Our new friends, Milos and Prague.

Just a short up-date to end a fabulous day!

Today, one of the professors here, Milos, took a group of us on a four hour long walking tour around Prague. It was hot, we're exhausted, but it was well worth it. Milos seems to know a little bit about everything in Prague and is so passionate about his home that I couldn't help but eat it all up!

Perhaps the coolest thing for me is that he is a mover and shaker in the music scene here and would mix stories about The Velvet Underground (apparently Nico once said that Lou Reed would "never grow up") and credited the Beatles for helping him to learn English. Now, I grew up on the Beatles, as most of you know, and have so much strong emotion linked to them that I instantly understood his passion. We went to what is known as the "John Lennon Wall," which was the first real monument in the world put up after his death. It started as spontaneous wall art and now is the only place in Prague where it is legal for anyone to paint.

It was incredibly moving to hear him talk about it and really think about how much John Lennon meant and still means to people, all over the world. I must admit I teared up a bit. I definitely plan on going back as it changes all the time.

In addition to this we walked through an artist colony neighborhood, where Milos pointed out where he met Allen Ginsberg for the first of several times and knocked on several doors to see if his friends were home. As well as walking through a fabulous park, that Milos talked about his friend who had designed a beautifully artistic tunnel and how he had referred it to BBC and National Geographic as a must see spot in Prague.

 View of the Castle from the park.

Obviously, Milos is a character. But so is Prague and he felt like the perfect person to lead us through it. Excitedly answering any questions we had and anticipating some things we would be interested once we got to know him a bit better. It was an informative and really fun day. I look forward to doing more tours with him and getting to re-walk some of the tour on our own later on.

That's it for the day, exhausted!

Jet-lagged and loving it!

Okay, I don't actually love being jet-lagged but it does make me feel a little less bad about taking two hour naps in the middle of the day. So, where to begin with the trip so far?

Traveling here was relatively painless, our first flight was delayed (with us on board for nearly two hours of it... and then de-boarded... and then re-boarded) but our layover in Amsterdam was long enough for us to get on in plenty of time.

Once here we met up with a couple of other students in the program and ate dinner at a little place called Mlany Buddha, a totally wonderful Tibetan place where I accidentally ordered myself a really big dinner. Then we got a little lost and the boys made me walk way too far but man, oh man, is this city beautiful!

The big hills are going to kick my butt a bit, but that means that around every corner there is an amazing view of terracotta building tops with green church spires and tower tops. Also, here's a fun picture of Daniel with a random sculpture of Tycho Brahe and Keplar, the founding fathers of physics and astronomy:

I can't wait to get a little more acquainted as there is SO MUCH to do here! Junior, the Botswanan friend I made in the lobby this morning, regaled me with his night of beer garden drinking and clubbing until morning, when I met him and though I'm sure I won't be going that crazy while I'm here, it made me excited. I love traveling because I get to live in big cities like this and soak it all in and, just when I'll be getting tired of it, we'll be going home.

Anyhow, Katie and John just surprised us in the dorm so we're catching up with them!

xoxo

A short hello!

We are officially in Prague!

Unfortunately, my internet is not quite working yet... so this will just be a short up-date.

Love you all!

And we're off...

Tomorrow's the big day. So, of course, I have spent all of today stressed beyond belief.

However, I am currently 90% done packing. Though I'm giving myself a short internets break after the depressing discovery that our camera chargers are M.I.A. I swear, if there were awards for being most skilled at losing those things I would win every one.

The cats are beginning to freak out; Zoe keeps jumping into the luggage and sniffing the clothes and Phoebe... well, she's Phoebe. And I feel like I'm abandoning my children! If only I could tell them that we'll be back in a month and that it's really not all that long.

We'll be taking our newly acquired "Daria" DVDs and meeting up with many a Kalamazoo friend, so once we're there it will be fabulous. It's just the getting there that always seems to take forever!

Wish us luck on our train trip to Detroit and the flights to Amsterdam and finally Prague, it will be a long day... but I can't wait to get on the plane, can't worry about anything at that point, right?

And just so there's a picture... an ode to the land where I've heard the beer is cheaper than the water!

A new blog for a new trip...

Welcome to my travel blog, currently known as the Praha Blaha :)

If you're reading this post then you probably know that Daniel and I will be heading to Prague, locally known as Praha, very very soon. We're both super excited and nervous, well I'm mostly the nervous one... more like anxious. Hey- international travel is stressful!

But once we get there I'll be wanting to share with people all we see and do. So follow us on-line if you can't follow us there!

Look at this place! I can't wait to be there!