good feel for the city.
Vienna, in contrast, I felt was less beautiful than Prague but more livable. Every part of it that I saw I felt that you could live in. Trees lining every street, men dressed up for work, not as many tourists. Emily and I went to the Belvedere in the morning and saw The Kiss by Klimt. We then went to a classic Viennese coffeehouse. We asked for a menu and the guy was like we donát have menus, but then at the end I asked for the check in German and he looked really surprised and happy. leah asked about the language difference, and in general, we get by just fine. Sometimes when Im alone, they speak the language first to me, then change to English when they see the blank stare on my face, so maybe I dont scream tourist. I say thank you and hello and such in the language of every place we go, and I think people appreciate that, and sometimes respond in that language as well. We take local transport everywhere we go, which would be impossible to manage on my own, for the first time, which is why Im glad Im in a group. But you get a real feel for the country. Because of construction, we had to change from train to bus, train to bus, train to bus, to get from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna. Right now Im in Budapest, and am going to the famous baths tonight. Sorry my grammar is terrible, but its hard to figure out this keyboard, and I dont have much time left on the computer. Thanks for zour comments and keeping me updated. When I have mroe time in Paris Ill write what the local Czechs feel about Bushs visits and plans for the region and other experiences Ive had (boy are there a lot of stories to tell) so look forward. May not post for a couple of days, but Ill try my best.
Love to all,
Emily
P.S. Leah, you can have my map to Prague, it is great, and was really indispensible to me. I am now the guide in every country, think I inherited Dads good sense of direction
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Tour time
Hey everyone!
Sorry there was no blog yesterday, I moved out of Miss Sophie's early in the morning, so no free internet access anymore until Paris. I checked into my tour group apartment Saturday morning. It is quite a pretty apartment. It is located in Josefov, the Jewish Quarter of Prague. I share a huge room with two other girls, and across from the kitchen, there is one guy from our group.
All of the tour members are quite nice. We have one guy, an Irishman, one other American (a girl named Emily, who was also born in TX and who also has family in Louisiana; she is going to LSU for Grad school in the fall), and 5 Austrailans (all girls), all from different parts of Austraila. Our tour leader, Lydia, is Hungarian.
It is fun getting to know them, and having people to walk around with. For the past two days, I have been revisiting sites in Prague that I liked. I figured out that 4 days is a perfect amount of time to see Prague. I have seen everything I've wanted to see, and am pretty comfortable getting around now. I don't get lost anymore.
So tomorrow we are heading on an early morning bus to Cesky Krumlov, to the south of Prague, it is about three and a half hours away. I hope to post every two or three days or so. Unfortunately, the entries may be a little shorter than the past entries, just because now I have to pay for internet access.
Well, hope eveyone is doing well! Talk to everyone soon!
Sorry there was no blog yesterday, I moved out of Miss Sophie's early in the morning, so no free internet access anymore until Paris. I checked into my tour group apartment Saturday morning. It is quite a pretty apartment. It is located in Josefov, the Jewish Quarter of Prague. I share a huge room with two other girls, and across from the kitchen, there is one guy from our group.
All of the tour members are quite nice. We have one guy, an Irishman, one other American (a girl named Emily, who was also born in TX and who also has family in Louisiana; she is going to LSU for Grad school in the fall), and 5 Austrailans (all girls), all from different parts of Austraila. Our tour leader, Lydia, is Hungarian.
It is fun getting to know them, and having people to walk around with. For the past two days, I have been revisiting sites in Prague that I liked. I figured out that 4 days is a perfect amount of time to see Prague. I have seen everything I've wanted to see, and am pretty comfortable getting around now. I don't get lost anymore.
So tomorrow we are heading on an early morning bus to Cesky Krumlov, to the south of Prague, it is about three and a half hours away. I hope to post every two or three days or so. Unfortunately, the entries may be a little shorter than the past entries, just because now I have to pay for internet access.
Well, hope eveyone is doing well! Talk to everyone soon!
Friday, June 1, 2007
Prague Castle and random political stuff
So before I begin, a couple of answers to some folks questions:
Tomorrow (Saturday) I start my tour. I will still be in Prague for the next two days, but I will be staying in an apartment that the tour group is providing. It is located in Josefov, right next to Stare Mesto. I will be leaving for Cesky Krumlov (in the south of the Czech Republic) on Monday. President Bush will be coming on Monday to meet with the Czech president and discuss a possible anti-missle base. Just to keep you up on your Czech politics, the Czechs are against this, and will be demonstrating in Wencesclas Square on Monday and Tuesday and in front of the American Embassy in Mala Strana. The Polish, on the other hand, are for it. The Czechs fear another Cold War, and since they suffered a lot at the hands of the Communists and the Nazis before them (neither of which they resisted), understandably, they don't want another war and more suffering. The Polish on the other hand, didn't resist, and who knows, maybe they hate the Russians more. Anyways, Prague Castle will be closed on Monday and Tuesday to hold talks between Bush and Vaclav Klaus (the Czech president). I figure this seems like a bad place to hold the talks, since this is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Prague. But no one asked me. Anyways, wish I was here for the demonstrations, but I will be gone. Maybe it is for the better, if there is a lot of anti-American sentiment going around.
So the place I have stayed for the last 4 nights is Miss Sophies, located in Nove Mesto. I highly recommend it if you are planning on coming to Prague anytime soon. I liked the neighborhood, and if you didn't want to stay in a traditional hostel room (like the one I stayed in with 2 bunk beds), you could rent an apartment. A lot of middle aged folks were coming through and staying in apartments. It also might be a good idea if you are coming with multiple people. Wither way, it is a very modern looking, clean hostel, with great beds and showers, and a really cool common room and kitchen. Here's the address if you're interested, or if you just wanted to check out where I've been staying (http://www.miss-sophies.com).
Today I spent most of the day at Prague castle. It really is quite beautiful. This is where Golden Lane is located (I have also been to the Mucha museun, Mom, check my entry about 2 entries back). There is also St. Vitus here, this is the grand building with the tall spires that you see in most pictures of Prague. It is located on the hill of Prague. I have no idea how you'd walk to get here, I finally bit the bullet and figured out public transportation to get there. Trams 22 and 23 are teh tourist trams, and they'll lead you past most of the touristy sites in Mala Strana and the castle district. It was about a thirty minute tram ride up to the castle. Imagine how long it would have taken me if I had walked like I'd originally planned! Anyways, public transportation is not that scary. I resisted because everything's written in Czech, but it wasn't that hard. They sell tickets at Miss Sophies and other hotels, and in the subway stations. I asked for directions from Miss Sophies and it wasn't that hard. I would recommend it.
The castle has a lot of attractions, and you could easily spend a whole day there. I spent five hours there this afternoon and took an audio tour. It was pretty expensive (about 200 CZK) but I felt like I learned a lot more than most of the people who were just looking around blindly. Anyways, now I could tell you a lot about the castle and the complex, but I'll resist. I also ate dinner there, 1/4 roast duck with honey with wine kraut and dumplings. It was quite delicious. Highly recommened though it was probably overpriced.
I am still on the lookout for a Gator. I figure I will probably run into one somewhere in Europe in a strange place. They seem to be everywhere. However, I have met a Seminole, a Clemson tiger, and a couple of people have friends from Sewanee. But no Gator yet. We'll see.
Thanks for your comments. Hope to hear from you soon. P.S. How come noone told me that Billy Donovan is going to the Magic? You guys have to keep me up on this sort of stuff!
Tomorrow (Saturday) I start my tour. I will still be in Prague for the next two days, but I will be staying in an apartment that the tour group is providing. It is located in Josefov, right next to Stare Mesto. I will be leaving for Cesky Krumlov (in the south of the Czech Republic) on Monday. President Bush will be coming on Monday to meet with the Czech president and discuss a possible anti-missle base. Just to keep you up on your Czech politics, the Czechs are against this, and will be demonstrating in Wencesclas Square on Monday and Tuesday and in front of the American Embassy in Mala Strana. The Polish, on the other hand, are for it. The Czechs fear another Cold War, and since they suffered a lot at the hands of the Communists and the Nazis before them (neither of which they resisted), understandably, they don't want another war and more suffering. The Polish on the other hand, didn't resist, and who knows, maybe they hate the Russians more. Anyways, Prague Castle will be closed on Monday and Tuesday to hold talks between Bush and Vaclav Klaus (the Czech president). I figure this seems like a bad place to hold the talks, since this is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Prague. But no one asked me. Anyways, wish I was here for the demonstrations, but I will be gone. Maybe it is for the better, if there is a lot of anti-American sentiment going around.
So the place I have stayed for the last 4 nights is Miss Sophies, located in Nove Mesto. I highly recommend it if you are planning on coming to Prague anytime soon. I liked the neighborhood, and if you didn't want to stay in a traditional hostel room (like the one I stayed in with 2 bunk beds), you could rent an apartment. A lot of middle aged folks were coming through and staying in apartments. It also might be a good idea if you are coming with multiple people. Wither way, it is a very modern looking, clean hostel, with great beds and showers, and a really cool common room and kitchen. Here's the address if you're interested, or if you just wanted to check out where I've been staying (http://www.miss-sophies.com).
Today I spent most of the day at Prague castle. It really is quite beautiful. This is where Golden Lane is located (I have also been to the Mucha museun, Mom, check my entry about 2 entries back). There is also St. Vitus here, this is the grand building with the tall spires that you see in most pictures of Prague. It is located on the hill of Prague. I have no idea how you'd walk to get here, I finally bit the bullet and figured out public transportation to get there. Trams 22 and 23 are teh tourist trams, and they'll lead you past most of the touristy sites in Mala Strana and the castle district. It was about a thirty minute tram ride up to the castle. Imagine how long it would have taken me if I had walked like I'd originally planned! Anyways, public transportation is not that scary. I resisted because everything's written in Czech, but it wasn't that hard. They sell tickets at Miss Sophies and other hotels, and in the subway stations. I asked for directions from Miss Sophies and it wasn't that hard. I would recommend it.
The castle has a lot of attractions, and you could easily spend a whole day there. I spent five hours there this afternoon and took an audio tour. It was pretty expensive (about 200 CZK) but I felt like I learned a lot more than most of the people who were just looking around blindly. Anyways, now I could tell you a lot about the castle and the complex, but I'll resist. I also ate dinner there, 1/4 roast duck with honey with wine kraut and dumplings. It was quite delicious. Highly recommened though it was probably overpriced.
I am still on the lookout for a Gator. I figure I will probably run into one somewhere in Europe in a strange place. They seem to be everywhere. However, I have met a Seminole, a Clemson tiger, and a couple of people have friends from Sewanee. But no Gator yet. We'll see.
Thanks for your comments. Hope to hear from you soon. P.S. How come noone told me that Billy Donovan is going to the Magic? You guys have to keep me up on this sort of stuff!
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