Let's get WIENerschnitzels!

Another bus stop. Another trip. For anyone who doesn't know, my husband is turning 20 on Monday! Woo! I will no longer be married to a teenager! (Thank gosh. ;) In honor of my man's birthday, we planned a trip to Vienna, Austria. Fun fact: in Europe Vienna is called "Wien."

The morning got off on the right foot. Below, see the picture of the chocolate muffin we tore up. We showed that delicious thing no mercy! 

We're starting out the trip with a five hour ride on student agency bus. Great reviews, cheap tickets, free wifi, no leg room.

We do get our own TV screen, and I think we can watch movies or play games on it... Pretty cool! 👍

We have a few ideas of what do do in Wien, but if anyone has any suggestions, COMMENT! :)

Soon, we'll be saying, "Greetings from Austria!" 

From this handsome fella and myself, thank you for reading! :)

I know you're probably Brno'd out on Brno puns, but.... (Part 3)

Our second day in Brno we did a little more traditional sightseeing. First, we ate at Almek Chicken, a small restaurant that served fajitas. Once we were well fed we went to a museum. Moravske Zemske Muzeum.

The first part of the museum was old artifacts related to Moravian music. This dress--in my opinion--was the prettiest part of the display. Whenever I see dresses like that I always think of who would have worn the dress, and what parties they were going to.

Ty's reading some sheet music in the display.

Part of the museum was geological and some was about paleontology. They showed several geodes and many kinds of crystals along with this big hairy guy. At first I thought I was taking a picture with Ty. ;) But no, it's just a big fuzzy mammoth. 

This figurine was made by villagers in Moravia hundreds of years ago... now I know where the idea for Catdog came from!

There were lots of bones...

And a beautiful old bible.

When we were done perusing the museum we went somewhere a little more morbid: an ossuary. For 70 crowns they let us go into a scary basement full of bones.

there was one wall that looked entirely like this.

This was the top of a big room deep with bones. It is the top view from the picture below.

This should give you a better idea of how many bones were in that cavern. 

Yep, the walls made entirely of authentic human bones.

And the big display of the ossuary: all skulls laid out in a sick and twisted pyramid on top of long bones.

Ty and I were wondering who the people were that could take all of the bones, dig them up, carry them into the basement, and lay them out just so. It was disturbing to say the least.

It was actually so unsettling that the very next place we went was a cathedral.

It was stunning.

This was a massive organ situated at the back of the church.

The pews were very ornate.

And there were statues sprinkled throughout the church. All beautiful.

That night we discovered a gyro place. And it was probably the most delicious food we've had since being in the Czech Republic. It was so good that we ate it all before I even thought of taking a picture. Yum. :)

So with food in our stomachs and smiles on our faces we enjoyed the last night in Brno, and the next day ate lunch and headed back to Prague.

Brno baby Brno, disco inferno! (Part 2)

Okay, we didn't go to a disco or the various night clubs decorating the streets, but we did see some pretty neat things. One of my favorite European activities is just walking along and noticing. Back home I didn't get the chance to just sit back and enjoy things. It was a constant rush of get this homework done, run to work, get a workout it, call someone, fill this out, mess. Here, I have free time to stroll the streets, enjoy the architecture, and if I see a fancy cake in the window, you can bet I'm going in that store and devouring some cake!

So that was one of the first things we did.

This was a cappuccino dort and rose wine. Brno is in Moravia, which is like a region in Europe, and Moravia is very famous for its wines.

After we had some cake, Ty, Susan, and I went to explore the city, while the other three went on a tour of some underground caverns. 

It seems like almost all of the buildings have art. This is just a snapshot of one of them.

Another great piece of art just hanging out on a building for everyone to enjoy. And the best part is that this art is free to see.

We had to stop to take a picture of this dog just chilling out in the window. He was kind of sitting like Chopper, Ty's family's Cha-weenie sits. The girls who owned the dog noticed us taking a picture of their dog and started giggling at us, and took pictures of the silly Americans admiring their dog.

A picture of my husband and I by a statue we saw. But it was kind of a fail because you can't hardly see the  statue. But man, look at those legs!

There were multiple beautiful spires all over the city.

Another one of those zany Czech ads. But man, that meat looks good!

This was a wonderful clock tower.

My friend Susan and I enjoyed this ghetto gator. :)

What?? It ate me!

This clock is literally called the "Cock Clock." I'll let you figure out why.

This kid was just way too cute to pass p taking a picture. All of the kids here are so adorable, and most of them are very well behaved. We haven't had to deal with a screaming baby yet.

Susan and I by a neat statue in a little park in town.

Just like any city, pigeons are everywhere, and they're not shy at all. Ty actually made a new friend on the trip that followed him around for about a block and a half.

That night we went to a restaurant we found while we were walking around. It was an obscure classy restaurant, that was in a basement. You had to go down the stairs and you entered this beautiful looking room with a string quartet that played while you ate. It was by far one of my best dining experiences, simply because of the ambiance.

They had menus in English... and apparently served boiled grandmas... yummm!

This is what I ended up with. Soup made of grandmas, mashed potatoes with bacon and parsley, and brnopramen, Brno's version of Staropramen dark beer.

With our bellies full we went back to the hostel and enjoyed the rest of our night. We had another big day of sightseeing planned!

I wasn't Brno yesterday! (Part 1)

A new city...

A group of students and I traveled to Brno, Czech Republic this weekend so we could see a little more of the country we're staying in. The group included my husband, three students from K-State (two attending CULS, and one attending Czech Tech), a friend I met in class from Germany, and myself.

When we arrived in Brno, it looked like a typical Czech city; the buildings were all tightly packed together, there was graffiti everywhere (I'll post about that later), and the streets were laced with shops, convenient stores, and pubs.

Quite a few of the buildings I've seen are painted bright colors. In fact, all of the buildings on my college campus are color coded. (Red for economics, blue for engineering, yellow for agrobiology, etc.) This is a verrrrrrry bright green house we came along in Brno.

This store was okay!

And here's another one of those pubs. There are beer signs EVERYWHERE.

Here's our group, and in the background you can see more of those tightly packed, brightly colored buildings.

We rode on a bus to Brno, and that was actually a really nice experience excluding the very stinky man that sat behind us. Once we got off at the bus stop, I was pretty impressed how well our group navigated the foreign streets and found the hostel we were staying in. (Yes, parents Hoss and Stelting, we stayed at a hostel. I haven't seen the movie, so I wasn't too afraid. ;)

The hostel turned out to be pretty nice. It was called Fleda, and if you saw the sign from the street you'd have no clue what it was. It boasted free wifi... that we couldn't get in our room, and cheap prices. It cost $60 for two nights, which added up to $15 a night per person. Not too bad.

We had a cute little area with four chairs and a coffee table where we played card games at night.

There were three sets of bunk beds, which worked out perfectly for our group of six. Underneath the beds were two boxes where you could store your belongings safely. If you brought a lock you could even lock the box shut.

The door in the background goes to another room. In the hostel there was also a community kitchen stocked with a vending machine, microwave, hot plates, table, and sink. Just off the kitchen was the community bathroom which had two showers, two sinks, and a toilet.

Who's that, you ask? Only the most handsome husband in the world hanging out in the "living room."

And of course in the Czech Republic, no living quarters would be complete without a bar.

Once we had our living situation arranged, we were ready to go out and brave the city!

Love around the World

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Ty's wonderful grandparents!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

We received our first care package, and it couldn't have been more perfect.

The care package came complete with all sorts of necessities we've been missing, like velveeta (they don't sell it here), peanut butter m&ms (also have been unable to find these), reusable shopping bags, water flavoring (because the water has absolutely no taste here, ketchup packets for when we go out to eat, granola bars, peanut butter and jelly for my poor deprived husband (can you sense my sarcasm?), and a package of salt. Woo hoo!

Thanks again! If anyone wants to find us, you'll see that we're busy pigging out on macaroni and cheese and pb&j's!

Hot and not bothered!

Hot yoga is fun.

So for a little background, hot yoga is where you elevate the room to roughly 105 degrees and do yoga. Pretty self explanatory. Any sane person is probably thinking "Why in the world would you do that?" And, in the words of my dear old dad, "Fun and hot shouldn't be used in the same sentence unless you're saying, 'It's too fricken hot to have any fun!'"

Well, sorry, Dad. :)

Ty and I decided to avoid looking like I did in the last picture in my previous post we should try some exercise other than just walking around to stores and public transit stations. We attempted to go to the gym on campus, but we just got yelled at in Czech and decided we weren't brave enough to go back and try again. So the search began.

Expatz.cz is a pretty cool site that has a plethora of tips for tourists to Prague. Paired with google.cz I'm pretty sure we could use the internet to rule the world... but exercise will have to do for now. So we signed up for a month of yoga classes at HotYoga42. (I'm guessing the 42 is because it's 42 degees celcius in the room, but I don't know.)

Drawbacks? The whole class was in Czech. I'm really glad that the instructor spoke a few words of English, and was extremely pleasant towards us. The studio was also pretty cool. The lobby had a ton of bean bags and chairs where people would just hang out before and after classes... and it's right next to a mall. Over all it was a pretty cool place to be. If you're curious about what the studio looks like here's a link: http://www.hotyoga42.cz/studio.html.

Also, I already got my first email from HotYoga42.

I'm not sure what it means, but I think it's something good. :)

 



So basically, here I am looking forward to more emails, and more sweat.

Carb Central

I love to eat! I haven't met an ice cream I didn't like. Give me a cheeseburger and I'm happy. I'm not a picky person. If someone's nice enough to make me a meal, I'll eat it and say thank you. (That's called manners, folks.) So the chance to try some new food that isn't anything crazy like fish heads, or grilled shoe laces is pretty exciting!

Did you know that Prague is known for it's Mexican food? Surprise surprise! Ty took me out for a wonderful Mexican food date for valentine's at a Mexican Restaurant/pizzeria--strange combination, I know--called Carosellos. It was DELICIOUS! Biggest surprise of all? The water was two dollars a bottle. Granted, it came in beautiful glass bottles... but it was water. Our whole meal added up to about 25 dollars, and water was 8 dollars of that.

Chicken enchiladas... mmmmmmmmmmm.

That's my handsome Valentine there with his quesadillas and bread. 

So what about the Czech food? you might ask. Well, it's pretty good so far! It's very hearty. So hearty in fact, that about halfway through the dish I usually get so full I need a forklift to get me out of the restaurant. (Okay, so that's an exaggeration; It only takes a small piece of machinery... like a segway ;) 

In my opinion, casserole is king. If I see a casserole in the menza (cafeteria) that's what I'm getting. That would be because 1) the meat is all hidden beneath delicious noodles and cheese, and 2) the best Czech food I've eaten is in a casserole.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that all of the food is labeled in Czech. That translates for me as "mystery meat." Especially since one of my friends here from K-State is pretty sure she's gotten liver. Most of the time you get lucky and it's pork, but I'm going to go with my fool proof casserole method.

Also, carbs. are. EVERYWHERE. (Hence the title.) We got these delicious big rolls for a crown a piece. A crown adds up to about a nickel, so you guessed it, we bought about twenty rolls and that should last us about..... a week! All of the pastries are irresistible.

This is one of my favorites so far. I call it "Chocolate-Covered-Eclaire-Thing" aka heaven in a pastry.

So here's to a semester full of Czech Casseroles, butter dipped rolls, and mystery meat.

And also, here's to a semester of hoping I don't return to the States looking like this:

Culture Shock

I am a planner. Plain and simple. My whole life I've known my next move, how I was going to get there. I've planned every conversation before I've had it, considered possible responses, and every word I would say. (That's not to say I haven't been caught off guard a few times.) I believe if it's under my control I shouldn't be nervous, because I can trust myself to handle it.

So it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that before we came here I read just about every single blog known to man--and some known to monkey--about study abroad, the Czech Republic, Prague, culture shock, and a plethora of topics related to travel. Even with all this preparation, there are just some things you can't prepare for.

1) Ketchup. It's 8 crowns a package here. Really? 40 cents for a packet of ketchup? I usually eat 10 with my meal! So when we go out to eat, we just have to do without--or do the sneaky thing and bring your own. ;)

2) Hot chocolate. Okay, I know what you're thinking, how could hot chocolate be different? You open the package, put it in some hot water and voila! No. I present to you hot chocolate flavored pudding:

3) Languages. Before we came here everyone said not to worry; most people speak English there. Ummm no. Most people speak about three words of English there. We've had luck ordering beers, but that's about it once we get off campus.

4) How wonderful it felt to eat McDonald's. I know, I know, it's just McDonald's. But sitting down to eat a Big Mac--that was actually called "Big Mac" on the menu--had to be one of the best feelings. It gave me a little taste of America. (haha get it? taste? it's punny)

5) Manners. So I'm not sure whether this is a country thing or a nicety thing, but our suitemate doesn't knock on the door before she enters the bathroom... even if someone is in the shower and the water's going. I want to clarify and say that I wouldn't mind if she came in for two seconds while I was taking a shower to use the bathroom or brush her teeth or whatever, IF she knocked before she came in to make sure we were decent. But she doesn't, and hello, my husband takes showers in there too! I'm pretty sure we're going to be having a chat soon. -_-

6) Laundry. There are only two small washers for our entire dorm building. I'm not sure how many people are in our dorm, but on our floor out of a four floor building there are at least forty people. Luckily no one here gets up early, so we got up and got the laundry key at 6 in the morning and did our laundry. Also, there aren't any dryers here.

This is where we dry our clothes. You get a key for your "boxxy" and you lock your clothes in there. It took us about two and a half days to get all of our clothes dry. There are only six boxxys for the whole building. 

7) Advertisements. They're just different. Here's an example:

So apparently Steel Panther is promiscuous? haha I think that's a tour I'll be missing!

8) Professors. So far, every single one of my professors has been at least five minutes late to class with no apology, explanation, or anything. I'm not sure whether that's because it's the first week of class and things are hectic or that's just the way things work around here.. I guess I'll find out!

Sometimes I wonder if "Culture Shock" is a fancy word for "Home Sick" because most of the surprises make me miss home. But then I remember that I'm on an adventure. The pilgrims figured out how to communicate with the Native Americans, harvest food in a totally new land, and only suffered a few casualties. Lewis and Clark braved the open land WITHOUT internet. I'm sure we can survive Europe.

Again, if you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them! :)

Thanks for reading!