Ok so I guess I am "it", thanks Allison. And just to brief everyone else this little info game is just a few short lists of some of our current surroundings and top picks for the city of Prague, so I guess in a way this is me in a nut shell.


My closet/cubby holes

1_winter coat I refuse to wear again
2_ the number of St. Louis Blues sweatshirts I brought with me
3_blue shirt with sparkly thing/pattern on it Allison made me buy at H&M
4_enough Febreze to rid Prague of stinky-ness, or at least mine
5_ [hold onto your hats for this one] a SKIRT


My pathetic purse

1_wallet (complete with permit & license)
2_camera (I have vowed to take more pictures)
3_my I pod with only 500 songs
4_clinique glosswear for lips in Ginger Blossom
5_wine cork from our first bottle of wine in Castiglione Italy [when we went to visit friends]


My desk

1_water color brushes and paint, bad paintings too
2_mounds of trace paper roughly depicting wall section details
3_floor plans, elevations, and building sections, from mid-crits [haven't touched since]
4_small plastic replica heart [I got from a cheerios box] almost the same size as my miniature mouse
5_A+U [architectural magazine]


Things at home I miss

1_family including Mr. Milo
2_friends I couldn't bring with me
3_my hammock [even though it was a father’s day gift, hahaha dad]
4_the sounds of crickets/cicadas chirping on the summer nights
5_mom's beef stew… so good you don't even understand, that or the meatloaf, call me crazy I don't care, oh yeah real corn on the cob, none of that mini corn business


Things I love in Prague

1_everyday that it isn't raining
2_the goat bar
3_the unforgettable people [yeah for new faces and friends]
4_czech surprises because there is always a good laugh after
5_everything on Allison’s Prague list

oh yeah i also tag the saucy brit James

YEAH WE HAVE INTERNET BACK!!! It is good to have some internet connection again! Not that is was out long, just long enough. I guess it was out on Friday morning just before we left to visit the small picturesque Czech town of Cesky Krumlov!

view of the castle

It took about four hours to get there by bus, which wasn't bad seeing how I passed out pretty easily and without much delay. And for the times that I did spring to life, the Czech country side was filled with rolling hills and yellow flowered fields, possibly growing mustered seeds. The country side of southern Czech Republic reminded me much of the country side of Missouri when I drive back to school. The fields are green and lush and small towns pop up out of nowhere.

view from the castle

But Cesky Krumlov is a living example of what I imagine any small European village to be like. Cobble stone streets, so narrow it's impossible to imagine how a car can find it's way through, an extremely organic city plan, an elaborate castle complete with Bear mote, all surrounded by wooded areas [which made it feel more isolated than it really was].

when in doubt a bear mote will do the trick.

When we arrived it was Friday and kind of rainy. Without hesitation we checked into our hostel and hit the street aided by a cartoon map with circles and scribbles drawn on it by our host, indicating the "hot" spots in town. As afternoon turned into evening the rain picked up and we decided there was only one thing really to do. Pub crawl.

The whopping five bar tour started with a bar called the horor bar [spelled in Czech no worries] it was located in the basement of an old church. Barrel vaults sprang from the ground and spanned the length of the room giving us just enough space to walk without ducking. Furthermore the atmosphere was made complete with spider webs and skeletons hanging from the ceiling, not to mention the staff was...how do I put this...Goth, real Goth. An interesting experience but I was looking forward to the more traditional pubs, such as the gorilla, gypsy bar and a few more.
horor bar...scary

Saturday we were out of our hostel at 7:45 to discover what we missed because of the rain the previous day. We once again walked up to the castle and meandered through the precisely manicured gardens. After which we climbed to the top of the castles single clock tower and took in a wonderful view of the entire city.

a top the clock tower

garden garden fountain

wooded area in the castle garden

After winding our way through the streets, getting lost and then realizing that we ended up in the same place we were in the first place, we decided to take in an art exhibit by the contemporary Czech photographer and another exhibit of the Czech art Nuevo master mind Mucha. Both were interesting to see but I greatly preferred Mucha over Jan … somebody. After the art exhibit we headed for the museum of torture, and it was SUPER creepy. I seriously think that we were the only people in the entire dungeon like display of metal clamps and torture devices. It was the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of my life. While the museum wasn't all that big, it had numerous dark shadowy corners and a few ominous looking nooks. The fact that there were howling and moaning sound effects coming from some of the displays didn't help me much. I think I grabbed poor Luke’s arm a hundred times. I was so thankful when the torture tour was over.

popular bus stop if i do say so myself

fields of green and yellow

It wasn't too long before we grabbed some lunch and boarded the bus back home, and three hours later we arrived in Prague, in the rain, imagine that.

I counted all the days left I have here in Prague, and there just weren’t enough. Now that the semester seems to be rapidly approaching I am just not even close to being ready to go home. I have had so much fun here, it is truly unbelievable. But thankfully there are some awesome days ahead. mack and i pre pirate party

Last night we had our farewell International Student Club party on a boat cursing the Vltava River. Everyone was decked out in Pirate costumes and ready for a good time. Everyone had costumes consisting of striped shirts and torn pants, black was par for the course. It must have been humorous to see a huge crowd of pirates stumble through the subway station en route to our docked boat. After riding a couple of metros to the other side of the city we boarded our vessel and made our way up the river. On board fun was flowing out of every nook and cranny, dancing on the deck, a buffet in the galley, and alcohol pretty much everywhere. At around 11:00 there was a small fireworks display that illuminated the night’s sky, well the night’s sky that was right in front of us. Something about that boat ride made me realize how badly I didn’t want to leave Prague or the friends I have made since being here. The night was capped off with streaking down the Charles Bridge, yeah right I would never do that, but some of the guys did. And it was pretty humorous to watch as they all scrambled to find missing wallets and cell phone after getting fully clothed again. It was a pretty fun night and a good way to end two stressful weeks at school.

the boat

I had a presentation on Monday [which started at 3:00 and ended at 8:00]; I was the last person to present my project to the review board. Let me tell you it was agony to sit through not only presentations in English but as well as ones in Czech. At least the ones that were given in Czech gave me an excuse for not paying attention. But by the time hey reached me, I was happy and the reviewers were tired, so they gave me the thumbs up and told me I had made a wonderful building. I can’t say I was entirely convinced, but I accepted it and was thankful that this meant little to no changes to my drawings had to be made. Sweet! So now I am going to start work on my final model and my final presentation drawings and hopefully get done before the actuall due date, so i can enjoy some beautiful spring days in Prague!



kate and carl on de boat

It is offical I have hit a wall, preverbal wall that is. It all started when I brought my level of procrastination to a new level. Higher than it has ever been before, it is now starting to catch up with me, but let’s face it we all work harder when the heat is on. Famous last words “It will get done, it hast to, it always does.” Lately I have been drawing like mad in CAD [computer aided drafting] which, let’s face it STINKS….
While it has been sunny outside the past couple of days I have been sitting in front of my laptop using my tiny mouse drawing floor plans and building sections. Basking in the glow of my computer screen might not give me skin cancer but being out in the sun is a lot more relaxing. Seriously who has ever said “wow I need to relax, you can find me in front of my computer,”….I can think of no one.
I guess I could explain what is going on so you aren’t completely lost. Well I have one more studio presentation before the big, final, scary one. In this one we display our building scheme as in reality with drafted floor plans, sections, elevations, and site plans, etc. Then after giving a short speech about my building I get told how much they love my building [ha-ha] or how much they despise it and how my triangle and scale are being confiscated. Also while I prepare for this presentation I have a paper due, so somewhere in this little brain of mine I have to find 2000-4000 words to write about Czech culture. Not too bad but I think that makes it a 5-8 page paper? After that I have to turn in three drawings I have been working on somewhat, and today I turned in my lovely computer graphics poster [one down].
Also a few friends are coming this week to visit, and boy oh boy would I love to spend some time with them. So a very tricky and complicated situation ahead of me but since I am a high school grad I’m sure I can make it work.
But lets get to the real story….Venice
I think we were in Venice from the 3rd-5th of May

a palladian building there in the background, San Giorgio Maggigore

We arrive on the train from Venice on the afternoon of the 3rd and headed straight to our hostel to once again drop our bags and start to explore the island city. We didn’t stay on the islands instead we stayed on the main land, since it is way cheaper! We took the train to the small northwestern island and began to walk. We quickly found that the map, and I think any map for that matter, was completely useless. The city was literally a living labyrinth. Some of the streets weren’t marked and narrow enough to fit two persons through. But eventually we found our way through the maze like streets to Piazza San Marco. We wasted no time in jumping an elevator to the top of the campanile where we got a spectacular view of the city just before sunset. During our couple of days in Venice we were able to see St. Marks, San Giorgio Maggiore, Palazzo Ducal and Santa Maria della Salute amongst many other historical and beautiful buildings.

st. marks

Also during my stay I picked up a few interesting tid-bits about the city. During the 800’s some Venetians went to Egypt and stole the body of St. Mark and the Basilica was built in honor of St. Mark (the new patron saint of the city). And since the symbol associated with St. Mark is the lion, it too became a symbol for the city.

Santa Maria della Salute [somewhere back there]

Among the city streets were tons of shops and carts selling anything from elaborate carnival masks that were beyond description, to Venetian glass [murano]. The beautiful hand blown glass sparkled in every window and the only thin holding me back was the fact there would be no way to bring it home in one piece.

view of Doges palace and the bell tower (which fell down in the 1900's and rebuilt with an elevator)
After our sort stay in Venice we headed back to Rome where we spent the night and took it easy ready to board out plane back to Prague. After 10 days of travel I was ready to get back to home base, where I could take all my stuff out of my bag and leave it strewn all across my room (if I wanted) and not worry about packing it all up the next day.

bells in the bell tower

Well it’s been a while since I started my Italy story, so let me continue.
Florence April 30th May 2- 3
We started our tour through Florence by first getting lost on the bus system. We were heading the complete opposite direction in which we needed to go. Mack ultimately asked the bus driver where the stop what that we need to get off at. He kind of laughed a little and told us to get off and get on the bus going the opposite way. We soon found the bus we needed to be on and climbed aboard with luggage strapped to our back. Luckily the bus wasn’t that full and we were able to comfortably stand at the back of the bus. But soon that all changes and the bus became packed to the brim and space to breath was getting scarce. The hostel that we were staying in was close by a bus stop, so when the time came we pushed and shoved our way through and practically ran to our hostel. We tore off our bags and were off to discover the city.

the Duomo front facade

the duomo apse end

ceiling of the dome

birds eye view from the top of the dome

Boboli garden fountian

more boboli garden

palazzo pitti

In the three days that we were there we saw so many buildings and architectural wonders. Some of the biggest things that we were the Duomo, San Lerenzo, The Accademia (where the famous David is)Santa Croce, the Ponte Vecchio, Pitti palace, the Boboli gardens, Santo Spirtio, Santa Maria Novella, the Uffizi and the Palazzo Vecchio with one of the reproductions of the statue of David. We were brave enough to climb atop of Brunelleschi’s famous double shelled dome enabling us to see the entire city of Florence.

ponte vecchio

Florence was very different from Rome, in that it was a bit slower paced and felt more leisurely. We were able to go to the all the sites that we wanted to without killing ourselves like we did in Rome. The streets weren’t filled with honking cars; they were filled with vendors selling everything from leather goods to scarves. IF you sopped even for a second glance of a second the booth owners were on their feet trying to cut you a deal. At one point one of the booth men was trying to sucker me into buying something that I didn’t need, and in his desperation to win me over he asked if I was Italian and said that I looked like an Italian. Of course I was not charmed and left with no purchase in hand.

the uffizi

The same evening we choose to eat at a popular restaurant in Florence called Yellow. We were seated in a small room just off the main dinning room somewhere in the front but at the same time next to the kitchen. Our view allowed us to see the cooks in the kitchen slaving away at customer’s dinners and creating some not only dishes that picture perfect but all gave off aromas that made my mouth water. Also in the Kitchen was a little old lady who was making past by hand. First she was cranking noodles through some sort of noodle maker and then she was carefully folding dough over cheese making ravioli and tortellini. This lady folded the dough with such ease and speed that is was clear that she had been doing this for decades. That meal was oh so good and probably the best we had in Florence, well maybe even in Italy!

palazzo vecchio

inside the palazzo vehccio

On May 1st we left Florence to travel to Castiglion Florentino to visit some friends from K-State that have been studying there since the end of January. We were picked up from the train station by our friend Corey and proceeded to hike to the top of the hill where the Study Center is located. The city itself is an old castle town and most of the city center is still located within the original stone castle wall atop a Tuscan hill. While our friends were finishing up some school work we grabbed a few bottles of wine and parked it where we could find a patch of grass and some sun. After our wine was drunk and our arms and legs tanned we meet with the entire group of 35 and caught up on all the happenings of the past few months. Soon we sat down to a family style dinner with pasta, salads, and pork and of course vino. After dinner we continued our reunion filled with humorous/ humiliating stories, laughing until our sides hurt, hugs and 1000 I missed you guys.
Luckily we were able to be covert enough to scam a free night at the study center. By hiding out and sleeping on the floor we saved 27 Euro and an amazing time with some of our closest friends. In the morning we snuck out and began to plan out our day. It was then that we learned that one of us had been spotted. Carl, one of the three I was traveling with, was seen by one of the study center staff and was made to pay for his night at Castiglion. After he made his payment we hugged our friends goodbye and headed off to the train station. We arrived back in Florence around 2:00 and continued our sightseeing.

On our last day in Florence we decided to take a short trip to Pisa. Pisa is located only an hour train ride outside of Florence. At about 3 in the afternoon we boarded a train and soon found ourselves in this small little Italian town famous for about one thing. We walked from the train station to the site of the Basilica, baptistery, and of course the tower. We stood on the lawns inform of the three white structures. We stood there admiring how crooked everything was. Every building on the site has been sinking and shifting since the foundation had been created. On the Basilica the entire west façade was slanted, and at one point it looked like they tried to correct it during construction or something but only made the crooked part stick out more.

the big three, baptistery, basilica, and tower all in one shot

yeah yeah yeah

but it is more funny when other people do it

Even though there were signs all over the green lawns telling tourist to stay off, they of course were full of people posing with the tower in the background. People were pushing the tower over, keeping it up with their hands and or feet and even teaming up with a partner for back up. It was really funny to watch some of the fellow tourist create these types of scenarios with the tower.
After climbing to the top and meandering around to the other buildings on the site, we headed back to the train station for a short ride back to Florence. I think the total amount of time we spend in Pisa was three hours and that includes the 40 minute walk to and from the train station.

crooked as it gets

All in all the four day stay in Tuscany was absolutely wonderful. It seemed as though the sun was shinning continuously and there was warmth all around. Making everything we saw seemed to shine.

April 27th – 29th Rome—we arrived in Rome in the afternoon of the 27th, with our back packs strapped to our backs we hiked from the train station to our hostel, freed ourselves from our luggage and headed straight to the nearest Italian restaurant. This small family style restaurant was the beginning of out amazing journey through Italy. The atmosphere was perfect; brick arched vaults over our head, wine flowing from bottles at every table, typical loud wildly gesturing Italians surrounded us, and the food, oh the food. I could feel neck craning over the tops of heads to find out what the wonderful smell coming from the next table was. It was so had to choose between the many tasty dishes available. It was here at our small table that we planned the next few days in Rome. The plan pretty much consisted of us getting up at 5 so we could be out the door at 6 in order to go see the big stuff before the crowds came.
The next day we started with St. Peter’s Basilica, wandering through the most immaculate space ever, larger that life and gleaming at 6:30 on a Friday morning. Beautiful, just beautiful the work of some of the most noted architects, sculptors, painters, crafters, of all time, all there right in front of my eyes, all just an arms length in front of me. I was floored, soaking up every inch (well, when in Rome…millimeter) of this amazing space. Thank goodness I hade the most amazing history professor in the work my first and second years of college. Because facts I though I had forgotten came spilling from my memory. Stories of the architects struggle to design the most perfect church, different behind the scene stories and specifically imbedded symbols and what they meant. It was all there. We hiked up to the top of the dome and gazed upon the city and stared in amazement that we were here, here in Rome. Charney (my history professor) always said when you see… and it was finally here we were seeing all that we had dedicated so much time learning about and from.

st. peter's squarest. peters nave (sorry it is blurry)

more of st. peter's nave looking out to st. peter's square from the room of the cupola

We climbed down from the cupola and mapped out the rest of our day, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, the pantheon, piazza Navona and may other churches and monuments. From about 10:00 till abut 6:00 we spent this time sightseeing getting lost, getting frustrated by the crappy public transportation system and snapping pictures. I would have like to see an aril diagram of our path that day because I am sure at some point we were just going around in circles. After several wrong turns and what seemed to be a such for a mirage we finally came to the Pantheon. With it very simple geometric geometry it was one of the most beautiful buildings I have seem in my life. We walked in side and the space was overwhelming. Even though there were wall to wall people I didn’t feel cramped or claustrophobic. I looked to the coffered ceiling and saw light pouring through the oculus overhead. It was just like all the pictures I have ever seen. It was a pretty cool feeling being in a space that has throughout time been such a landmark. I mean common it was even in the Di Vinci Code! But soon we found ourselves being over taken my tour groups of elderly German, so we felt it was time to head out. We continued out journey to the Trevi fountain which Mack and I but our backs to, reached in our pockets found the lowest nomination of coin we could find, made a wish and tossed the coin behind us in the fountain. And with that we turned to each other and commented “So I guess that means I will be back.”

pantheon

pantheon ray of light trevi fountain

Next stop was the Spanish steps, and well that is what they are, steps. We walked up them and then we walked down them, and that was pretty much it. No one really knew much about the steps and we couldn’t fine much written about them in our tour book so we moved on. We walked from the Spanish steps back to our hostel across the city, stopping at a few various places to take pictures, gander at and try and relocate ourselves on the oversized map. By then it was time to call it a day.

spanish steps filled with flowers

roman forum, "it wouldn't matter if i stepped on the grass, i mean i'm not going to ruin anything, they are already ruinins"

thee guessessIn our second day in Rome, after a brief (five hours) visit to the Vatican to see the Sistine chapel and about a million other things, we ventured to the other side of the city where the coliseum, the roman forum, the capitol, the tomb of the unknown solider, and San Maria Maggiore. It was really awesome to be able to walk through the ruins of the Roman forum. It was just unbelievable the scale of some of the columns and the reaming structures. All built before the time of steel and modern technology.

um covert picture cool modern religious art, by...by...i have no idea

Ok back to the Sistine chapel, we waited in a line that wrapped around, what seemed to be the entire 10- sq. mile Vatican city. I felt like I was at Disney world, every time you thought you were nearing the end of a line, nope. The line would turn a corner and there again would be standing like 4000 more people in front of you again. But after close to two hours of standing in a line we finally gained entry into the Vatican museum. We were wove our way through the exhibits of the Vatican, different pieces of art work from Raphael time to Salvador Dali’s time. After about two hours of following signs to the chapel we made it, and it was amazing. The paintings were much different then I was expecting. I can’t even tell you what I was expecting but it just seemed different then I had always imagined. People were packed in like sardines and the guards were on a strenuous alert mode watching for people trying to take pictures, talking or behaving out of order. And I admit it; I broke the rules and took a picture very or the ceiling, woops my bad. The painting we pretty large but full of detail. I can’t imagine looking up for that long, painting the ceiling of what would become possibly one of the most famous rooms in the world, my neck was starting to hurt after 30 minutes. But it was beautiful, and after that we descended the stairs and turned and went out the door.

sweet stair way out of the sistine chapel

Aside from walking though a bunch of Roman ruins we stopped by San Maria Maggiore on the way back to our hostel. We mush have arrived just before it was closing time because you could see the stress that entering visitors caused on the door man. We walked in anyway and admired the golden ceiling made from gold leaf mosaic and took pictures of all that looked familiar from class. Soon we were shuffled out as they were preparing for mass at 5:00. It was a beautiful church but the plastic chairs (the kind you see at a banquet hall) looked a bit out of place in the marble and gold clad interior.

san maria maggioreinside of san maria look at all that gold!

On Sunday we packed our bags up and headed to Florence by train. From there we would stay one night then head to Castiglion Florentino for just one night. But that was the most anticipated night of this whole trip. I couldn’t wait to see my friends from school, who had been studying in Italy since January. It was going to be exciting to see these kids, especially since I hadn’t see them since December.