Life, Language, Prague Castle, Kutna Hora

Hello, been a bit since I've had some time to post but I have a ton of stuff that's been going on. So I've been attempting to settle in a bit, which has been a bit of give and take. Last week was in the teens and single digits, and even below zero a few times, which of course was wonderful weather to go and walk around the city all day and night. Besides the cobblestone roads being tricky to navigate and slippery, you also have to watch out for insane drivers and dog poop because most people find that picking it up is a bit too much of a hassle. Also living in the dorms has brought back memories of freshman year, and I have to say its going to be an interesting semester with the motley crew of guys on my floor.
Tomorrow will start the second week of my language class, which hasn't been horrible but I have a feeling that I am going to start forgetting things rather quickly once the intensive class is over. Vowels are seemingly optional, and most words are impossible to pronounce including my favorite, "čtyři" (four). Also I have gone up to a few girls in pubs/clubs and tried to impress them with my Czech language skills, only to be informed that they were either from Brazil, Germany, or America, which immediately made me look like a kook.
So last week we checked out Old Town Square, of course during our adventure we encountered the "EuroKarnival" which was awesomely crazy. Here's a shot of some of the crown and the Astronomical clock tower that sits in the square.
We did a cool tour of Prague Castle on Wednesday, but I will not lie it was so freezing most of us wanted to just snap a few photos and bail. The castle is massive and the cathedral is probably the coolest part of the whole thing, here's a few shots of it from different angles but the building is absolutely massive. Like I said the tour was absolutely freezing so we bailed pretty fast after it was over, but I will definitely revisit in the spring when its nicer. Also I haven't made it to Charles bridge yet so I'll get some pics of that when I get a chance.
On a minor sidenote, I agreed to play some pickup basketball with one of the student homestay dads. In short I got dominated because I had gone to a club the night before, and also some of the guys were quite good. There was a czech kid, a slovak kid, and a russian dude who were just as good as me, and a little better considering I wasn't feeling too hot that morning, but I drained a few buckets regardless.
So back to the adventures, yesterday we had a day trip to Kutna Hora which we had to navigate to the bus station by 9am on a saturday...not a good combination I think you'll agree. So after waking up at 8:15 and half the so-called dorm crew leaving without us, me and 3 other guys set out to find the station. In the end we took an incredibly out of the way and horrible route, and we were running half the city, we made it to the station at 8:58 and all was well. There were quite a few no-shows but I'm proud to say the dorm guys were on time and ready to go. About an hour out of Prague, Kutna Hora was once the second biggest city in Czech Republic and was home of the Royal Mint (called the Italian Court, they were the best coinmakers). Here's the St. Barbara Cathedral, not quite as big as the one in Prague castle but awesome nonetheless.
There was a ton of cool paintings on the inside of the cathedral including this one which was my favorite, its Moses with a child on his shoulders. It reminds me of a giant because he's holding a tree, but it was a huge painting going up the entire wall. It's kinda hard to see, but it was a sweet painting and it was quite epic.
Like I said we visited the mint after this and saw some coins that dated back to the 12th century and all the way to the 17th century. When the Austrian empire took over they changed the name of the currency, and for the second half of the Mints existence the money was called the "Tolar" (I'm doing this by memory so if I'm a bit off don't kill me). Interestingly enough, this word somehow or another was the basis for the American "Dollar", you learn something new everyday.
Finally we went to the bone church, which was funny because half the people were disgusted and thought it was grotesque, half thought it was cool and interesting, and then there were some who were keen on touching everything, a bit gross but its only bones right? There is said to be the bones of over 40,000 people in this church, its a few hundred years old I believe but the bones were all dug up from graves that had been reused, there was a ton of cool things they made out of the bones for decoration, including this huge chandelier which supposedly has every bone in the body in it.
After this we headed back home to nap and then go out on the town once again. Prague is seriously a great city to do it all, there is a ton of nightlife and restaurants and theater and music and historical sights and tourist things to do...It seriously has it all. I will say that I was not very into "going to clubs" and so called "dancing" and singing "karaoke" before I came here, but I made my new motto "I'm not Not gonna do it" so here's a photo someone snapped of me when I was just about to slay my solo in a Backstreet Boys song... At request of my dear mother, who is always asking who I'm spending all my time with, here's a pic with about half the "dorm crew", this is in old town square and you can probably pick me out, or at least I hope you can.
Alright well I have wasted plenty of time on the computer today, and I have a ton of stuff I still need to do, so I will update a bit later when I get a chance. Wish me luck for my next week of "intensive Czech language" which will be interesting as usual. I'll leave you with a shot of Kutna Hora and one of the other churches, this is taken just a few steps away from the big Cathedral in town. Also can someone please go right now and eat a Chipotle for me? Seriously I should have brought one with me...

Alive in Prague!

So as I was leaving dear old Colorado, I had a few requests and I told some of you guys I would do a blog so you can check out whats going on while I'm abroad. I also told some of you I would have a ton of pictures and I'll try to avoid any huge essay-like posts that I'm sure you wouldn't read anyways.
So yes, I am alive here and in Prague, it's already Tuesday and I have done a week of orientation and started some intensive language classes (I'm probably going to die...). It took awhile to get the internet, but finally here I am with the first post.
Alright, home sweet home, this is the dorm building which has some other use but I have no idea what all the other Czech people in the building are doing there...Its not a bad place but the breakfast is not something to be hyped on.
Pilsner Urquell, the beer of choice for locals and students, its much better that its main competition "Budvar" (The original Budweiser you may have heard of).

Here's a quick shot of the Basilica in Vysehrad, my neighborhood and just a few minutes walk, the area is essentially what could have been the site for Prague Castle. Despite being built on a nice sized hill complete with a massive castle wall, Prague castle was built north of this area on an even bigger hill. It has some great views and statues in the parks, and it is also the home of many famous Czech graves and tombs in the Basilica courtyard.

Finally here is a shot of the Vltava River that runs through Prague along with Prague Castle in the background, the west side of town. This shot was taken on top of the castle wall that faces the river, we should be doing a tour of Prague Castle tomorrow so I'm sure I will get some great photos etc. If you go on Google Maps, you can find my address in the city: Vratislavova 10, Prague 2, if you search something like that you will be able to find it fairly quickly. Anyways I already have a Czech language quiz tomorrow and of course might be stepping out to go to the pub for a drink, but I will update when I can and I hope you enjoy! WOOoooooooo!