Last Day in Prague (Easter Sunday)

Well for our last day we really wanted to find a church service but we couldn't find one that was not in Czech or Latin, so that was unfortunate. But we did sit in the Easter square and listened to all the the Easter Bells and ceremonial music. It is really cool how much they celebrate Easter here, nothing compares to this in the states. I bought a mini Easter stick to celebrate the day!

We went to the Jewish Quarter today and the first stop we went to was Memorial Hall. In it are tens of thousands of names painted alphabetically on the wall of those who were killed during World War II. In the list of names I found one person with the last name of Kodet (Kotekt) and this was interesting to me because my Grandma Jo's maiden name was Kodet and her family was from Bohemia so it got me curious if that person was some distant relative (even though I don't know of anyone in our family who was Jewish). Also in this memorial were drawings hung that were colored by children, and this was really hard to look at. Children had pictures of being kicked out of their schools, having to use communal showers with adults, and places they missed that were outside of their ghetto.

Our second stop was the Jewish cemetery. This is older that world war two era when Jews were first forced to ghettos to be separate from Christains. They were only allowed so much space and therefore in their cemetery the headstones are literally on top of each other and falling over. They have no idea how many people are actually buried here because there are too many to tell. We also looked through many synagogues and that was also interesting. David had to wear a Yamaka through everything too!


After we had lunch we went to Sts. Cyril and Methodias Church to see the museum and Nazi bullet holes. There reason there are these bullet holes is because of the parafighters who were hiding in the krypt after they assassinated Hydrich. They assassinated him because he was a really evil, high ranking Nazi commander in charge of the SS for Czechoslovakia and they didn't want him hurting people and controlling their area. (The assassination actually took place out of Prague and actually really near to the hotel we are staying in!) Nazis were furious after the assassination and once someone leaked that the parafighters were being hidden in the krypt they killed everyone but 10 people in the town are near that church in retaliation. They also shot out the windows of the church and broke into the krypt to kill the parafighters, but the parafighters committed suicide before the Nazis could get into where they were. I have a picture where you can see the bullet holes, and I also included one with me sticking my finger in one to show how deep they are.

 After this we went back to the Easter celebration in the square and walked around to enjoy our last evening. We then had dinner and headed back to our hotel early to pack and get a goods nights rest before our early flight!

Exploring Prague

Today our entire plan was based off of seeing the Jewish area of the city, but we were ignorant of the fact that Saturday is their holy day and therefore everything was closed! So we just went with it today to see where we would end up and we saw so much and had a lot of fun! First we hiked up a hill to see the Metronome monument which is placed where there used to be a statue of Stalin that overlooked the city, which was taken down when they became a republic.

Then we walked over towards the castle grounds again because our tickets worked for two days. Here we found an old toy museum that we looked through. There were so many old bears, dolls, trains, cars, robots, horses, and Barbies! I loved the Barbie section! My favorite part from it was the 1998 section because I remembered which ones from it I used to own!









After this we walked down the hill off the castle grounds and searched for somewhere to eat lunch. We went to this place and I got tomato soup again, haha. It was very good! Then we walked up another steep hill and headed toward Petrin Tower. This was built after the Eiffel tower, and kind of looks like it! It is a quite the hike up to the tower itself and a great work out. Then we climbed the tower which provided the best view of the city. After we climbed down the tower we took this thing called a slide which was a cart that was part of the transportation system down the hill we hiked up to get there.

Then we walked over to see the Dancing House which is only apartments but it is really famous architecturally because it is so unique. For all of you Pinterest users, you may have seen this on your news feed before!

Then we walked back to the Old Town Square to explore it and the Easter Market more. We went into a wax museum which was kind of cool and a fun break. Then we ate authentic polish sausage on baguettes! It was delicious! After dinner (we were still in the Easter market) we went to this little sable in the middle and fed some sheep and lambs, I've decided I would also like to be a sheep farmer some day. We also saw a famous large painted egg! It was beautiful, the painting depicted all of the seasons in a year.

Then we kept walking around the Easter market and watched some Czeck children singing and dancing and playing instruments. Their concert was of traditional czech song and dance. We all loved it! They were terrific and so fun to watch!

Prague

Well after a loud and sleepless night in our hotel we were a little bit more than worried with our hotel selection and very tired. But we were excited to actually get into the city to look around. First we took the Subway in and climbed up to the Prague Castle. The castle itself dates back to 3200 bc, at least and maybe earlier. Inside the caste are a couple churches and one, St. Vitus Cathedral was the most beautiful church I had ever been in. The stained glass in there was tiny mosaic pieces and they were all gorgeous. It is also the most decorated church I have ever been in! The castle itself is also really cool and it was crazy to see who all had lived in it through the years! We also think the Prime Minister is who occupies a quarter of it now, and we saw his motorcade today too. The views from up where the castle were really amazing! This city is really beautiful!

Then we had lunch and walked down to the old city center. Here we saw the Wenscles square and saw the old astronomical clock! Here the easter market was set up and it is absolutely amazing! There are so many unique things to try and see. The wooden painted eggs are everywhere and so beautiful! The trees and benches are all decorated with bright ribbons and eggs and the streets are busy with people enjoying it. This is definitely the time of year to go to Prague.

After we saw the square we went to see St. Charles bridge. It is the oldest bridge in the city and probably one of the oldest in Europe. It was very pretty and busy with people. The top of the bridge is decorated with statues and there are certain ones you are supposed to touch when you walk past because it is lucky! Then we struggled to find the Lennon wall, but we did eventually find it. It was SO colorful and fun to see! There are many talented graffiti artists out there! I can't believe that people decorate that wall appropriately and that almost all of it was Lennon focused.

We did quite a bit today and I even had my first Schnitzel and potatoes! I loved it! I really did love what we did today and all that we saw. It was a struggle navigating without english and without street signs, but we made it. I'll have to admit it's really been a big culture shock coming here, especially since they have only been out of the Soviet Union less than 30 years. I now realize that this will be the most unique/culture shock area I will go on my entire study abroad experience, and I will have some unique stories to share with family for sure...

Seeing the Queen and Prague

Well, I had quite the interesting morning because the Queen came for Maundy Thursday. So, David, Kelsey and I went and waited to see her! There were people everywhere lining the streets!! Everyone wanted to see her. Somehow, the three of us got right up front and we saw her perfectly clear from 10 feet away!! I felt so giddy and excited, she was looking at us and waving with a big grin on her face! I even got a picture of her, but unfortunately I got it right when she turned, but you can still see her in her car! This was honestly one of the most exciting things I have ever seen!

Then we left for Prague. First we took a bus to London then flew into Prague. From this we took a bus to the subway and rode that for about an hour to our stop. We got to our hotel late at night so it was dark getting here. We had some sketchy things happen on our way here and got lost a bit finding our hotel and I'm still pretty rattled up. We're trying to stay positive that it will be better to go around when it is day time, but if we still feel this way during the day there is a good chance we will be moving more towards the center of the city..

Preparing for Prague

Well I don't have much exciting news to share today, probably because I had class all day until 4! It was really interesting but pretty tiering. I learned a lot more about the Church of England today and feel I have a greater understanding of how it works and what it is today.

After class I went with Kelsey and David to the High street and we just got little toiletry things for airline standards to go to Prague. Then we came back to get to our hall in time for dinner. Tonight it was actually a decent meal! (there actually wasn't mutton in it!) We even got cheesecake for dessert!

This evening I just did laundry and packed for Prague. Tomorrow morning the Queen is coming to Oxford to Christ Church to hand out Maundy Money. She will be handing this out to people who are 87 years of age (for that is her age). The people who will be receiving it must also be members of Christ Church. My professor is not only an elder, but on the Church council there and he should get to meet her, at least see her so he is extremely excited. He said this will be his fourth time ever seeing her and he can even list the dates of the past 3 times he has seen her!  Because we are not Christ Church members, we will not be able to go, but we will be waiting outside to see her motorcade and hopefully get a glimpse of her walking in! Ha!

I may not be able to blog while in Prague, I'm not sure if David will be bringing his computer. But I have my kindle, so please message me or check for updates on facebook if you do not see a blog! :)

Stratford-upon-Avon/ Hamlet

Today we started our morning with a lecture about our field trip. Then we grabbed our sack lunches and got on the bus to head to Stratford-upon-Avon. Our first stop was Anne Hathaway's cottage. It was interesting to see where there family lived. We walked through the house and then also walked through the gardens, which are usually in full bloom this time of year but since it has been abnormally cold, they were not. But it was still a beautiful area to walk around. Inside the cottage we could see the insulation they had, and they described how one could always hear rats running though it! We also saw Shakespeare's courting chair it is said he used when courting Anne Hathaway.




Then we went into the town more and looked at Holy Trinity Church where the Shakespere's are buried in the floor by the alter. In the picture you will notice there is a sign above William's grave, this displays the words which are actually printed on his grave. It reads, "Good frend for Jesvs sake forbeare to digg he dvst encloased heare, blese be y man y spares thes stones, and cvrst be he y moves my bones."

After visiting his grave site we walked to where the house he grew up in was once located. The man who bought the home after Shakespeare, tore it down because so many people would come ask to tour 'Shakespeare's home' so he grew furious and destroyed it. Then we walked by the school that would have been where Shakespeare went to grammar school. We also walked to the place where he was born. ...I also found my dream house in this town :) ---It's pink!

Then we had some time to kill before we went to the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet. So, Kelsey, David, Amy, Matt and I went to a pub and had dinner before the show. Then we went and explored in the theater and even found a mirror maze to go through before the show. Then we went to the play and it was a phenomenal experience to see a show there. They have great actors and do a fantastic job with the lighting and effects. However, I'm not sure how I felt about the modern interpretation and that they set the play in this current time. The play was four hours long and we did not get back to our hall until almost 1. 

2nd Day in London

As Sunday was our second free day we went to London again. We first went to Buckingham Palace, but did not stay long because it was so bitterly cold and we wanted to keep moving! After eating the sandwiches we brought we walked towards parliament. On our way there we found more guards and we stopped to take pictures. Kelsey and I even got one to smile when we both leaned on either side as if to kiss him! I felt a little bad but it was funny to see one actually give a smirk!

Then we saw Big Ben, Parliament, #10 Downing Street (the Prime Ministers home), the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately we could not look inside Westminster Abbey since it was a Sunday, but it is still very beautiful on the outside. It was so insanely cold that it was hard to enjoy being outside, but it was still amazing to see all of these sights!

To warm up we decided to do some indoor activities so first we went to Platforms 9 3/4 in the Kings Cross station. Here we waited and hour take a picture showing a scene similar to that in Harry Potter when they leave for Hogwarts, it was worth the wait though :). Then we went to the British Museum which was huge!! The building was much bigger than I expected! But even though it was such a large museum there were still thousands of people visiting it, making it crammed and hard to see much and navigate it well. But it was still really interesting to walk through and see Egyptian and Greek sculptors and mummies, and jewelry from all over the world! Before we left I used the toilet and when I was walking out I was looking at the ground and some ladies thought I was Kate Middleton! I think they were embarrassed when I looked up but it was a huge compliment to me! Ha! But, I'm still not sure why they would think Kate would be wearing Asics, jeans, and a $20 Coleman rain jacket from Target....

Then we ha a dinner at a supper at a super sketchy restaurant in China Town to save money, but it really as not horrible. Then we just wandered around Picadelly Circus and looked at cool stores, and saw it lit up at night. We stopped by a Ripleys Believe it or Not store and watched a man juggle swords and solve a ruebiks cube in a minuet. Then we ended up in M n M World which was HUGE! It was four floors all dedicated to M n M's. They have walls with every possible color and M n M flavor! There was even an M n M Abbey road! It was fun! After looking around for a while we headed back on the Tube for Oxford.

Burford and Bath

For our second field trip we went to Burford and Bath. In Burford we went to a church where the Levelers we killed. The Levelers were soldiers for Cromwell's Army who were fighting for their rights after they had succeeded in taking over Charles I. They wanted to remain a group and receive benefits for what they had done. The Levelers who would not back down from this stance were held as prisoners in the Burford church and were killed there. I have been learning about this in my political science class, so it was really neat to see! I will include pictures with the bullet holes, and I will also include a picture of the font inside the church where they carved there names into the lead the night before they were killed.----There was also a famous cheese shop there so we stopped and got some pieces of some, and it was fantastic!

Next we drove through the beautiful Cotswolds and headed to Bath. Bath is a beautiful city, and a wealthy area. First we got a tour of an area where homes (which are connected) are sold for about 5 million pounds, or 7.5 million dollars. Then we walked through the shopping center to get to the Roman Baths. We made a little stop before our tour because some people visited this man who was holding pigeons and you could hold them too and take pictures, I did not partake in this because I think pigeons are just icky!!!








Next, we toured the Roman Baths, which were built by the Romans 2000 years ago. I can't believe how much technology they developed! They had invented heated flooring, plumbing, had the ability to drain the pools for the baths at will and fill it instantly, they had varying pools in sizes and temperature, it was seriously amazing!

Then, we were free to roam the city, so Kelsey, David and I went to William Herschel's house where he discover Uranus in his telescope in the 18th century. Here he and his sister studied astronomy, and although they were aspiring musicians, they moved in with the King and Queen after they were recognized for their discovery. I had been learning about Herschel in my science class, so it was nice to have a fair amount of background knowledge before going here. I am including a picture of me standing by his sister (Charlotte's) dress, notice how tiny and small she was!! She wore this when she was 50!

Pitt Rivers and Strada/ Oldest Coffee House in England

Okay, so this blog will compensate for both yesterday and today. Yesterday, Kelsey, David and I explored the Pitt Rivers more. We found some interesting items! Kelsey and I really like the old perfume bottles (they are gorgeous!), old cosmetics, foot binding, and tattoo machines/ utensils as while as the items used for body altering/shaping. David of course was more interested in the old guns and weapons. We even found a 10 dollar certificate from the United States Confederacy! All of us really enjoy that museum.

Later that night David and I signed out for dinner because it was ground lamb pie... needless to say not exactly edible. We went and got some nice Italian food and for dessert we went to G and D Ice cream shop for desert and when we went it was their happy hour so we got free ice cream with the purchase of a hot drink, so I had hot chocolate and ice cream! It was great! Then we came back and I found that nextflix here has Downtown Abbey seasons 2 and 3 are available right now in the UK! Finally, I was able to get past season 1, since that was all that was available in the states!

Today, was a rainy, but that didn't stop David and I wanting to explore Oxford. Kelsey was not feeling well and decided to take a nap to try and feel better, and that was a good decision because this morning our friend Brittany went to the chemist and found out she has mono!!! REALLY hoping she gets better and that does not spread around our group!!

After David and I braved the rain to get into the city center we decided to try and dry off and get something warm for a bit. We ended up at this coffee house which happened to be the oldest coffee house in England!! It first opened in 1650! It was very busy and had a noisy, crowded atmosphere when compared to other coffee houses. The decorating even makes the place look old, in a neat way. The candle holders on the wall look like mens arms and are painted gold. There was also a bronze teapot attached to a rope on the door and every time someone would walk in it would be lifted to the ceiling! (I will include a picture of this).

Then we went to this cheap clothing store so I could buy another sweatshirt for our field trip to Bath tomorrow, as it is supposed to be poor weather. Tonight we are planning on playing games with people from our group here at our hall and hoping to get a good nights rest for our field trip! 

Gardens, and Alice's Shop

After classes this morning David and I wandered around Oxford until dinner time. Kelsey's feet hurt from the day before so sadly she stayed in so she could feel better! David and I started our walk by heading to the Boldein Library, for we were hoping to find where some scenes in Harry Potter were filmed. Then we walked to the gardens behind Christ Church because we had only explored them a little bit before.

In the gardens we were able to walk a path that followed the River Thames for a good distance. There were many cute bridges and trees. While following the river we reached and an area where the row team practices when they are in session. There was an adorable house right on the river and connected to an old bridge (I will include a picture because it was so darling).



After our walk through the gardens along the river, we ended up finding a shop called, Alice's Shop. It has a lot of Alice in Wonderland gifts for people to purchase. It was pretty cool because it was once the shop where Alice Liddell used to go to buy Barley Sugar Sweets! She was the girl who Lewis Carrol named his book after!


After that, David and I got some coffee to warm up (because it was about 34 degrees during our long walk). That was a nice treat! Then we went to a store called Boots (their version of Target) to get Kelsey some stuff she needed since her feet hurt, so hopefully she starts feeling better! But after we got her stuff we were meandering through the city on our way home and we found this cool road that had old brick walls on either side, it was probably 600meters long and was kinda fun to walk through!

We are pretty tired from all our walking to day and just plan on having a lazy evening and doing laundry (which is extra exspensive-of course).