Prague 2018

Ahoj!

We’ve just wrapped up our tenth and  final week in Prague. Here’s a recap of our final days of the program.

Before we started studying for our final exams, we had our last clinic visit during ninth week. We returned to Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital on Tuesday November 6th to visit Dr. Pavel Trančik and Dr. Petra Skřivánková, who work with patients with schizophrenia. We first got to hear from Dr. Trančik and Dr. Skřivánková about the department and what they do there, and then we were able to ask them questions. Next, they took us on a tour of the building to see where the patients live and have therapy sessions, spend time outside, and do arts and crafts. Lastly, we met with a patient at the hospital. Overall, this was an amazing clinic visit and definitely one of our favorites!

Our meeting room at Bohnice

In the following days, we had our last classes. On Wednesday we had our final Politics and Culture and Czech language classes, and Thursday were our final Psychopathology and Art and Architecture classes. Over the weekend we started studying furiously for finals, but also enjoyed our last weekend in Prague. Our finals were all Monday and Tuesday, giving us Wednesday and Thursday to pack up and say goodbye.

With mixed feelings, we packed up our bags and moved out of our apartments on Friday morning. Some of us are already back home, while others are still enjoying a few last days in Prague or exploring other European countries. On Thursday night we said our final goodbyes at our closing dinner together. Ken and Jiří gave some heartfelt speeches, and us students expressed our gratitude to them for all of the work they’ve done to make this program so amazing.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been together for ten weeks. After spending seven terms now at Carleton, this term felt by far the shortest to me. With everything we’ve done, the ten weeks flew by. We’ve learned so much about the Czech Republic, cross-cultural psychology, and each other! I think the rest of the students on the program would agree with me when I say I am so grateful for this opportunity and think this was such a special part of my Carleton experience. I’m excited to go home and return to campus for winter term, but I’ll definitely miss Prague. However, we’ll Prague-ably be back soon!

Thanks so much for following along on our journey (and putting up with my bad puns) for the past ten weeks! I hope you’ve enjoyed the blog and are excited to be reunited with your students back home!

Měj se!

Ahoj!

8th week went by super fast and we’ve just began our last week of classes! The past week was filled with lots of studying and fun activities like our Dukla soccer game (see last post) and visiting a Carleton alumn’s laser lab. Over the weekend we had our last excursion out of the city to Karlovy Vary and Jáchymov.

On Wednesday, a group of us visited ELI-Beamlines International Laser Research Center where Carleton alumn Tyler Greene (‘03) works. He had joined us for the Sparta hockey game earlier this term and graciously offered to take some students on a tour of his high-tech laser lab.

Naseem Dillman-Hasso (’20) volunteered to describe the experience: “At the ELI lab, we got a brief explanation of what lasers are, how they work, and what applications they have. After that, we went down to the clean rooms to get dressed in sanitized clothes, and went to go see a few of the lasers. While we weren’t able to see any of the lasers in action, we were able to see a lot of people very busily working on getting experiments ready to perform.”

Naseem, Allison, Kaylin, Ken, Tyler, Katy, Eli, Tess, Alex, and Justin outside of the ELI lab

The laser lab group in their sanitized suits

Friday morning, we headed out of Prague for our final trip. We first visited Karlovy Vary, a small town to the west of Prague. Karlovy Vary is known as a spa town and resort destination because of its thermal springs.

Our first stop in Karlovy Vary was to the Mosser Glass Factory. Mosser Glass is an old glass factory in Karlovy Vary that specializes in high quality hand-made Bohemian crystals. We learned about the history of the factory, the glass making process, and even got to see some glassmakers in action! We were shocked to learn that they throw out about 80-90% of the finished glass products for quality control. Overall, it was a really cool experience – even if we couldn’t afford any of the products!

The ovens where they melt the glass made the room very very hot!

Crafting glass

A beautiful crystal chandelier

After arriving at our hotel in Karlovy Vary, we took a tour of the mineral water springs around the town. Throughout the town there are various hot springs that you can get water from that supposedly can treat various ailments. Before we tried the spring water we stopped to buy the traditional little cups people use to taste the mineral water. While we thought the water tasted quite horrible, Ken told us that many people come here and fill up large jugs of this water to bring home for treatment! Thankfully, Ken stopped partway through our tour and bought us all some Karlovarské oplatyky, a sort of waffle that is a specialty of Karlovy Vary. These tasty treats definitely helped with the bad tasting water.

One of the many stands that sold little cups used to drink the mineral water

The steaming hot river

Stopping at one of the hot springs to taste some water

An unpopular opinion about the mineral water by Alexa, “it’s pretty good!”

Justin’s facial expression gives a more representative picture of how we actually thought the mineral water tasted

Throughout the afternoon, many students took advantage of being in the spa town by getting different spa treatments. Many of us got different massage and bath treatments to unwind after 8th week. The rest of the evening was devoted to relaxing and exploring the town.

The spa building where we had our treatments

Karlovy Vary down by the Teplá river

Katie and Ali enjoying our super luxurious hotel in Karlovy Vary

On Saturday morning, Ken and Jiri led a group of us on a hike just outside of town. It was an absolutely beautiful fall day, and we got to see some cool sites of Karlovy Vary!

The “Stag Jump.” According to the legend, when Charles IV went hunting here, his dog chased a stag into the river and this was the discovery of Karlovy Vary.

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Carls hiking through the beautiful fall forest

One of the many amazing lookouts along our hike

The group that made it all the way to the last destination of our hike

In the evening, we traveled to our last destination, Jáchymov. Another spa town in the west of the Czech Republic, Jáchymov is located close to the border of Germany. We visited this town because it is home to various large prison camps and uranium mines where these prisoners were forced to work during the communist era. Our history professor, Tomáš, came to meet us in Jáchymov, along with a former political prisoner who survived the camps in this very town, Mr. Kopt.

Our first evening in Jáchymov, we had the unique opportunity to hear from Mr. Kopt about his experiences as a former political prisoner and ask him some questions. The next morning, we toured a nearby uranium mine to learn more about these harsh working conditions. Afterwards, we embarked on a hike to visit the former sites of some of the gulags (forced labor camps), including Svornost, Nikolaj, and Rovnost. At each of these sites, Tomáš stopped to give us some historical context and details, and Mr. Kopt shared his own memories of his imprisonment in each camp. Though a cold and long hike, it was definitely worth the climb. We are very grateful to Mr. Kopt for coming with us to share his experiences!

Tomáš and Mr. Kopt giving us some historical context before starting our tour

Preparing to go into the uranium mines, hard hats on!

Mr. Kopt explained what various tools were used for in the mine

Authentic items recovered from the mines

Tomáš led us deeper into the tunnel

The initial ascent of our hike up a steep flight of stairs in a former prison camp

Mr. Kopt told us about his experiences at this camp and Tomáš translated

A foggy fall day in the woods

We took a wrong turn at one point, but found some fluffy dogs!

Jiri tells us about a ski competition he participated in on this hill

Near the end of our hike, Tomáš lit a candle at a memorial

After lunch back at the hotel, we said goodbye to Jáchymov and returned to Prague. We’re looking forward to our last week of classes, but are so sad as the end of the program nears.

Another big thank you to everyone who provided pictures this week! Photo credits to Alex Cardenas, Kaylin Steinberg, Ali Hickman, Derin Arduman, and Allison Corlett

Ahoj!

We’ve finished off 7th week and had an exciting holiday weekend here in Prague!

After coming home from Poland, we had a half week of regular classes and another clinic visit on Friday afternoon. Our clinic visit this week was to Psychiatrická Klinika, an eating disorder clinic. We heard a lecture from Professor Fratisek Krch who is a clinician at Psychiatrická Klinika, and we met with a current patient to learn about their experiences at the clinic.

The students and Professor Krch before the presentation

After our Friday clinic visit, we were free for a weekend in Prague. Some students decided to take the free weekend to travel elsewhere in Europe while others stayed in Prague for the festivities of the weekend.

On Sunday October 28th, Prague and the rest of the Czech Republic celebrated the one-hundred-year anniversary of the foundation of the independent Czechoslovak state. The festivities of the day included the opening of a new exhibition in the National Museum to the public, concerts in Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square, and a military parade, among other events. Even though it was a particularly cold and rainy day, the mood of the city was high energy and excited. People were walking around in red, blue, and white, and many wore the flag of the Czech Republic proudly painted on their faces. I personally attended a food festival and music concert to celebrate the day.

Alexa, Natalie (a friend visiting), Katie, and Allison out in the rain celebrating the holiday with some Trdelnik

Alexa with some traditional Czech soup and yummy bread at a food festival

Some of the highlights of students who traveled this weekend: (All pictures and captions provided by the travelers!)

Erica: Milan, Urbino

Erica talking to her grandfather overlooking Urbino

Visiting Urbino Italy

Vineyard in Southern Italy

Justin: Rome

The beautiful view from the colosseum. Rome is a lot greener than I expected.

My friend and I doing a Roman handshake

Nariah: Berlin

Along the Berlin Wall memorial

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. Once you walk inside the cement walls become much taller than you and it feels like you are going through a maze.

Visiting the Brandenburg Gate

Naseem and Eli: Copenhagen 

Naseem and Eli met up with another Carleton student, Emma, in Copenhagen and saw some beautiful waterfront views!

While Copenhagen was beautiful, pictures couldn’t capture exactly how cold it was (it snowed on our second day there!)

Naseem and Eli managed to capture a picture of a beautiful Heron in the Copenhagen botanical gardens.

Soccer Match

On Monday evening, a large group of us went with Ken to the Dukla vs. Slavia soccer match. We had gone to see a Dukla home game earlier this term, but I think we decided to cheer for Slavia because they were the home team and favorite for this match. Both teams are in the top league in the Czech Republic, but Slavia is 1st out of 16 teams while Dukla is 15. The end score was 4-1, Slavia.

The Slavia vs. Dukla match

A few of us went to find souvenirs on our way out at halftime but realized the shop is locked from the outside. We watched from the window as Ken bought a scarf! (the store workers kindly let us in to buy souvenirs)

Ahoj!

We’ve had an exciting and busy 7th week! We arrived in Krakow, Poland last Friday morning and returned to Prague this Wednesday morning. Our week away consisted of multiple tours, some great food, and a little bit of class!

Some of us went to Ken’s apartment before the train ride to watch Schindler’s List, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg about a factory owner who employed Jewish workers during World War II and helped save many lives. We watched this movie before our trip to Poland because we would see various places around Krakow where the movie was filmed, including the former factory itself where a museum is now located.

The journey began late on Thursday night as we boarded our overnight train. When we woke up (a little too early) on Friday morning, we were in Krakow! It was pretty dark and foggy, but exciting to be in a new place. We stopped at our hotel for a few hours to eat breakfast and get a little homework done before our first tour.

Arrival in Poland

Early morning in Krakow

Around 9 AM on Friday morning we took a guided tour of downtown Krakow. We left our hotel and saw the park that forms a ring around the old town center. From the park we entered the old town through an old fortified gate. We visited the Cloth Hall in the Main Square, saw a handful of old churches, and finished at Wawel Royal Castle.

The hazy morning on our tour of Krakow

Super-dad Jiří on the tour

A parade of student celebrating 100 years of independence

The group after our tour ended at the castle

In the afternoon, we crossed the Vistula River to visit the Museum of Polish Resistance in the former Schindler’s factory. We spent a few hours there learning more about Krakow under Nazi occupation.

The old Schindler’s factory

On Saturday morning we ventured outside of the center of Krakow to visit the district of Nowa Huta. Our tour guide, Olaf, taught us about the history connected to this area that was constructed under communism. We learned about how the district was built strategically to serve communist purposes and we visited some historic churches located there.

Our tour group in Nowa Huta with our tour guide, Olaf!

Another stop on our tour of Nowa Huta

The Lord’s Ark (Arka Pana), a church in Nowa Huta

Beautiful stained glass in Arka Pana

Olaf had mercy on us and let us stay in the bus to warm up while we visited one church

A group of students huddle together for warmth on a chilly tour

Later Saturday afternoon, a group of us went with Ken on a bike ride out into the countryside of Poland. It was a lot of fun and good exercise!

Naseem, Katie, and Sam on their rides

The biking crew all together (minus Erica taking the photo)

Sunday morning, we took a guided tour of the Jewish quarter of Krakow. There, we visited some synagoges and cemetaries while learning about the history of Jewish Krakow and certain people who lived there. Our guide explained to us how this area has changed a lot as tourism has increased, especially because of the publicity after the filming of Schindler’s List.

A walk through the new cemetery in the Jewish quarter, Kazimierz

The Old Synagogue where there is now a museum

The “Broadway” street of Jewish Krakow

The interior of Remuh Synagogue

The old Jewish cemetery

A location from Schindler’s film set

In the afternoon, our psychology class met for a regular session (every day is a school day!) After that, we had the evening free to explore Krakow some more.

On Monday we spent the day touring Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. It was a difficult and emotional experience, but we learned about an important part of history. In the words of George Santayana that appear around the camp, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

The entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp

The memorial at Birkenau

Our last day in Poland was a full one. We started our day by attending a joint lecture with the Carleton OCS Women’s and Gender Studies in Europe program. Clincial psychologist and sexologist, Marta Dora, spoke with us about transgender issues in Poland and her experiences as a clinician handling these issues.

In the afternoon, we trekked to the town of Wieliczka to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This mine is one of the world’s oldest, existing since the 13th century. We descended into the depths of the mine and walked around for a few hours with a tour guide exploring the extensive tunnels. There were many statues, chapels, and carvings all made out of the rock salt down in the mines. The mining tunnels are so extensive that we apparently saw less than one percent of the existing tunnels!

Maya, Nariah, Naseem, and Ken waiting excitedly for our salt mine tour

Starting our 50 floor descent

The tunnels down in the salt mines

Sam and Naseem licking a salt statue…”it tasted like salt”

A salt-y depiction of the first salt being traded between nations

One of the bigger chapels in the salt mines

Throughout the weekend we ate lots of yummy food around Krakow – here are some of the highlights! We also ate lots of pierogis (traditional Polish food), but gobbled them down too fast to take any photos!

Ali, Shelsea, Nariah, Sam, Naseem, and Alex have breakfast for dinner at Milkbar, one of our favorite spots for meals in Krakow

Allison with a burger as big as her face!

On Tuesday night we boarded another overnight train to return home to Prague. We didn’t have class until the afternoon on Wednesday, so we had a chance to catch up on some sleep and homework.

It’s crazy that we only have about three weeks left in Prague! This coming weekend is one of our last free weekends, so hopefully we’ll have a few more guest bloggers  to hear about their adventures. This weekend the celebration of 100 years since the establishment of Czechoslovakia will take place on October 28, 1918 – so be sure to celebrate on Sunday with us!

A cool light photo captured by Alex in the park!

A big thank you again to everyone who has been providing photos for the blog! Shoutout to Kaylin, Alex, Katy, Naseem and Erica (:

Over the past week our Cross-Cultural Psychopathology class had our first clinic visits of the term. These visits gave us the opportunity to meet with Czech clinicians and in some cases patients at various clinics and psychiatric institutes around Prague. Visiting these sites allowed us to evaluate cultural differences between how different psychiatric disorders are approached in the Czech Republic versus in the United States.

Our first visit was on Thursday, October 11th to the Institute of Sexuology. Clinicians at this institute treat patients with a variety of sexual disorders. We first met with professor Ivo Procházka who gave us a lecture on gender dysphoria. He taught us about topics such as gender identity, transsexualism, and the process of sex reassignment. Next, we met with two transgender individuals who were former patients of the clinic who volunteered to speak with us and tell us their stories. Both patients had undergone sex reassignmet with the help of the Institute of Sexuology, and they were very open with us about their experiences. Lastly, we heard a lecture from Professor Petr Weiss, another clinician at the Institute. We learned more about sexual paraphilias, which we had been studying in class for the past week or so.

Our second clinic visit was to Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital on Monday, October 15^th, where we met with sexual offender patients and their clinicians. Dr. Jan Koznar briefly spoke with us first about the hospital and the patients, and then for the majority of the visit we had a discussion with the patients. They first introduced themselves and explained why they were in this treatment program, and then the floor was opened to ask them questions. At the end of the visit the tables were turned, and they had to opportunity to ask us students some questions, such as what we were studying and how the treatment of sex offenders is different in the United States. This clinic visit was a particularly unique opportunity because back home we would not be able to meet with these patients like we did in the Czech Republic.

The exterior of Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital

Inside of Bohnice

The third clinic visit of the week on Tuesday, October 16^thwas to TH Klinika, a psychological clinic with a special focus on sexology. We met with Dr. Ondřej Trojan, an expert at the clinic who specifically studies the technique of penile plethysmography (PPG) as a tool to diagnose patients. He presented a lecture on his research and then we had time to ask him questions.

Half of our group at Dr. Trojan’s office

Overall, the clinic visits were interesting and intense experiences for all of us. We certainly were challenged and learned a lot in the process.

Ahoj!

This past week we had a rare free weekend to spend as we pleased. Many students stayed in Prague and explored surrounding areas, while others took the opportunity to travel around Europe. Because we were split up for our weekend adventures, I thought this would be a great chance to get some guest bloggers! I’d like to welcome to the blog our three contributers of the week: Kaylin Steinberg, Allison Corlett, and Erica Cagliero!

Kaylin Steinberg: A trip to Budapest

Szia!

Our fifth week in Prague was filled with excitement (ice hockey, game nights, lunch outings with our Politics professor) but the fun didn’t stop there! Shelsea and I took a 9 hour overnight train to Budapest to visit our close friends Isabel and Adam for the weekend.

Some of the highlights of the trip were touring the Matthias Church and walking up 200 stairs for some beautiful views over the river. The Church stands next to the Fisherman’s Bastion, an old romantic terrace sitting on the Buda side of the river. In the same area, we explored the Buda Castle (after confusing it with the Castle Museum) and sat down to admire the statues lining the castle.

The beautifully painted interior of the Matthias Church in Budapest.

Kaylin and Shelsea meet up with their friend Isabel for some spectacular views over the Danube River!

Another gorgeous part of the city that we visited was the City Park of Budapest; home to a circus, zoo, famous baths, Heroes Square, museums, and the Vajdahunyad Castle.  Although we didn’t have time to visit the baths, the park had a beautiful lake to walk around and stones (if you’re daring enough) to walk across. Heroes Square was also an interesting landmark because it looks down the main Andrassy Street, which runs all the way into the center of town.

Looking across a pond at the Vajdahunyad Castle; an architectural phenomenon that encompasses Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. The castle is one of the many unique sights in the major City Park of Budapest.

Last but not least, we took advantage of all the delicious food that Budapest has to offer. After trying the fried dough based Lángos, we stopped by the famous ruin bar Szmpla and admired the creative ways to decorate an establishment with, for lack of a better word, trash. It was well worth the visit! We also stopped by the chimney cake festival and ate sweet treats and corn on the cob throughout the evening.

A peek inside of the famous ruin bar, Szimpla, located in the main bar district of Budapest.

One of the many flavors of chimney cake filled with chocolate ice cream and oreos!

Final thoughts: Budapest is an amazing city with lots to offer, and one weekend was not nearly enough time. I’ll be back!

Allison Corlett: Kutna Hora and Terezín

Friday (Kunta Hora):

These are pictures from Sedlec Ossuary, which is the bone church. All of the bones found in the church are victims of the plague, and we predicted that the center (the pic with all the bones), was actually a plague pillar. It was a cool space to visit, but it also put into perspective just how devastating the plague was.

These pictures are from the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady- it was a very  very large & dramatic baroque church with beautiful frescoes.

Silver Museum and Mine- it was a very cool experience and I think the coolest part was when we went into absolute darkness (we all turned off our headlamps), and it was so dark that we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces!

Saturday: Katie, Nariah, Sam, Ali, and I went to the Terezín concentration camp

Visiting the concentration camp allowed for us to get a glimpse into what life was like for persecuted citizens during WW2. It was incredibly emotional, however I am very grateful for the opportunity to view the War in a different light. I walked away with more questions about humanity of the past and present than I expected, and I will carry my observations and questions into our time in Poland. Many of the prisoners at Terezín were later transported to Auschwitz, so I am very curious about how the conditions, treatment, and lives of the prisoners changed between the two locations. I feel like I am still processing the experience and will continue to process it for the rest of our stay. It was incredibly surprising to realize just how large the small fortress and town were, yet it is still difficult for me to imagine this large space as overcrowded with sick and scared prisoners. It was beneficial to have learned aspects about the camp prior to my visit due to our history class, however I was (and still am)  incredibly shocked when a film began to list devastating statistics on the survival of prisoners after their transport away from Terezín. I was also shocked by the living conditions, where rooms that are equivalent to a double or triple sized dorm room housed between 60-100 people. Learning about the artistic lives of the prisoners was a section of the museum that I didn’t expect, but was positively surprised by. Many musicians, artists, and writers lived in Terezín, and it remarkable to see how much talent was there- and to again remind myself that the prisoners were not and should never just be considered statistics, but instead were real people with real lives that were stolen from them as a result of the War.

One of the entrances into the camp

National Cemetery- I thought it was rather beautiful how the Star of David and the Cross could be seen together, and the cross could be seen inside the star from a different angle. For me, it signified the respect of other religions and backgrounds, something that was abandoned during the War.

Erica Cagliero: Another trip to Budapest!

This past weekend Alexa, Charlotte, Lucia and myself decided to go and explore Budapest! We took an overnight train there arriving early Friday morning for a full day of exploring. Our hostel was in a central location close to great food, shops and night life all of which was made full use of! We spent Friday exploring the largest Jewish temple in Europe and then walked along the river crossing over the bridge that connects the two sides of the city – Buda and Pest! Our roommate Katie had studied abroad last fall in Budapest and therefore made us a great “must see” list to center our trip around down to her favorite food spots!

Saturday was a full day as we woke up early to explore and soak in the famous Szechenyi thermal bath! This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We timed it so we managed to avoid the larger swarm of tourists that came towards early afternoon as we were heading out. This is definitely a must do if in Budapest! We also explored the castle, Fisherman’s Bastion and surrounding neighborhood located on the Pest side of the city that night enjoying the sunset view of the city. Sunday was busy as we decided to hike Gellert hill and Citadel both which were beautiful as fall was really in the air and all the leaves were changing colors. We grabbed a quick lunch by the river and said goodbye to Budapest as we headed to the airport and back to Prague for a busy 6th week ahead.

Charlotte, Lucia, and Alexa by the river

Vajdahunyad Castle

Charlotte, Erica, and Alexa at Matthias Church

Erica, Alexa, and Charlotte stop to take a photo with the city lights

Erica snapping some pictures of the city at night

View of the city at night on the way down from Fisherman’s Bastion

Gellert Hill

Note from Lucia:

A big thank you to all of our guest bloggers! I hope you all enjoyed hearing about the excursions of the weekend from a few different students! Soon we are off to Poland for almost an entire week – stay tuned!

Ahoj!

We had a packed 4^th week and wonderful weekend getaway to Český Krumlov, and now we’re full speed ahead into week 5 of 10!

Students continued working hard on our coursework as midterms approach! This week we read a lot about Václav Havel (1936-2011) in our Czech Politics and Culture class. We learned about how he held many identies, including being a dramatist, a dissident, a political prisoner, and eventually a president. We read his essay The Power of the Powerless and a 500-page biography about his life!

Exploring coffee shops in Prague is a great way to do homework in style!

On Wednesday evening, we went to the opera at the National Theatre. The opera that we saw was called Rusalka, written by Antonín Dvořák. The opera’s plot was along the lines of The Little Mermaid, but with a dark ending. If you want to read more about the story, here’s a link to the synopsis (https://www.thoughtco.com/rusalka-synopsis-724285). It was a lot of fun to see the National Theatre from the inside and experience a traditional Czech opera!

Maya, Nariah, Sam, and Ali all dressed up before the theatre

Statue on the roof of the National Theatre

The chandelier at the National Theatre

On Thursday afternoon, the Czech Art and Architecture class went on our weekly field trip. This week we were learning about Baroque art, so we visited two Baroque churches in Prague. The first church was the Church of Our Lady Victorious, which is an early Baroque church in the Lesser Town of Prague and is an important pilgrimage site for Catholics because of the famous statue Infant Jesus of Prague. The second church we visited was St. Nicholas Church, a high Baroque church also located in Lesser Town. Both of these churches were beautiful, and we enjoyed seeing what we have been learning about out in the city!

St. Nicholas church

After classes ended for the week, the students decided to get together as a group for a potluck Thursday evening. One weird thing about studying abroad in Prague is that we don’t have a common space for everyone on the program (like the library or Sayles back on campus), so we don’t often get to all spend time together outside of class. The potluck was a fun chance to just hang out and eat some yummy food together! Everyone brought a dish to share and their own plate and fork because our apartment doesn’t have enough for everyone!

Naseem, Alex, Charlotte, and Eli preparing some food for the potluck!

Kaylin, Ali, Alexa, and Shelsea posing with the pizza table

Part of the beautiful spread at the potluck

Ali taking the first bite!

The whole group together for dinner (:

We still had Friday free in Prague because our trip to Český Krumlov got moved to Saturday-Sunday. A group of students took advantage of another beautiful day in Prague (70º F!) and went to a large park across the Vltava called Letna. The park is beautiful and has a beer garden, lots of green space for tossing a frisbee around, slack-lining, and reading the Havel book! Some Carls playing frisbee even made some new friends from Bowdoin studying abroad in Europe!

A bunch of students took advantage of the beautiful October weather and explored Letna Park and the famous beer gardens.

View from Letna Park

At Letna Park, we ran into 5 Bowdoin students on various programs in Europe- some of whom played frisbee, and some of whom knew various Carleton friends of ours.

On Saturday morning, we boarded our bright pink bus and headed to Český Krumlov, a small city in the South Bohemia region of the country. The town itself is quite small, tucked in a crook of the Vltava River with the large Renaissance and Baroque castle towering above. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend to visit with the weather mostly cooperating and the fall foliage just starting to change colors.

A view of the stunning medieval town as the leaves begin to change colors.

We arrived in the city around noon on Saturday and had some free time to explore and grab lunch before our first tour. Then we took a guided tour around the city, taking us through some off the beaten path alleys, into a church, up through the castle complex, and ended up in the castle gardens. This tour was one of the highlights of the weekend for many students!

Stopped for lunch by our hotel before exploring Český Krumlov!

Our new favorite tour guide Oli told us many interesting stories about the medieval history of Český Krumlov.

St. Vitus Church

Jiří and Ken on the tour

Our walking tour took us through the French gardens beneath the castle.

Renay listening to our tour guide teach us about the town’s history

A group of students enjoy the beautiful lily pad lagoons in the castle gardens.

A few of us enjoyed some drinks at the locals’ favorite cafe.

Wherever there is a slackline, you’ll find Renay!

In the evening we met for dinner at a local restaurant where we were fed a feast! We sat outside on a terrace right on the river, and even though it was a chilly night we had some nice heaters to keep us warm. The food was delicious, there was live music, and even some dancing!

Bonnie and Katy diving into the feast!

Renay and Kaylin staying warm on a chilly night

Sunday morning, we met bright and early for a more comprehensive tour of the castle. We learned all about the history of the castle and the architecture of each part. Some of the highlights of the castle included touring the well-preserved castle theatre and climbing the castle tower that overlooks the whole city.

The Český Krumlov castle

Bonnie, Maya, and Renay still having fun in the rain!

The adorable bear Maria Theresa bravely guards the Český Krumlov Castle!

The view of the town from a top floor castle window

After the castle tour, we were free for the rest of the afternoon to wander around the city. It was sort of a dreary day with some sprinkles of rain, but it was still lovely cool weather to walk around the city or stop in a café to do some homework.

Erica, Katie, Alexa, Charlotte, Allison, and Lucia on the way down from the castle

Ali and Sam being super cute in front of some window boxes!

A delicious Italian lunch while writing crazy postcards to our friends back home!

Justin bonding with a spooky hooded friend!

Kaylin and Katy posing in front of the amazing view.

Ali, Sam, and Nariah on our walk towards the castle.

We jumped back on our fuchsia bus Sunday afternoon for our 3-hour ride returning to Prague. It was a lovey short weekend away and I would highly recommend visiting this little piece of the Czech Republic if you ever come to visit! We’re headed into 5^th week, the mid-point of our program. Next weekend we have no set travel plans, so stay tuned for individual adventures around Prague and other parts of Europe that students visit on their own!

Ahoj!

We’ve just finished up our 3rd week in Prague, already a third of the way done (oh dear)! We spent the whole past week and weekend here in the city, so we got to check out a lot of places around Prague we hadn’t seen yet. The long weekend also gave us the opportunity to catch up on non-school realted things, like editing our resumes and submitting externship applications that are due on Monday. The weather has started to cool down quite a bit in the past week, which has been a welcome change for most of us who are in love with fall! It’s been a busy week – here are some highlights:

On Wednesday afternoon, our Czech Politics and Culture class went on a brief field trip out in the city. We first went to Wenceslas Square, one of the main squares in the city that often is used for public and political gatherings. It was here that a Czech university student, Jan Palach, protested the end of the Prague Spring and communism in 1968 by lighting himself on fire. To the Czech people, Palach is considered a national hero. Over the last week we have learned about Jan Palach through readings as well as the new film that is currently in theatres in the Czech Republic about the final years of his life. Going to this place of memory was a powerful way to tie together what we had learned and what we know about the city. We lit a candle in memory of Palach at the memorial that is in front of the National Museum in Wenceslas Square.

From Wenceslas Square, we took the metro to Vyšehrad, a historic fort on the Vltava River that contains a basilica and a cemetery where many important Czech figures are buried. It was an absolutely beautiful day to walk around outside, and the view of Prague from the fort was phenomenal. We visited some graves in Vyšehrad including Karel Hynek Mácha, a prominent Czech poet, and Milada Horáková, a Czech politician and victim of the Soviet regime that we will learn about more later in our Politics and Culture class. From Vyšehrad, we continued along the path that students marched in 1989 on International Students’ Day. We ended our tour down by the National Theatre, on the street where this peaceful demonstration turned violent as police trapped the crowd in the street. This demonstration and other events around this time helped catalyze the Velvet Revolution, named because the collapse of the communist regime and transition to a parliamentary republic occurred without any bloodshed. This tour around the city was particularly interesting because we got to learn about how university students like us made a difference in Czech history.

Our Politics and Culture Class at Vyšehrad

The Velvet Revolution Memorial

On Thursday afternoon those of us in the Czech Art and Architecture class took another field trip, this time to visit the Prague Castle. We began our tour at the Royal Summer Palace, commissioned by Ferdinand I in the 16th century. This building provided great examples of Renaissance architecture that we have been learning about in class. From the Summer Palace, we walked through the Royal Gardens to the main castle.

In the castle we toured St. Vitus Cathedral. The castle was a good example of Gothic architecture, though we were able to see many styles of art and architecture inside. This cathedral is the most important in the country and holds the tombs of many important kings and other figures from Czech history. One of the most impressive tombs within the cathedral was of St. Wenceslas, with a whole chapel devoted to him.

The exterior of St. Vitus

The interior of St. Vitus

After our official tour was over, many of us continued to explore the interior of the castle, the basillica, and the golden lane. It was another beautiful day to walk around outside!

A group of students at a lookout point in the Prague Castle

Charlotte, Alexa, Katie, and Erica at the Golden Lane

The Golden Lane

On Thursday evening apartment 32 had fun making some apple strudel with our Czech buddy, Kamila. On our welcome diner in Prague we had some strudle for dessert at the restaurant and Kamila told us that it was super easy to make, and she offerred to teach us sometime. So now if anyone ever wants some apple strudel, ask apartment 32!

Alexa, Kamila, and Katie putting the filling in the strudel

Kamila helping Erica put the strudel together

Some of us used this free weekend to go out of town on short trips! Eli and Nariah spent the past week going to frisbee practices so that they could go to Czech mixed nationals with a team this weekend. You can’t expect Carleton students to go to Prague and not play frisbee!

Eli and Nariah at Czech mixed nationals

A group of students also ventured out of the city to visit Kutná Hora, a Czech city to the east of Prague. While there, they visited a vineyard, the Sedlec Ossuary bone church, and the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist.

Katy, Shelsea, and Kalyin in Kutná Hora at a vineyard overlooking the beautiful town

Sedlec Ossuary in Kutná Hora, where over 60,000 people have been buried. The chandelier made of bones was a good mixture of spooky and awesome.

The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist. This church had beautiful tall golden ceilings and amazing Baroque Gothic artwork.

After walking around all morning, Shelsea, Katy, Yumeka and Kaylin stopped for some delicious pizza

Because it was such a beautiful weekend, some students took advantage of the weather and tried out the paddle boats (a group of students had already tried it out first week and recommended it). It was a lot of fun, though we almost got run over by a large boat on the river.

Charlotte and Katie enjoying the ride on the paddle boat

On Saturday Ken had organized a variety of activities for us to attend. First, a group of students went with Ken to a FK Dukla Prague soccer game, a team that plays in the first division of Czech soccer (or football if you’re from here!) Ken informed us that Dukla was pretty low in the standings and the team they were playing was 4th in the league, but they ended up tying and it was a great game! A group of students also went to Ken’s apartment for weekly movie night on Saturday to watch Kolya, a Czech film that won an Oscar in 1996 for best foreign film. The students gave very positive reviews of the movie!

The soccer field at Stadion Juliska

Katie and Allison showing off their new Dukla gear!

Ken went to go get some snacks during the game and came back with a selfie with the mascot!

The group of students who went to the Dukla game with Ken

It’s crazy to think that we’re already a third done with our study abroad program – it feels like we’ve only just arrived! That’s the blessing and the curse of our short 10 week terms. We were lucky to have such a wonderful weekend with beautiful fall weather in Prague. Next weekend we’ll be heading to Český Krumlov, a city in the Southern Bohemia region of the Czech Republic!

A big thank you to Kaylin, Erica, Nariah, Eli, Allison, and Alex for providing some beautiful photographs this week!

Ahoy!

This past weekend we spent 4 days traveling around Slovakia. We left late Wednesday night from Prague and took an overnight train to Poprad, Slovakia. For many of us this was our first sleeper train experience! We arrived in Poprad around 7 AM Thursday morning and had breakfast at a local hotel.

Students waiting to board the night train

A triple decker bunk on the train!

From Poprad, we took a bus to see the ruins of Spiš castle. Spiš castle was bulit in the 12th century and is now one of the biggest sites of castle ruins in Central Europe. Although the castle was destroyed by a fire in the 18th century, the ruins were still incredible and we had a lot of fun exploring them!

View of Spiš castle from the bus

Looking back at the main castle from the castle wall

Ali and Katie on the castle wall

View from the top of the castle

After we finished touring the castle, we stopped for lunch in the small medieval town of Levoča. The town was beautiful, with a stunning gothic church towering above the town square. We had the chance to try some of the local food, enjoy some gelato in the park, and walk around the charming little town.

Basilica of St. James 

Shelsea, Yumeka, Katy, Justin, Renay, Alex, and Kaylin at lunch in Levoča

Erica, Charlotte, and Alexa with their gelato in the park

Katy and Kaylin also enjoying a cold treat!

Ali on the beautiful streets of Levoča

In the afternoon, we finally headed to our final destination for the day – our hotel, Villa Siesta, in Nový Smokovec. We settled into our rooms and had our Cross-Cultural Psychology class with Ken in the yoga building next to the hotel! Despite our long day of travel, we still had a lively class discussion!

Friday morning, we woke up bright and early for our first hike! Many of us ventured up the Tatra mountains for a 6.5-hour hike. According to some fitbit calculations, the hike totaled about 13 miles and 170 flights of stairs! It was a challenge but included some pretty incredible views.

If you want to see our pre-hike attitudes, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOwWi8XynlU

The whole gang before we ventured up the mountain

Erica, Alexa, and Yumeka on top of the world

Lucia, Katie, Alexa, Erica, and Charlotte at the top of the mountain. We thought the hike would be good training for the 6 flights of stairs up to our apartment.

The whole crew pausing for lunch after we reached the summit

Our Saturday plans were a little thrown off because of bad weather, but that didn’t stop some of us from heading back to the mountains for another hike in the afternoon! Many of the students took the day to recover from the previous day’s hike and catch up on some homework. Some ventured to the adjacent town of Starý Smokovec to do some reading in coffee shops, grab some lunch, and find some souvenirs.

Bonnie, Yumeka, Katy, and Kaylin in Starý Smokovec

Bonnie, Kaylin, Yumeka, and Katy stop for a silly picture

On Sunday morning we packed up and headed for the border between Slovakia and Poland to go rafting on the river Dunajec. We spent about 2 hours on the river, winding between the mountains on either side. Some of us even got to take a turn steering the raft! For me, this was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend and was a fantastic way to see the beautiful country scenery of Slovkia and Poland.

The first raft launching onto the river

Renay, Alex, and Justin on the raft

Charlotte takes over steering like a champ. She claims nobody passed us while she was in charge.

Allison steers us ahead

Naseem was the last one to take a turn steering. He had to stop once he almost ran us up on the shore!

The river was down in a valley and wove between towering mountains

Just one of many beautiful views on the river

After a quick lunch and a bus ride back to the train station, we took a 6 hour train ride back to Prague. Although a long ride, it was prime time to finish up some weekend homework! Overall, we had a fantastic weekend in Slovakia. It is such a unique experience to get to travel outside of Prague and get out into nature, and not many of the other CET programs have such an opportunity. We are so thankful that with Ken leading this trip we are able to have these experiences!