Strahov Monastery and Library

Today in my Art & Architecture class we visited the Strahov Monastery and Library near Prague Castle.  The library has amazing artifacts from the past.  Although we weren’t supposed to take any pictures I snuck in my camera and phone to take a few to share with all of you!  The library contains two halls aka large rooms with lots of old books, but nobody is allowed inside them.  One is the Theological Hall built in 1679 and the other is the Philosophical Hall built in 1779. They both were decorated with beautiful ceiling art.  The library also had copies of old manuscripts and remains of animals, shells, guns and other things because the monastery also served as a museum.  We saw an old liberty bell from the US, remains of an armadillo and a dodo bird, and lots of seashells.  It was quite interesting.

 Basilica of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary

 Outside view of the library

View from within the monastery

 A pontifical from 1376

 The Strahov Evangeliary (960-965)

 Solid gold artifacts

 Ceiling in the library

 Theological Hall

 Famous revolving desk in the Theological Hall

 Philosophical Hall

 View of the ceiling in the Philosophical Hall

In the main monastery building, we were treated to several rooms with magnificent altars.  Many of the rooms also had detailed ceiling artwork.  The monastery also featured a room with artifacts of St. Norbert.  It is the second oldest monastery in all of Prague and was founded in 1149.  I would have never known to visit the monastery on my own and am thankful my teacher took us on this trip—though I’m not sure how much information on the art and architecture styles I will retain!

 Hallway in the monastery

Beautiful altar (there is a relic underneath--not sure who it's from)

 Decorated ceiling

 Painted ceiling

 Outfits worn and glass casket used when transporting St. Norbert's relics

Ornate banners of St. Norbert

I've Always Wanted to Eat Dinner at a Gas Station in Slovenia

This weekend I had my first opportunity to travel outside of the Czech Republic on a bus2alps trip to Split, Croatia.  I was thrilled to take a much needed break and visit the Adriatic Sea, but I dreaded the 13 hour bus ride.  I was correct—the bus ride was horrible! Our drivers did not speak any English and stopped almost every hour for a cigarette break.  The tour guide played loud movies into the night and the person in front of me reclined his seat fully so I woke up with numb legs.  We reached Split 2 hours late and had to run through the city to our hostel so we wouldn’t miss free breakfast.

We arrived Friday morning and had a free day.  I went with 3 other girls (1 from my program, 2 from a program in Florence) to explore the town.  We hiked up a hill and were rewarded with a breathtaking view of the town and water.  After wandering around up top we headed back down to the main part of town.  We strolled along a promenade on the water before heading down the narrow streets.  The main part of Split is located inside the remains of Diocletian’s Palace, which was built in the year 305 AD.  It is really neat to see ancient remains interspersed with shops and restaurants.   After lunch we headed to the beach.  The weather was mid-70s, a pleasant break from the bi-polar weather in Prague, and the sea was crystal-clear albeit a bit chilly.  I enjoyed doing some laps with my head above the water (that counts as swimming training, right?) while my friends sat on the shore.

 View of Split from atop the hill

 View of the Adriatic Sea from atop the hill.

 Jumping for joy to be in Croatia

 Seaside promenade

 Diocletian's Palace

Arches in Diocletian's Palace

 Enjoying the Adriatic Sea

Saturday morning we left the hostel around 10 for an island-hopping boat cruise.  Though the cruise was optional and cost extra, every student on the tour signed up to participate.  We rode along the water for about an hour before reaching our first destination.  We exited the boat and walked around a small village, stopping along the coast to take many pictures.  After our free time there we boarded the boat again and ate lunch.  We then travelled to Brac.  Once we were close to the beach we were given the option to jump off the boat deck and swim about 500 meters to shore.  Of course I chose to jump.  It was such a thrill to plunge into the water and I enjoyed swimming to the beach.  Most kids sat on the rocky beach but I decided to swim around for a while (I need to be training for NESCACs after all!) before joining a game of volleyball.  The beach was picturesque—the water color was a perfect blue, a few trees lined the coast, and the mountains rose above in the backdrop.  I could have spent an entire week in this place.  On the boat ride back to Split I managed to face-plant and hit my mouth and nose on a large metal stump.  My face hurt terribly then and I still have a bruised lip and partially numb nose!

 Fishing boats at our first stop

 Beach at our first island stop

 Looking out across the sea

 Checking out the view from the bow of the boat

 The second port we stopped at from afar

 View from the beach on Brac

 The beach on Brac

 The stunning water at the beach on Brac

Our boat docked at the second port.

Sunday morning we left Split at 8 for Krka National Park.  Once we made it to the national park we hiked down a lush hill.  Soon we were face to face with waterfalls.  We even had the opportunity to go swimming near one.  It was a really neat experience.  After that quick stop we were back on the bus.  The drive home seemed a lot longer than the drive to Croatia because we were awake for most of it (en route to Croatia we drove through the middle of the night).  After hours of driving we were told we would be finally stopping for dinner and at 8pm we pulled up to a gas station in Slovenia.  This was our dinner stop.  Never before have I so badly wanted a Whole Foods in my life.  The gas station was packed with our entire bus of students and as you would expect did not have many dinner offerings.  The gas station also only accepted Euros while most of us only had Croatian kouna or Czech crowns so we all had to use credit cards.  It took forever and the food was horrible.  We finally returned to Prague—3 hours late this time—at 3 in the morning.  3 other students from the dorm and I hailed a cab and I was finally able to go to sleep in my own bed.  The trip was long and exhausting but it was definitely worth it to see beautiful coastline.  I am now adding a Mediterranean cruise to my list of trips I want to take and I highly recommend checking out Croatia!

 Krka National Park

 Swimmers enjoying the waterfalls

Close-up of the swimming area

Lots of love,

Katharine

Settling In and Starting Classes

Hi,

I can’t believe another week has already passed.  As you may have heard, the Czech Republic is currently in Prohibition.  Following the deaths of 20 people from methanol-laced alcohol sales of all hard alcohol has been banned.  Luckily I am not one to purchase street alcohol so I am healthy and safe.  

Last Friday we went on a guided tour of Prague Castle.  Though we didn’t have time to go inside any of the buildings it was fascinating to see the Presidential Palace, gardens, and St. Vitus Cathedral up close.  I look forward to visiting again to further explore these sights.  Friday night our entire CIEE program headed to the National Theatre for the opera “La Traviata”.  The building was spectacular though my seat did not lend itself for a good view of the action on stage.  Instead I kept myself occupied by listening to the Italian being sung and trying to translate it to English without looking at the Czech and English subtitle screen above the stage.  It was fun to get all dressed up and enjoy a night out on the town.

 Inside the Opera house.

 St. Vitus Cathedral within the Prague Castle

A close-up of a mural on St. Vitus Cathedral.

As I mentioned above, we started classes on Monday.  I am enrolled in Beginning Czech, Media Impact on Central Europe, Comparative European Economics, Psychology of Transition and Transformation, and my favorite: Art and Architecture of Prague.  Though I have absolutely no art background, Art and Architecture is my best class.  We have lecture on Monday and every Wednesday we go on a field trip to a spot around the city to experience what we are learning about up close.  Wednesday we went to Old Town Square.  We met outside the famous Astronomical Clock.  After watching the small show the clock performs every hour, we went inside the building that houses the clock.  

The astronomical clock in Old Town Square.

A behind the scenes view of the 12 Apostles--every hour these figurines pop out of the clock.

We explored several rooms before heading underground to original 12^th century rooms.  

Heading underground into the original house frames.

We exited through a room that contained a beautiful mosaic with collages of important Czech symbols and people. Next Wednesday we head to the Jewish Quarter to explore several synagogues. 

 A mural of a lion, the CR's national animal

A mural of St. Wenceslas

Last night I visited a Czech tea room with some friends and Czech buddies.  The tea room was quite removed from town and located in a tower.  We had to remove our shoes when we entered.  We sat on the floor on pillows around a low table.  My tea was delicious—I chose a hot ginger flavor.  The atmosphere made me sleepy and by the time we stood up to leave my entire right leg had fallen asleep.  Though I enjoyed my beverage I would not recommend tea rooms to anyone with long limbs like me.

Tonight I leave for Split, Croatia.  I’m excited to travel to a new country though I am dreading the 13 hour bus ride.  That’s all for this week and I can’t wait to share tales of my trip to Croatia next week!

Katharine

Bones, Brits, and Broken Windows

Hello everyone,

I can’t believe another week has already passed. Tomorrow we finish up our two-week intensive Czech language course with our final exam and Charles University entrance exam testing our knowledge of Czech history.  My class has been a lot of fun—all of us students get along really well and we have especially bonded over the fact that our teacher is a bit crazy.  Last Friday we went tested out our Czech skills by going shopping on the outskirts of Prague in my teacher’s neighborhood while she enjoyed lunch with her husband.  Today we went to lunch with her to practice our Czech again and she spent almost the entire meal on her cell phone.  We can’t figure out how she is so popular but her phone rings at least once a class.

                                     A view of Prague Castle from my daily run along the river.

Last Saturday the entire CIEE program (just over 100 students) took a mandatory trip to the mining town of Kutna Hora about an hour outside of the city.  We visited several churches including the famous bone church.  This church’s interior is entirely decorated with bones including stacks of skulls behind walls and wall ornaments.  There is even a chandelier made from every bone in the human body.  I found the church to be a bit morbid and did not stay long after snapping a few pictures. 

                                     The chandelier made from every bone in the human body.

                                                 Decoration on the wall of the bone church.

We also were given the opportunity to explore an old silver mine.  After donning white coats and hard hats, we descended beneath the ground.  The mine was dark and often cramped both in height and width.  At one point we were even walking underneath a river.  It was definitely a unique experience but not for the claustrophobic.

                                                        Getting dressed to go in the mine.

On Monday I discovered my new favorite supermarket, British department store Marks & Spencer.   Though the store does not have produce or meat, their selection of condiments and frozen meals is unparalleled in Prague.  I came home a happy shopper with pesto, mayonnaise, butternut squash soup, and olive oil; and plan to return soon for pasta sauce and frozen fruit.  Another bonus of the store is that all the food is imported which means the labels are all in English.  My cooking has improved now that I can properly eat my canned tuna and I even made an improvised version of tacos last night. 

 My dad appreciated this photo I texted him wearing my London Olympics shirt he bought me with my Marks & Spencer shopping bag. Go GB!

Tuesday night brought a bit of excitement when our window shattered from strong winds.  The Czech people are very relaxed--service at restaurants is far slower than in the U.S.--so although we put in a request for a new window we have yet to receive any attention.  Other than that nothing too exiting has happened this week though I have much to look forward to.  After our exam tomorrow we have a guided tour of the Prague Castle and will attend our first high-culture event, an opera at the National Theater in the evening.  I highly anticipate the start of classes on Monday and my first trip out the Czech Republic to Croatia next weekend. 

 Broken window in our dorm room.

Thank you for all your kind words and please continue to keep in touch.  I will try to add more pictures next week!

Katharine