February 18th 2006
After arriving yesterday morning it was non stop hustle and bustle getting paperwork filled out, deposits paid, clothes unpacked and meeting new faces However we were able to sit down with our Czech buddies and partake in a Czech meal and a couple of Czech’s finest beer. Mack and I split a platter that had a little bit of everything on it, pork, beef, and chicken with fries, rice, and cooked potatoes. It was absolutely wonderful! It was a nice introduction to Czech food. Later that evening Mack and I unpacked our massive suitcases and enormous a started to fill the shelves and cupboard in our room. It wasn’t until that evening when we were able to catch up wit all the other k-Staters and head out to dinner. We choose a small Italian restaurant/pizzeria. The menu was lucky in both Czech and in English so picking out a dish wasn’t hard to do, just making a decision was the though part. After dinner we retreated back to our room and chatted with our English flat mates Kate and Laura. They are both really awesome and very friendly; they both are here to study civil engineering.
However today was chalk full of adventure and learning more about the inner city of Prague or Praha as the Czechs say it. At about 10 Mack and I set out with adventurous sprits and our walking shoes. We had maps stuffed in our shoulder bags and money in our pockets we were on a mission to find the Tesco and a cute café that we could call our own. We set our walking towards the main roundabout in our area and decided to take the third spoke from the right not knowing where it was going to lead us. We stumbled on to a min street that took us over the river and towards the Prague castle. Without knowing it we had found our way to one of the largest ancient castles in Europe home to St. Vitus’ cathedral. We walked past the guards decked out in full uniform and standing with such strength and decorum, it was almost intimidating until Mack and I got close enough to see that they guards were young and very attractive. We made our way into the cathedral and admired the wonderful gothic architecture with incredibly detailed spires and soaring columns holding delicate spring like arches above. It was stunning to say the least. It is easy to say that we will be coming back in the future to sketch and take pictures of the interior (you have to buy the right to take pictures, a great scam.) we continued our jounry around random streets and neighborhoods. We finally made it into the inner city where most of the real touristy things take place. We crossed Charles bridge slowly, careful to admire the various statues lining both sides of the bridge. While we didn’t know most of the saints that we portrayed we were able to recognize St. Patrick, the patron saint of architects. After reaching the other side we meandered further into the city, and saw various tourist shops, cafes and restaurants all selling virtually the same things however with different atmospheres. After about and hour of wandering we decided that we need to get back on track and find what we had originally set out for, Tesco. In order to save time and our legs, we found the information center and asked for directions. When getting directions on how to get somewhere in this city sounds a little like this, go down this street for a ways and the go left for about a hundred meters and then go around this bend and you should be fine. But what they don’t tell you is that the street winds in and out of other streets, which leads to other windy street and soon you find your self on a street that is in the opposite direction that you wanted to go in the first place. And they certainly don’t use North South East West, because you get so turned around that they wouldn’t help you at all. But in all that we found it, making Mack and I feel like we had accomplished the most prestigious task in the world, and it was just as rewarding. For those of you who don’t know what Tesco is, it basically is a 5 story Wal-Mart that makes you pay before you leave each of the department. We stocked up on the essentials such as pink toilet paper (it was a tough choice between the pink and the orange) miniature paper towel rolls and air freshener for our room. While we were trying to decipher the instruction on a bottle of drain-o (our shower turns into a bath in min and lasts for hours) Chris tapped on our shoulder and asked if we knew were to get the hand soap. Turns out that the entire crew was there as well. Mack and I concluded our shopping trip and rode the tube back to the dorms with the rest of the gang.
For dinner Mack and I decided to try the sandwich shop that is about three blocks from our dorm, people are always in there so we decided it had to be delicious. Here in that shop I came to the realization that all Czech food as an element of surprise to it. Even if you think you have chosen the most typical most familiar meal you will inevitably thrown off guard by and extra surprise ingredient. For example I went with the safe bet, the roast beef sandwich, it was the only thing I could read on the menu and the meat didn’t look raw, safe bet right , meat cheese and bread, how in the world can this be any different from what I would get back home? Ha! As I took my first it and looked at the sandwich I notice some brownish green shreds, some mysterious topping. I couldn’t quite tell if it was onion or lettuce. I was so hungry by this point of the day that I didn’t relly care, after walking for about five hours and who knows how many miles all I cared about was where and how I could get more fuel for my fire. All in all it was a good tasting sandwich and at some point will return for another, however next time I will ask for no mystery toppings.
To top off the evening we headed to the pub in the basement of our dormitory, which serves big mugs (about 24 oz. maybe, they are way bigger than the pints we had in England) of beer for 24 Czech crowns (ck). This price is pretty typical across Prague, which equates to about 1.20 in US dollars for about 2 American bottled beers. Down in the pub we mingled among the other foreign students, meeting Canadians, Spaniards, Scottish people and others. But it was the K-Staters along with the Birts (Kate and Laura) who had the most fun talking loud, telling jokes, stories, and also discussing American television shows. As the night went on I hung out and talked mostly with the Scotts and even busted out my impression of their Scottish accents. They were rolling on the floor and astounded and how accurate the impression was, I continued to next with my English accent and Kate and Laura were quite impressed too as to the accuracy of the dialect, even after a few beers. It was quite funny to talk to them all night about random stupid things that made everyone crack up, all in all it was a great evening filled with fantastic drinks and even better company!
After arriving yesterday morning it was non stop hustle and bustle getting paperwork filled out, deposits paid, clothes unpacked and meeting new faces However we were able to sit down with our Czech buddies and partake in a Czech meal and a couple of Czech’s finest beer. Mack and I split a platter that had a little bit of everything on it, pork, beef, and chicken with fries, rice, and cooked potatoes. It was absolutely wonderful! It was a nice introduction to Czech food. Later that evening Mack and I unpacked our massive suitcases and enormous a started to fill the shelves and cupboard in our room. It wasn’t until that evening when we were able to catch up wit all the other k-Staters and head out to dinner. We choose a small Italian restaurant/pizzeria. The menu was lucky in both Czech and in English so picking out a dish wasn’t hard to do, just making a decision was the though part. After dinner we retreated back to our room and chatted with our English flat mates Kate and Laura. They are both really awesome and very friendly; they both are here to study civil engineering.
However today was chalk full of adventure and learning more about the inner city of Prague or Praha as the Czechs say it. At about 10 Mack and I set out with adventurous sprits and our walking shoes. We had maps stuffed in our shoulder bags and money in our pockets we were on a mission to find the Tesco and a cute café that we could call our own. We set our walking towards the main roundabout in our area and decided to take the third spoke from the right not knowing where it was going to lead us. We stumbled on to a min street that took us over the river and towards the Prague castle. Without knowing it we had found our way to one of the largest ancient castles in Europe home to St. Vitus’ cathedral. We walked past the guards decked out in full uniform and standing with such strength and decorum, it was almost intimidating until Mack and I got close enough to see that they guards were young and very attractive. We made our way into the cathedral and admired the wonderful gothic architecture with incredibly detailed spires and soaring columns holding delicate spring like arches above. It was stunning to say the least. It is easy to say that we will be coming back in the future to sketch and take pictures of the interior (you have to buy the right to take pictures, a great scam.) we continued our jounry around random streets and neighborhoods. We finally made it into the inner city where most of the real touristy things take place. We crossed Charles bridge slowly, careful to admire the various statues lining both sides of the bridge. While we didn’t know most of the saints that we portrayed we were able to recognize St. Patrick, the patron saint of architects. After reaching the other side we meandered further into the city, and saw various tourist shops, cafes and restaurants all selling virtually the same things however with different atmospheres. After about and hour of wandering we decided that we need to get back on track and find what we had originally set out for, Tesco. In order to save time and our legs, we found the information center and asked for directions. When getting directions on how to get somewhere in this city sounds a little like this, go down this street for a ways and the go left for about a hundred meters and then go around this bend and you should be fine. But what they don’t tell you is that the street winds in and out of other streets, which leads to other windy street and soon you find your self on a street that is in the opposite direction that you wanted to go in the first place. And they certainly don’t use North South East West, because you get so turned around that they wouldn’t help you at all. But in all that we found it, making Mack and I feel like we had accomplished the most prestigious task in the world, and it was just as rewarding. For those of you who don’t know what Tesco is, it basically is a 5 story Wal-Mart that makes you pay before you leave each of the department. We stocked up on the essentials such as pink toilet paper (it was a tough choice between the pink and the orange) miniature paper towel rolls and air freshener for our room. While we were trying to decipher the instruction on a bottle of drain-o (our shower turns into a bath in min and lasts for hours) Chris tapped on our shoulder and asked if we knew were to get the hand soap. Turns out that the entire crew was there as well. Mack and I concluded our shopping trip and rode the tube back to the dorms with the rest of the gang.
For dinner Mack and I decided to try the sandwich shop that is about three blocks from our dorm, people are always in there so we decided it had to be delicious. Here in that shop I came to the realization that all Czech food as an element of surprise to it. Even if you think you have chosen the most typical most familiar meal you will inevitably thrown off guard by and extra surprise ingredient. For example I went with the safe bet, the roast beef sandwich, it was the only thing I could read on the menu and the meat didn’t look raw, safe bet right , meat cheese and bread, how in the world can this be any different from what I would get back home? Ha! As I took my first it and looked at the sandwich I notice some brownish green shreds, some mysterious topping. I couldn’t quite tell if it was onion or lettuce. I was so hungry by this point of the day that I didn’t relly care, after walking for about five hours and who knows how many miles all I cared about was where and how I could get more fuel for my fire. All in all it was a good tasting sandwich and at some point will return for another, however next time I will ask for no mystery toppings.
To top off the evening we headed to the pub in the basement of our dormitory, which serves big mugs (about 24 oz. maybe, they are way bigger than the pints we had in England) of beer for 24 Czech crowns (ck). This price is pretty typical across Prague, which equates to about 1.20 in US dollars for about 2 American bottled beers. Down in the pub we mingled among the other foreign students, meeting Canadians, Spaniards, Scottish people and others. But it was the K-Staters along with the Birts (Kate and Laura) who had the most fun talking loud, telling jokes, stories, and also discussing American television shows. As the night went on I hung out and talked mostly with the Scotts and even busted out my impression of their Scottish accents. They were rolling on the floor and astounded and how accurate the impression was, I continued to next with my English accent and Kate and Laura were quite impressed too as to the accuracy of the dialect, even after a few beers. It was quite funny to talk to them all night about random stupid things that made everyone crack up, all in all it was a great evening filled with fantastic drinks and even better company!
posted by Lindihar at 11:06 PM
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