holiday in France

As the end of the school year quickly approached I was very sad to have to say goodbye to my students, colleagues and friends in Prague. It's amazing how fast you can connect with new people in a short year together. But amid all the sadness of 'goodbye for now' (thank you facebook, skype, and all forms of modern technology..) I was also bursting with excitement for my long-awaited 2 week adventure in France. My good friend from UW-Eau Claire, Margot, took her holiday time to meet me in Paris and travel around the French Riviera with me for the first two weeks of June.

''11 cities. 14 days.'' That was our mantra. I arrived in Paris sleep deprived and completely fried, and only Margot would greet that Natalie with a huge hug, grab my 3 HUGE suitcases and run down the streets of Paris in her wedge sandals fast enough so we would make our train to the south. She is a rockstar and such a good travel companion.

We visited the cities and towns of Monaco, Eze-sur-Mer, Cannes, Antibes, Menton and Nice in the Cote d'Azur. Next we moved further west along the coast to the second largest city in France, Marseille. From there we did a day trip to the tiny town of Cassis (aka Heaven) Then moved away from the sea into the heart of Provence to Aix-en-Provence and Avignon.

Our tour-de-southern France was absolutely picture perfect. I ate my weight in moules (mussels) and soaked in all things French. I got to practise my favourite language and was even told by a few natives that I was quite good! We said au revoir to the south and went back to Paris where we met my good friend Melissa who flew in for her birthday weekend. The three of us took Paris by storm, getting in all the sights possible in 3 short days.

Here is a slideshow of my last 2 weeks in Europe, in France. (You're welcome for editing my 800 pics from those two weeks to a mere 200)

birthday part 2: Barcelona

I decided that the proper way to celebrate my 25 fabulous years was a weekend in Barcelona! Melissa and I had a rough start to our trip with a 2 hour delay in Prague airport and landing in the pouring rain, but after some sleep we woke to bright sunshine and the Mediterranean just down the street! In order to see all the highlights of the city we had a very busy few days.. We saw the fantastic architecture of Antoni Gaudi, ate fresh tapas, toured a couple museums and made plenty of time for the beach! Here is a slideshow of pics from our wonderful, tropical holiday.

100 seasons celebration

Who knew turning 25 would be so epic?? I was so lucky to have a fabulous birthday (even though it was Friday the 13th this year!) with my students, colleagues and friends here in Prague. I taught a couple of classes, took my post-secondary afternoon class to the zoo, and finished my day off with a picnic in the best Zizkov park in good company.

I took a page out of Wen's book and decided that this year I will make my birthday a week-long event. So I took my last holiday days from work and Melissa and I spent a long weekend in Barcelona- Happy birthday to me!!

4 May- the day of perfect attendance



morning post-secondary class

Back row: Michaela, Jindra, Kristina, Helena, Zuzka, Mira

Middle row: Petra, Jana, ME, Mila, Roman

Front row: Michal, Vojta, Petra, Klara

afternoon post-secondary class

Back row: Isabela, Katerina, Vladia, Vojta

Front row: Michaela, Julia

It was an IJV miracle. A once in a lifetime experience. ALL of my post-secondary students attended class today!! Luckily I brought my camera to school to snap a class picture for our year-long 'travel logue' project we've been working on for my afternoon class. I never would have guessed that I would need it for my morning class as well-- I absolutely HAD to document the whole group together. So feast your eyes on my 19-21 year old groups of post-secondary students who are lucky enough to have 3 hours of English lessons everyday!!   

Čarodejnice- Witches Night

Spring is full of traditions here in the Czech Republic. We have the madness that surrounds Easter followed by a few days of saying 'na shledanou' (goodbye) to winter. The last 3 days of April celebrate the name days of the 3 'winter men', and the story behind it is that these last 3 days of April are the final time for winter weather before gardeners can breathe easy and prepare for the crop season.

In a final celebration to the end of winter they have an extremely pagan celebration on the night of 30 April called Čarodejnice, or Witches Night. Appropriately, the people of the Czech Republic have massive organized parties where they make bonfires and burn witches made from sticks. People dress up in witch hats, cook sausages over the fire, and enjoy the festivities. In Prague there were many organized events and we chose one on the outskirts of the city to attend. It was a nice park and had a live band, tents and booths set up, and a few bonfires going until the thunderstorms set in.

Today, the 1st of May, is the Czech's version of Valentine's Day. People gather on Petrin Hill (where the mini Eiffel tower is) and kiss their loved ones by the statue of the Czech 'love poet', Karel Hynek Macha. It is said that if you don't kiss someone under a flowering tree on 1 May then the girl will turn ugly. Side note- it is also a national holiday reserved for any rallies or demonstrations in their post-1989 life, their Labor Day. What a combo!

love/hate the czech republic

A prime example of my love/hate relationship with the Czech Republic:
In class today...
me: Sooo the royal wedding is tomorrow-who is excited??!! Is anyone going to watch some of it on tv?
honza: Tomorrow? Really?
me: Yes, Honza. Haven't you read about it in the newspaper or heard about it on tv? This is kind of important.
jitka: Well, yes of course Natalie.
honza: But there is something with more important tomorrow.
me: More important than the royal wedding? What is it?
vojta: It is the world hockey championships.
klara: what means 'royal'?

Easter Monday in south Bohemia

Easter Monday-the real holiday in the Czech Republic- was spent in the popular southern town of Cesky Krumlov. Ben and Gerry spent the night en route to Vienna while I made it as a day trip. It is a very historic small town of 15,000 with lots of character, great architecture and a fantastic setting in a bend of the river Vlatava. The best thing to do here is simply walk around and soak in the atmosphere along the river and go up to the castle grounds for a better view. We ate, drank the local Eggenberg beer, and tried to find as many 5-petaled roses engraved around town representing the founding Ruzmberk family from 1302. Enjoy the pictures from our lovely and relaxing day in Krumlov!

Easter in the Czech Republic

Since Christmas in the Czech Republic was so entertaining to hear about I thought I would share the equally humourous tale around the Easter weekend traditions. Growing up in the US I was used to Easter starting on Wednesday night and going to church pretty much daily through Sunday. The Czech Republic is.... different.

First off, since the majority of Czech people are athiest there is no mention of anything religious. Easter to them is more of a celebration of Spring. The big Christmas markets are in place again, this time decorated with bright colored ribbons and faux flowers making them the 'Easter markets'. Replacing the huge pine trees are massive eggs and instead of detailed ornaments there are hand painted eggs. The St Nikolas gingerbread cookies are now shaped as bunnies. Very festive!

My favorite part about Easter traditions here are the events that happen on Easter Monday. As traditions has it, boys are allowed to hit girls with willow branches woven into whips. Now this may sound violent, but the boys are actually doing the girls a favor- legend has it that as the boys hit the girls with these tree whips there are actually transfering the 'power' from the willow to the girl to ensure that she doesn't 'dry up'. This is to say that the girls will remain youthful and pretty and not turn into old hags. Since the girls are supposed to be thankful for this gesture they are expected to give the boy a present after being beaten by the branches. Presents could be anything from a hand painted egg, candy, or a shot of alcohol. Then they tie a ribbon on the end of the boy's whip as a reward. The more ribbons the boys collect.... the drunker they become. (This part is still confusing to me.. communication barriers I think)

So I have been warned to 'watch my back' on Monday and to bring a pillow with me to protect my rear end. With Ben and Gerry in town we are planning to go down to Cesky Krumlov on Monday so Gerry and I will definitely have to be careful...

Czech ice capades

How did I spend my Saturday night? At Tesla Arena watching a figure skating exhibition performance. It may seem strange at first but if you knew my flatmate and good friend Matthew it would all make perfect sense. He hearts figure skating. So when he found out that Sasha Cohen and Johnny Wier were coming to town he recruited anyone and everyone (aka Lauren and I) to join him for a magical evening.

It was actually really fantastic thanks to the Czech commentator between most acts, the Czech ice dance team, and the overall hilarity of seeing these professional figure skaters on an April evening in Prague. Johnny Wier topped it off by doing his last number to Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance', proving to me that figure skating is wonderful entertainment.

spring break 2011: central/eastern europe

What a whirlwind of a week-- I was SO excited about Erica coming to visit, then we had a FABULOUS spring break holiday (obviously), and now I'm back at school..

view from the top of Petrin (mini Eiffel tower) in Prague

When I picked Erica up at the airport it was as if the past 8 months happened in 1 day- we chatted non stop for the whole week, got to visit a very interesting part of eastern europe, and enjoyed the gorgeous spring weather. One reality-check moment was her getting to meet and spend time with my new friends and collegues here in Prague. It was strange at first to be sitting in the Zizkov beer garden with my Praha bff's AND sister, but after about 3 seconds I realized this is absolutely perrrfect.

After Erica stepped off the plane we were tourist-monsters. We spent our week doing walking tours, hiking up hills in Prague and Budapest, and walking off delicious 'traditional' meals. Needless to say the 6 hours we spent at the Hungarian baths was completely necessary and worth every HU forint. Mother Nature behaved appropriately and blessed us with a full week without rain (minus the 1-hour blip in Budapest, but we were already in the restaurant for dinner so nbd) and we even got sunburned thanks to the strong sun and temps in the 70s!

heavenly natural thermal baths in Budapest

I know that we would have a blast no matter the time or place, but spring in Prague is probably the best time to visit. The Easter markets are up, the forsythia plants in full bloom, and green grass and trees make a nice contrast to the colorful architechture and natural beauty already in place. We took advantage of every minute possible!

springy  sisters!

Photo review

Here is a slideshow of our trip so far! Sights include walking tour in Prague and our 3 days in Budapest, Hungary. Enjoy!

I don't even really like animals.

Thanks to my friend Melissa I did something today that I would NEVER have done during my time here in Prague-- I went to the zoo.

(sidenote- the Prague zoo is actually known to be quite a good zoo. I just don't really like animals. Plus zoos always smell.)

I am so glad that Melissa snagged her preschool's season passes for us this weekend. It turned out to be a lovely Sunday afternoon so Matthew, Melissa and I took the tram up to Prague 7 across the river and spent a few hours walking around the zoo grounds.

Can you tell which animal was my favorite??

Sister is coming to town!

This week is FINALLY here-- Erica comes to visit on Friday!! If you can't already tell, I am pretty excited.

For our week-long holiday we have a few days planned in Budapest, Hungary, a day trip (weather permitting) to another town in the Czech Republic, and to spend the weekends in Prague. I am so happy that Erica will get to see the city I've been living in for the past 8 months, to meet all of my friends here and to be able to travel together once again.

Western Europe endured the Judd (and Welle!) ladies invasion of 2006, now it's central Europe's turn.

SPRING is in the air

It has been a long time since my last post, so I'll give a quick Prague update.

Almost like clockwork, as March arrived so did the feeling of a new season. Days are noticably longer, green buds appeared on trees and warm sun has allowed me to leave heavy winter gear at home. Spring is here!!

Classes are going well- my post secondary students are deep into Cambridge exam preparation and almost all of them passed their first Mock Test last month. We will do another practise exam in April before the real deal in June. I have started a new business client, Gemalto, a France-based security company. Every Thursday for three hours I meet with about 15 IT security students who have excellent English skills thanks to their international staff and regular classes. I also have a new public conversation class on Wednesday afternoons with a nice mix of University students and middle-aged working women who returned from my autumn course.

When I'm not at school I am busily planning out trips for the next three months, going for walks around the neighborhood or out with friends enjoying Praha in the springtime.

Next week is spring holiday for the post-secondary students so Deanna, Melissa and I are spending the weekend in Munich, Germany. Then, sister comes 1 April!! I took the whole week off so we are going to spend some time in Prague, Budapest, Hungary, and a day trip somewhere else in the Czech Republic. Can't wait!

That is all for now as it looks like another beautiful day!

Olomouc, Czech Republic

This week Melissa, Zach and I decided it was about time to do a day trip somewhere in the Czech Republic. In our hostel in Vienna a couple weekends ago we spotted a newspaper article about a town 3 hours east of Prague called Olomouc. The article called Olomous a 'mini-Prague' that was not as well known for some reason to travellers. I checked our Rick Steves' guide book and didn't find any information about it, so with help from "Uncle Google" (direct quote from a student) I did a bit of research about this ancient town in Moravia. Saturday morning we hopped on a 7:15 am train to check it out.

It was indeed a scaled-down version of Prague which made it even more walkable and quaint. It is known for its statues and fountains from mythology as well as its gothic and baroque style churches (like everywhere else in Europe, right?). It had a nice botanical garden area and an old palace that has now been renovated into a health center.. rather strange but it was still lovely. We had brisk but sunny weather and spent the whole day taking photos, reading about the town, and enjoying a new part of the Czech Republic.

Vienna pictures

Click on the picture above to view my Picasa web album from Vienna!

a weekend in Wien

Since Friday was a day off from classes Matthew, Melissa and I decided to venture to Vienna for a long weekend. Just under 5 hours by bus ,Vienna was the perfect place to spend 3 relaxing days going in and out of museums, palaces, and restaurants.

We learned a lot about Vienna's history including-and most importantly- the royal family that reigned for over 600 years, the Habsburgs. We toured both of their palaces in Vienna, the Hofburg palace right in the city center and their quaint 'summer home' just a 20 minute walk from Hofburg. At the first palace we saw a great collection of diningware and silver that was actually quite fantastic. Then we learned more about the Empress Elisabeth 'Sisi' from the 1800s and her dramatic entrance into the world of royalty... and its equally dramatic exit. Finally we were able to tour the imperial apartments and see their digs. With a nice audio guide we left both palaces feeling the spirit of Sisi et al around us for the remaining time in Vienna.

With nice weather all weekend we successfully completed Rick Steves' walking tour of the city on Saturday afternoon. One VERY important stop was to the original Sacher cafe, home of the Sacher torte aka the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my whole life. I got a recipe but to be honest I don't think that magic can be recreated in my current kitchen-condition.

Habsburgs, museums, german, schnitzel, and good company took over the weekend and here I am back in Prague in the middle of another work week. Time is flying by and school is as busy as ever with Cambridge exam prep round the clock and new business clients scattered throught the city.

PS pictures to come--I'm uploading over 200 now to my Picasa web album but the central European internet speed is taking it's precious time... will share the link soon I hope!

Aussie invasion

Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Bob arrived from Sydney this weekend for their first visit to Prague! Lucky for me Bob was invited to an international Army Chaplain conference here in the CZ and Marilyn was able to tag along and hang out. They will then continue their trip to London to visit Ben and Gerry for a week before returning to summer weather down under.

We were very dedicated tourists the past two days and I am just now regaining the feeling in my toes. During their visit we were able to try different traditional Czech restaurants, see the Prague symphony orchestra at the Municipal House, and go to a church service at St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle.

Municipal House concert hall

It was so nice to see some family and to show them around Prague. Their visit got me excited to have Erica come in April!!

birthday video

A friend of mine posted this video from the Astronomical clock's 600th birthday celebration. This clock is in Old Town Square, the main city center attraction in Prague.

Christmas in London



YAY for my warm scarf, candy canes, and Beyonce



 

impromptu NYE with Gerry and Ben

I was lucky enough to spend the holidays with cousins Ben and Gerry in London. I arrived early Christmas Eve and stayed (thanks to my missed flight...) until the first of January. It was a perfect mix of relaxation and sightseeing that was needed during my holiday break from school. I was able to spend time with family and tour more of London that I missed in October.

Highlights include meeting some of their friends, attempting a dance lesson, visiting the Wallace collection and Soane museum, and having a relaxing Christmas at their flat with good food, films, and company. Although Skype failed to work for our Christmas communication plans to the US, we managed some phone calls to family to wish everyone a happy holiday!

Now I'm back in Prague and have the harsh 'back-to-school' reality tomorrow morning..

Nothing says 'Merry Christmas' like carp.



carp live well on the sidewalk


 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

line up for your Christmas carp

Christmas in Prague is a sight to see- the markets and large trees in any open space throughout the city, lights everywhere, and starting on 23 December the large tanks of fresh carp on the sidewalks. Yes, carp is the traditional Christmas meal paired with potato salad. The funny thing is that nobody actually likes this tradition (mainly because it is rather nauseating) but they eat it anyway because traditions trump all. Some have their carp killed on the spot at the street stand while others opt to take it home alive and keep it in their bathtubs until Christmas (24 December here) when the male figure of the household properly kills and cooks it for the meal. After the meal a bell is rung to inform everyone present that Baby Jesus has successfully delivered the presents and that it is time to open them. Everyone rushes the the living room to the tree (which is decorated on the morning of the 24th, no earlier) and happily open gifts together.

It has been very entertaining to compare the differences in holiday traditions between the many cultures and am happy to see that universally the core is the same- to spend time and and celebrate with friends and family alike