Halfway There | 10.23.13

Super behind and entertaining guests this week | 10.21.13

Sorry that I not posted lately, Josh's parents have arrived this week so while josh is in school,we are exploring the city!  I promise that I will update things next week so stay tuned!

Mushroom Picking | 9.29.13 Sunday

Josh's professor has a huge passion for mushroom picking in the Czech Republic and it's what he does during the weekend when in season.  Today he invited the whole school for an excursion to the Karštejn Castle and then we would go mushroom picking in the surrounding forests.  We met at the main train station at 8am, thankfully we got there just a few minutes late and were able to meet up with the group to get counted for train tickets for the 40 minute ride out into the countryside of the Czech Republic.  Since he invited the whole school, I think that they made it into a field trip therefore we did have to pay for anything, only our food and souvenirs, which was nice.  The train ride was pleasant, very smooth and the scenery was beautiful.  We arrived at our stop and then from there had a 15 minute walk to the castle area.  The village was having their annual wine harvest festival which meant that there was lots of vendors out with food and souvenirs.  We walked through the village, made notes of where we wanted to go afterwards and made our way to the castle.  We split up in 2 groups, one to go and tour the castle and the other to go mushroom picking and then in the afternoon, Henry would take the rest of the group picking who visited the castle first.  So a group of about 20 went to tour the castle and the other 10 went picking (not too many people from the school came, there were a few students from another university that came along as well as friends of Josh's professor).  The tour of the castle was interesting, we learned that this large Gothic castle was founded in 1348 by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor-elect and King of Bohemia. The castle served as a place for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia as well as the Bohemian/Czech crown jewels, holy relics, and other royal treasures.  We toured a few rooms, mostly everything has been restored, only a few original pieces of the castle remained.
After the tour was over, we took a 30 minute lunch break and then planned to meet back up to go mushroom picking.  As we were walking through all the vendors, I wanted to shop more than eat so I had to focus and find something that appealed to me.  Josh got this Asian noodle dish that had vegetables in it and I decided on this "what we thought was pizza" thing that turned out to be a piece of flat crispy bread with ketchup, mozzarella cheese and garlic.  It tasted alright at first, but then the garlic started setting in and that was all I could taste (wish I would have taken a picture because it looked better than it tasted).  Anyways after that adventure, we all met up together with Henry and he told us that the first group was unable to find any mushrooms due to the wild boars in the forest but that we would go to a different area and hope we find some there. We hiked up this dirt path and walked through a large field of tall grass, and at the point, I was already out of my element and didn't want to go any farther (I should have just stayed in the village and shopped).  We walked a little ways into the forest and then he gave an explanation of what mushrooms are good and bad, how to pick them and how to find them hidden in the ground.  He passed around some papers with pictures and then passed around a few of the "good" mushrooms that he found yesterday.  We were to meet up in 30 minutes, and last thing that he said to us was that if we come in contact with a wild boar, find the closest tree and climb up 6 feet!  Ok, now that freaked me out!  I know that they are probably as scared of us as we are of them but seriously, now I have to worry about running into one of them?  So we start heading up the mountain, I'm following josh and trying not to get poked in the face with tree branches, watching out for wild boars and trying to keep in mind where we are so that we don't get lost in the woods.  As josh is "on mushroom picking mode", I just stand in one position that allows me to still see him and yell to him occasionally to make sure he is still alive ( just kidding).  No luck so far, so we move to a different area and I just stand and wait.  Finally josh found one big mushroom and a few smaller ones but he was so excited.  As he was still searching, he was wondering further and further from me and was unable to hear my calls which freaked me out that I was in a forest by myself (with wild boars) and sent me into possibly having a mini panic attack.  Thankfully he started responding and it was time to head back to civilization, only problem...we didn't really know where we were but at least knew what direction we needed to head.  We finally got out of the woods, and was able to catch up with the group, they were already heading back to the village so we got there just in time.  Everyone was impressed with Josh's mushroom finds because no one else was able to find anything!  Good job babe!

We headed back to the village and were on our own for the rest of the day.  So we walked around the shops, I got a cinnamon sugar bread roll and josh got some ice cream and we enjoyed the beautiful day.  We noticed there was a parade coming up the hill with lots of people dressed in medieval costumes, horses, children, and even King Charles IV attended the parade at the end, so we stood and watched this cheesy parade!  Before leaving josh got some more burčák, czech wine only sold during the early fall season, and we headed to the train station.  For some reason josh got stuck with all the mushrooms found from today's adventure and for some reason, it was his responsibility to wash them and cut them up so that the cooking class could use them.

Riding the tram back to the apartment from the train station, we had a funny interaction from an older czech lady that took Josh's basket out of his hands and was telling us which mushrooms were good and bad.  Not knowing what she was saying to us, she just shook her head and seemed like we found a good assortment. That positive interaction shocked us because everyone here is so cold and rude so we thought it was a nice gesture.

We got home, and while I was taking a nap, josh nicely cut up all the mushrooms and laid them out to dry.  He would take them to school tomorrow for the cooking class. And let's just say, I'm still not a fan of mushrooms and don't think I will ever be one!!

Walking into the village with the castle in the background

While waiting for our tour to begin, we watched some dancing in the courtyard

Such a beautiful day!

Do you know what that wooden area is that is sticking off the side of the castle at the top?
Well it was the toilet back then... so beware below!!

My view while in the forest

Look for mushrooms with sponge-like bottoms, mushrooms with fins are bad

Josh won the prize for the largest mushroom found for the day!  That thing was huge!

Parade heading towards the castle

Looking out at the countryside while waiting for the train to come

Josh did a great job cutting up the mushrooms and now they are laying out to dry...too bad we didn't have any mushroom eaters with us this week, they would have been in heaven!!

A Day at the Zoo | 9.28.13 Saturday

Today we headed to the zoo and I think that everyone in Prague had the same idea!!    Since it was on the other side of town, we had to take the tram to a bus stop and then from there, the bus would take us to the zoo.  Only issue, the bus was jam packed, people smelled and there was traffic so we had to be confined longer than usual but we survived!  Thankfully the bus dropped us off right at the entrance gate. So we bought our tickets, and headed inside.  Although it's very similar to the zoo at home, here you can pay to bring your dogs with you inside as well.  We both thought that was kinda strange, and there were plenty throughout the zoo, both big and small dogs. We didn't know that you had to pay for a map, stupid idea, until after we bought our tickets so we looked at a large scale map at the entrance and then decided to just walk and we would eventually see everything.  We started walking and at first we didn't see many animals in their exhibits.  We saw a few owls and large birds before noticing this very large mountain that people were climbing up, using a ramp, and hoped there were animals up there!  Josh was more hesitant than me but I had a feeling that at least something was up there.  So we start hiking, as we walked, we notice a billy goat exhibit with monkeys inside as well and there was a monkey at the very top of the exhibit eating some sort of vegetation, he was cute and not shy to humans!  As we continued to reach the top, the views of the zoo, river and city were beautiful and you were able to see the lower level of the zoo!  We finally got to the top, there were a few food places and a playground for kids and then we noticed a few signs pointing to certain animals and went from there.  We were able to see moose, buffalo, deer, but unfortunately the wolves were not out.  We then walked over to the newly renovated elephant exhibit that had many elephants and even a baby elephant, so cute.  The exhibit was very close and you were able to see them very clear.  The we walked over to the giraffe and zebra area as well as the meerkats and in an interior exhibit, we saw a single giraffe.  By this time, we were hungry so we stopped at a cafe and bought some French fries, everything else was so expensive, and ate our fruit bars that we brought for home.  Then josh spotted a hotdog stand and got us each a hotdog.  Now hotdogs over here are a little different than at home.  They have this crunch to them when biting down that kinda grosses me out, imagine that, but I tried to put that aside cause I was hungry!  After lunch, we headed to the hippo exhibit, which was really cool.  There was at least 3 of them and they were swimming in the water that was right beside us, only a thick sheet of glass was between us.  Most of the time they were underwater but when they came up for a breath we were only able to see their heads but they were humongous.  We continued walking, saw the polars bears, one was enjoying a swim which was fun to watch and then we walked into the monkey exhibit area that showcased small monkeys in their environment.  By this time we returned back to the entrance and still needed to see the other half of the zoo.  We walked to the sea lions and watched them play aggressively amongst themselves and there was the cutest baby sea lion playing too.  Then we saw penguins, which are Josh's favorite and flamingos which are my favorite and continued walking towards to the tigers. 

Being that the zoo is right beside the Vltava River, sadly in 2002, a catastrophic flood destroyed the southern part of the zoo.  It left thousands of animals homeless and seeking temporary homes and 136 died from drownings or stress, including an elephant, 2 hippos, lion, bear, sea lion and many birds.  While we were walking through the lower half, they had a sign showing pictures of the devastation along with a pole that showed how high the water rose and it was unbelievable. They also had another flood that happened this year in June that left some devastation as well.  But on the happier note, the zoo is producing three times more offspring (which explains all the cute babies in the exhibits) than before the flood and attendance has doubled, which is good!  

Back to the animals...we saw large tortoises, gorillas, angry tigers (he was walking around his exhibit growling, must have been hungry), a female lion, cheetahs, monkeys with the billy goats, lemurs, prairie dogs and lastly a bald eagle.  By this time, the zoo was about to close so we needed to make our way to the exit.  But before we left, josh had to try this czech sugar wafer, it looked like a disc of styrofoam but was pretty tasty.  We headed out the exit and noticed that everyone had the same idea as us which was to catch the bus back to the tram station and we both were not about to do that again so we decided to walk back to that area, josh promised it was not too bad of a walk (he has ran in this area before).  But first we walked through the Troja Palace which is right across from the zoo and walked around the gardens and then continued until we found an apple orchard that josh HAD to pick a few to take home.  Then we started our journey back home...we crossed the Vltava River and walked through a nice park.  I'm pretty sure josh lied about it not being too far because we were walking for forever and my feet were already tired from walking around the zoo.  Finally I could see the end in sight, we boarded the tram, made a pit stop to the grocery store and then headed home.  It was a great day and we both really enjoyed seeing all the animals and I am so happy that my sweet husband let us skip the reptile section today, since he knows my fears of those nasty creatures!!

We climbed that mountain to get to the top of the zoo and then worked our way down.

Cute little monkey

Halfway there...

View from the top, you can see how close the Vltava River is in relations to the zoo

See the baby elephant?

So precious!

Looking out into the giraffe, zebra and ostrich exhibit, beautiful scenery

Hungry hippo

The cute baby sea lion wanted to play!

Josh loved the huge tortoises 

I think the tiger was ready for dinner, he looked fierce!

Sweet little penguins

Sign showing how much the flood affected the zoo

You can see the pole in the background and I'm standing in front of it to give an idea of how high the water rose during the flood in 2002 which is the higher flag.  The shorter flag shows the water level from this past flood in June.

Josh eating the sugar wafter

Troja Palace

Josh picking some apples

Walking back to the tram station and crossed the river at sunset

Urban Occupancy Exercise | 9.27.13 Friday

It's Friday and Josh doesn't have class today, therefore we planned to go to the Prague zoo.  But after much time wasting (on my part, I will admit to it) it was already around 2 and josh had to meet up with his studio group at their site at 4:30, so we figured that we would just go tomorrow cause we wanted plenty of time to see everything.  So we decided to head over in the direction of his studio site and walked around the area so josh could get some more findings for his group.  He is supposed to be tracking the different hours of operations around the site which include restaurants, grocery stores, etc as well as different price points around the area of similar items.  Finally it was time to meet up with the group and then from there, everyone in the studio had a certain street corner on the site and they had to film the action that went on for 30 minutes straight at the same time.  So we walked to our corner, I found a nice place to sit while josh stood on the other side and filmed (thankfully he didn't have a busy corner, because from the few people that we saw, they were giving josh strange looks).  10 minutes into filming, my camera doesn't have any more memory left, and Josh's phone was being a pain so we had to count things by hand.  I counted all the cars that passed on one side of the street and josh counted the other, he also had to count the people that walked within the corner.  Our 30 minutes was up, thank goodness, I was tired of counting cars, so we headed back up with the group to see how their filming went.  We found out that not everyone was able to film for the full 30 minutes, which made josh feel better, one person was only able to film 3 minutes and another 7 minutes.   Anyways the point of this exercise was to see how many people occupied the space which is called urban occupancy in the design world.

Finally we were done with the group and were able to head home.  We got on the tram and made it back to our apartment.  Considering we had no food at home, we decided that we would venture out and go out to dinner tonight.  So we went to the apartment first, put on a heavier jacket and comfortable shoes, these cobblestones are so uncomfortable to walk on and headed out.  We were going to go to this Mexican restaurant down the block from our apartment, but no one was in there and I thought it was closed (even though josh swears it was open).  So we continued walking towards the castle to find a place.  One nice thing about the restaurants here is that they have the menu displayed outside the restaurant so you know what they serve and prices.  We walked around, trying to decide where to go until we decided to go to this one place that had a special.  It was a small cafe with only another couple seating inside, others were eating outside in the cold (crazy people).  The special was a choice of soup, choice of either 2 dinner options and desert each for 190czk.  So we both got vegetable soup, Wiener schnitzel (I know the name is a little unappetizing) and a chocolate filled crepe.  Basically the original Wiener schnitzel is made of veal but we had the option of pork or chicken.  We both chose chicken, it tasted just like fried chicken and looked like fried fish but with the help of ketchup, I was able to eat most of it.  The French fries were my favorite part of dinner, they were delicious.  It was an interesting dinner but at least we came out with full bellies!!

Shout out to my dad!!  Happy Birthday, hope you had a fabulous day!  Wish we were there to celebrate with you!!  Love you lots!!


We visited Vystaviste which is an exhibition ground used for concerts, cultural events and exhibitions.  It was in front of the tram stop to the zoo so Josh wanted to check it out.

Josh's street corner, not much action going on

Bon appetite | 9.26.13 Thursday

Not much has been happening this week, still trying to recuperate from this past weekend.   Over the past weeks, we have noticed one major thing here...the food is nothing like home!!  They don't have certain items over here and it makes cooking dinner very interesting.  Tonight we made porcupine meatballs, something that we eat very frequently at home with rice. Because of our limited ingredients, we had to use ketchup instead of A1 steak sauce and dry tomato soup packets (we have yet to find canned soup) that you have to add water to and hoped for the best!  It was pretty good, one of the better meals that we have eaten here but I'm beginning to miss home cooked meals and normal food...have already started my list of foods that I want when we come home!

Opera night | 9.24.13 Tuesday

Tonight we had the pleasure to attend an opera in Prague.  It was an outing that the institute provides for the students as an event to participate in by experiencing Prague culture.  It was at the Prague State Opera located just a few minutes away from Wenceslas Square in the city and we were attending the showing of Madame Butterfly.  Since this was our first time to an opera, we didn't know what to expect but in my mind, I thought that this would be very boring and we would have no idea what was going on because it was going to be in another language.  

We arrive at the theater and take our seats, sitting in the highest balcony area, the view was great.  The theater itself was beautiful, and rich in color and detail.  The lights begin to dim and the orchestra begins playing music, the show was beginning.  Thankfully at the top of the stage, there was a screen with both phrases in Czech and English of what the cast was singing about, which made it much easier to follow the story line.  Not even give minutes into the show, you know who begins dozing off, he can't keep his eyes open and begins to get bored, what a pain!  Trying to pay attention to the act and keep josh awake was difficult, but he began to wake up after eating his Twix snack that he brought with him.

The first act was very slow and hard to understand but once after the intermission, it picked up and we both were able to understand the story and become interested.  Although I must say that the end was very depressing and was not expected!  The opera was long, we didn't get home until 10:30ish but enjoyed the experience and can now say that we have attended an opera!

Not the best quality pictures...but to give you an idea of the interior

Last Day in Copenhagen | 9.22.13. Sunday

Last day in Copenhagen :(   The plan for the day was to go out with the drawing teacher at 10 and draw a few areas of the town for a couple of hours.  Then we were able to have free time to do some last minute exploring before meeting at the hostel at 5 to head to the airport, our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:55.  So we got up, feeling well rested from the night before, josh actually went running this morning and went to the site along the water that had the workout area (the orange object in yesterday's post).  So I ate breakfast and packed up our things and put them in a locker downstairs, met up with josh and then we waited around for everyone to show up (everyone was suppose to go, not just the students in the drawing class which caused major confusion to everyone so only half the group showed up).  We walked to a town square, not far from the hostel, and Jim (Josh's drawing teacher, who does spectacular watercolor illustrations) was asking everyone to draw items or spaces in the area and focusing on people and their actions.  So while josh began drawing, a walked down to the main shopping street, not too far away, and wanted to see if the Pandora store was open today since it was Sunday (I spotted the store Friday on our bike trip, but didn't have a chance to go in).  Unfortunately they were closed today, bummer...I was hoping to get a charm, since pandora began in Copenhagen.  So I walked back to the site and sat with josh while he drew and I people watched!  It seems like we were there forever so to make time go by quickly, I began sketching a few things as well.  Then Jim asked everyone to draw the same view and he helped everyone individually to understand scale in their drawing.  As he was helping josh, he made it look so easy and even though he was rough sketching, it made the whole drawing look ten times better!  

So after another 45 minutes, we were able go and do our own thing.  We met up with RC, and decided to visit The Marble Church again, josh saw that you could climb to the top of the dome on Sundays, plus RC hasn't visited it yet.  We head in that direction and visit Amalienborg Palace again and find out that the tour is only in the summer months, bummer. Then we decide that we should visit Grundtvig's Church that was highly recommended to visit in the presentation the other day which was a little out of the city and we had to take a bus to get there.  We began walking to the bus stop, thank goodness for technology these days, it was so much easier to navigate with Josh's phone and it told you what bus number you needed to get on and all the stops between you and your destination.  On the way to the stop, we passed by the Rosenborg Castle which is a renaissance castle that was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and now is a tourist site and contains Crown Jewels  and the Danish Crown Regalia inside.  We stopped, took a few pictures then continued to the bus stop.  We got on the bus and rode for about 10 minutes before getting off.  This church is a rare example of an expressionist church in architecture and is one of the best known churches in the city due to its unusual appearance.  What makes this church special from the exterior is how the buildings and scenery relate and help enhance its beauty.  Buildings on each side of the church help place symmetrical context and enhances its visual impact as well as the long tree lined road that leads through Bispebjerg cemetery directly in front of the church which creates a view of just the church, nothing else is in the picture, quite interesting.  The interior was inspired by gothic architecture yet had a minimalist modern feeling to it, very unique and worth seeing!  We headed back to the city by bus and did not have much time left before heading back to the hostel so we were limited on what to do.  First we ate lupper at a Mediterranean fast food type place, we have been eating a lot of this type of food while over here, and decided to head to the Rundetårn.  This round tower built in the 17th century is located in central Copenhagen.  It was built as an astronomical observatory and is most known for its spiral ramp leading to the top.  It was another site to see based on that presentation and it was our last, cause after this we needed to head back to the hostel.  There was a fee for entering,  just a few dollars so we decided to go for it and climb to the top.  Along the way up, they had different exhibitions and stops, like a view of the church that is attached, a museum and another level with artifacts.  We continued round and round until we got to the top and was able to step outside and see the city.  Similar views to what we saw when we climbed the spiral church steeple the other day, not as tall but still a nice view.  We stayed up there for a few minutes before heading back down to the bottom.  We were told, by Josh's professor, that it was built for a king that was too large to walk up stairs therefore his horse drawn carriage could bring him to the top but I was never able to find that information while researching so I don't know if that was true or a myth.  But a fun fact that I found while researching is that they have a tradition every spring which is to have a unicycle race where you have to go up and down the towers spiral ramp and the world record was set in 1989 in 1 minute and 48.7 seconds, that's crazy!  

By this time we headed back to the hostel, picked up our belongings, and was able to relax and chill for a few minutes while waiting on everyone.  We walked together to the train station, boarded the train for the 15 minute ride and then arrived at the airport.  We checked in, went through security without any problems, thank goodness, and then had a hour or more to wait for our flight (I guess always better to be early).  We shopped around a few stores, saw the little mermaid bookcase that BIG designed for one of the shops and I found a pandora store!  We had to go in!  It was a tiny store but had a lot of merchandise!   Knowing that pandora doesn't make charms for particular areas, I asked anyway for charms that were related to Denmark or something that they have exclusive.  She pulled out a few charms and explained each one, all of them I knew that we had except for one that is retired at home, the Pandora Crown charm.  It has been retired since I've worked there and since we traveled to Denmark, it was only right for me to get this charm to remember this trip!  It will go on my travel bracelet that will remind me of this trip!  We continued to wait around in the airport for another half hour to 45 minutes waiting for at least a gate number.  Finally it showed up, we went to the gate and realized that our plane was 20 minutes behind schedule and that we would be leaving later than 7:55, after a long day, all I wanted to do was sleep in my own bed!  We finally boarded the plane and got home around 10:30ish, we were both exhausted but this trip was well worth it!  We enjoyed Denmark a lot!!  No wonder it is awarded the happiest place to live!

A close up view of the area that Josh had to draw and sketch

To bad it was closed today, i wanted to see the interior

A view of the Marble Church from a distance

Directly in front of the church was Copenhagen's Opera House across the water (notice the water feature to get an idea of distance)

This picture was taken during our water taxi ride on Thursday but I wanted to give you an idea of scale behind this interesting building (the weather was much nicer that day)

Rosenborg Castle

The view of Grundtvig's Church from a distance, the cemetery is on both sides of the trees

Getting closer to the church, you can still see that the trees are providing a frame for the church

Even the symmetrical buildings help enhance the church's unique design

It took over 6 million yellow bricks to build this church

Interior view, gothic but minimal at the same time

Simple altar

Rundetårn exterior view

Walking up to the top, much easier to climb than stairs

City view

Peek a boo...

Exterior view of the hostel

Not the best picture but an idea of what the lobby looked like at the hostel

On the way to the train station...can you tell that this is a bike city?

The Little Mermaid shelving unit located in the airport for a store

My new Pandora charm, the royal crown!