A New Decade - Part II

Here is what I've been up to this past week!

My Birthday: Last Monday, I turned 20 in the Czech Republic, and I couldn't have asked for a better day! My day started out with a very rare occurrence- a run... to Globus. This was followed by grocery shopping and a long walk back with everything I just bought. Side note- I will never take grocery shopping for granted in America ever again. Customers have to pay to use shopping carts (we usually just carry our items around in bags), most of the labels are not in English, so its a huge guessing game, and we're faced with an intimidating cashier and quickly trying to cram all of our items back in our bags at the end. Also, in America, most of us have cars to load our groceries in... that's not the case here. We definitely have to limit what we buy (which is hard for me because I usually want everything).

After Globus, we went out to lunch at a place called The Crack. This might sound unappetizing, but it was one of my favorite meals yet! The Crack serves Indian food buffet style, and it was amazing! With our stomachs full of Indian food, we decided to head over to the student agency to plan our trip to Brno. They were very friendly, and we had our transportation booked in no time! This might be a huge shocker to some of you who know me (sarcasm), but we decided to go shopping before class. How could I not at least by one thing on my birthday?! I should also mention that my study abroad family here is getting to know me quite well. A couple of girls bought me some nice flowers, and I was also showered with food... You know its a good day when you get a chocolate and strawberry crepe, a gyro, and a huge birthday cake!

Class seemed to take forever, but once it was finally over, I rushed back to our room to get changed. We had plans to go to the St. Wenceslaus brewery here in Olomouc. I decided to try a cherry beer and a carmel beer. They were both pretty good, but I definitely preferred the carmel beer! It meant a lot to me that so much of the group I came here with went out to celebrate with me. After thinking about it, I realized that this was probably the first birthday I've spent away from home and my family. It definitely helped being surrounded by people that I've grown so close to in such a short amount of time! I couldn't have asked for a better day- it was simple but perfect. So, that's how my 20th birthday went. :)

My birthday cake!

Ali, me, and Taylor at St. Wenceslaus brewery. 

Brno: The rest of the week after my birthday was pretty uneventful (which I've been learning to appreciate these days). Life around Olomouc has been pretty great, but a group of us were ready to get out and explore again. We decided to go to the second largest city in the Czech Republic, Brno. On Saturday morning, we headed to the bus station, hopped on our student agency bus, and arrived an hour later. My first thought after getting off the bus was, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" The town was a bit rough looking compared to Olomouc, but we quickly found our hostel and things were looking up. I was surprised at how much we were able to see in the small amount of time we were there. We walked around the town hall, visited 4 different churches, found an incredible park with a castle at the top, went to the crypts, walked through several vegetable markets, and found some amazing places to eat.

Spilberk Castle: There is a huge park in Brno with a giant castle at the top. We had a lot of fun walking through the park, and once we found the castle we decided to come back and tour it the next day. This old castle was turned into a prison, and we were able to freely wonder around and explore it. The atmosphere was a bit eerie, but we had a great time.

One of the cells in the prison. This is what the prisoners' beds looked like. 

Capuchin Crypt: If I thought the prison was eerie, I had no idea what I was about to get myself into at the crypts. We were basically walking through a museum with dead bodies on display. There were no pictures allowed, but the bodies were all black and clearly decayed. I wasn't too impressed until we did the math and realized that the bodies we were looking at are older than America. They were very well preserved for how much time had gone by. The part that struck me the most was a quote we found on one of the walls. It said "What you are now, we were. What we are, you will be". To be standing in a room full of dead bodies and read that quote was one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had. I don't think I'll ever be the same after visiting the Capuchin Crypt!

Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul: This cathedral was absolutely stunning. My jaw dropped the moment I walked through the doors because my eyes went straight to the stained glass windows at the front of the church. I could have sat there taking in the floor to ceiling masterpiece all day. It was an incredibly peaceful place to be. Once we found out there was an option to go to the top, we decided to climb yet another set of stairs to check out the view. We were literally walking right under the bells in the bell tower, and when they chimed, we all freaked out. It definitely caught me off guard! 

The Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul

View from the top of the bell tower in the cathedral. 

All in all it was a very fun weekend full of adventures, and there are a several things I learned:

1. When in doubt, always pack a coat. I was under the impression that it was going to be warm while we were in Brno. Although the weather was nice, it was cooler than I expected, and it decided to rain on Sunday morning. I had to go purchase a coat because I didn't want to freeze the rest of the day. On the plus side, the coat was only $25, and its pretty cute. :)

2. I am willing to do whatever it takes for ice cream. Molly and I found a cafe that sold Ben and Jerry's ice cream. We couldn't control our excitement even though the price was $9. After paying for our over priced American ice cream and getting our cheap plastic spoons, we promptly found a place to sit and devour it. Of course we chose to sit at the rocket statue- a focal point in the town square. We were completely oblivious to everything going on around us while we attempted to eat our ice cream. The whole thing was extremely comical- especially when my spoon broke leaving plastic in the ice cream. There was even an older woman sitting on a bench across from us, I remember looking up at one point to see her laughing right along with us. All in all it was a great time, and I would buy that ice cream again in a heart beat!

3. Brno is not the place to be if you want to get any sleep. The bells can be heard all through town, and they start ringing in the very early hours of the morning. We were also trying to take a quick nap in our hostel when we heard loud chanting. I was worried there was a riot going on outside, but it turned out to be hockey game. The game was sold out, so there was a huge screen in town that people crowded around to watch. Hockey is the biggest sport in the Czech Republic, so I guess that makes sense!

The town hall in Brno. 

One of the awesome views from the park. 

The town square. 

There were little flower stands everywhere, and I loved it :)

I will have more to come about this week soon (hopefully). We are headed to Vienna tomorrow, and we'll be gone for two weeks! I can't believe how fast time flies! Na Shledanou!