I am not kidding. They are rather fuzzy.
Yesterday, the Bees and Beekeeping class went to the Bee Institute, where our professor works. To get there, we had to take a train to the middle of nowhere and then take a boat to cross the Vltava. I was pretty excited to take the boat trip... unfortunately, it took about 30 seconds. Oh well, what can you do.
The Institute has millions and millions of bees on their site. Dalibor, our professor, took us to the hives to show us the bees. Its rather odd to approach a bee hive on purpose, but we were armed with smoking machines, plus Dalibor assured us that they were 'nahce behs' as he says. He pulled out combs and showed us the bees. Bees just covered the combs. It was like the combs were moving...yech. I wasn't sure how I was going to react...some of you may know that I have a debilitating fear of large bugs. They make my skin crawl and I unintentionally flip out. Luckily, the bees past the size test and I was fine. In fact, I found them really interesting [as long as I stayed three feet away from them.
It was the most beautiful day that we have had in Prague: 70 degrees!!!!!!! I have never been happier to be outside. The sun was shining and we wandered around the Institute before heading back to Prague.
I got up late Saturday and went to Bohemia Bagel for lunch with some of the people from school. While I was eating my quiche, I ran into a girl I went to Country Day with. It is a small world. Last year, I ran into a girl I debbed with in the Colosseum. Let's see if I meet anyone else I know in Prague.
That afternoon I headed over the river to check out the Little Quarter. It is the part of town that the Charles Bridge connects with Old Town. My first stop of the day was the Church of St. Nicolas. It is the finest example of Baroque architecture in Prague. The dome is so high that it looks fairly unstable. The inside is covered in frescos from top to bottom. There isn't a single bare surface...everything is covered in gold or frescos or marble. It is one of the few places that I have ever been where I have been overwhelmed. It is honestly unbelievable. It looks like a movie set. I kept closing my eyes to see if the beauty would diminish.
The best part of Prague is wandering. I wandered all over Little Quarter, turning down charming little streets, poking my head into shops. I stopped on several parks just to take the view in. It is my favorite thing to do. I find all sorts of fun things, like the John Lennon Wall, a section of graffitied wall that is emblazoned with his face and peace symbols. I found the tiny bridge to the tiny island in the Vltava . I found an 11th century church. Indeed, I even found an anti-Obama protest!
I had been wandering for a while when I ran into tons of police officers. I remembered that Obama was in town [and realized that I was at the American embassy...the American flag really should have tipped me off sooner...]. I assumed that he was going to be visiting the embassy so I waited around for a while. Instead of Obama, I got to see the anti-Obama protest. They were protesting the proposed radar system. They were yelling, "Yankee go home!". I wanted to correct them and tell them that he is actually a midwesterner, but I refrained.
I wandered a bit more and headed home.
Oh, I haven't mentioned my adventures at the post office!! So, if you didn't know, my beloved computer died while I was on Spring Break, so I had to replace it. Apple doesn't have any stores here, so I had to order it from America. Anyway, it took forever to get to Prague because it was insured, but that was just the beginning. I got a note [in Czech of course] telling me that the government was going to charge me 19% tax on the computer. Um, veto. Jakub, one of the assistants who works at the Institute, wrote me a letter explaining the situation and sent me off to the post office.
Now, most people will tell you that everyone in Prague speaks English. This is a lie. A big fat honker of a lie. I was sent to three different offices [and going in at least four wrong ones before I found the one I was supposed to be in], getting a different stamp on my mail slip at each, before I got the package. Lots of hand gestures and over-enunciation of English [and Czech on their part] was involved. Two hours after entering the building, I had it in my hands.
But that doesn't matter now! My new computer is lovely. Plus, I got to upload all of my pictures [finally!]. Attached are some of my favs, from the very beginning.
It has just hit me that I'll be home soon. I mean, by soon, a month and and week, but that seems like small change now. We only have two weeks of class left. I can't wait and I'm dreading coming back all at the same time. Is that normal?
Retiro Park in Madrid
Cesky Krumlov
St. Nicolas Church in Old Town Square
Our Lady Before Tyn Church in Old Town Square
Jewish Cemetery
Castle from Vltava
Karelskirche in Vienna
Big Ben
Sony Center in Berlin
Yesterday, the Bees and Beekeeping class went to the Bee Institute, where our professor works. To get there, we had to take a train to the middle of nowhere and then take a boat to cross the Vltava. I was pretty excited to take the boat trip... unfortunately, it took about 30 seconds. Oh well, what can you do.
The Institute has millions and millions of bees on their site. Dalibor, our professor, took us to the hives to show us the bees. Its rather odd to approach a bee hive on purpose, but we were armed with smoking machines, plus Dalibor assured us that they were 'nahce behs' as he says. He pulled out combs and showed us the bees. Bees just covered the combs. It was like the combs were moving...yech. I wasn't sure how I was going to react...some of you may know that I have a debilitating fear of large bugs. They make my skin crawl and I unintentionally flip out. Luckily, the bees past the size test and I was fine. In fact, I found them really interesting [as long as I stayed three feet away from them.
It was the most beautiful day that we have had in Prague: 70 degrees!!!!!!! I have never been happier to be outside. The sun was shining and we wandered around the Institute before heading back to Prague.
I got up late Saturday and went to Bohemia Bagel for lunch with some of the people from school. While I was eating my quiche, I ran into a girl I went to Country Day with. It is a small world. Last year, I ran into a girl I debbed with in the Colosseum. Let's see if I meet anyone else I know in Prague.
That afternoon I headed over the river to check out the Little Quarter. It is the part of town that the Charles Bridge connects with Old Town. My first stop of the day was the Church of St. Nicolas. It is the finest example of Baroque architecture in Prague. The dome is so high that it looks fairly unstable. The inside is covered in frescos from top to bottom. There isn't a single bare surface...everything is covered in gold or frescos or marble. It is one of the few places that I have ever been where I have been overwhelmed. It is honestly unbelievable. It looks like a movie set. I kept closing my eyes to see if the beauty would diminish.
The best part of Prague is wandering. I wandered all over Little Quarter, turning down charming little streets, poking my head into shops. I stopped on several parks just to take the view in. It is my favorite thing to do. I find all sorts of fun things, like the John Lennon Wall, a section of graffitied wall that is emblazoned with his face and peace symbols. I found the tiny bridge to the tiny island in the Vltava . I found an 11th century church. Indeed, I even found an anti-Obama protest!
I had been wandering for a while when I ran into tons of police officers. I remembered that Obama was in town [and realized that I was at the American embassy...the American flag really should have tipped me off sooner...]. I assumed that he was going to be visiting the embassy so I waited around for a while. Instead of Obama, I got to see the anti-Obama protest. They were protesting the proposed radar system. They were yelling, "Yankee go home!". I wanted to correct them and tell them that he is actually a midwesterner, but I refrained.
I wandered a bit more and headed home.
Oh, I haven't mentioned my adventures at the post office!! So, if you didn't know, my beloved computer died while I was on Spring Break, so I had to replace it. Apple doesn't have any stores here, so I had to order it from America. Anyway, it took forever to get to Prague because it was insured, but that was just the beginning. I got a note [in Czech of course] telling me that the government was going to charge me 19% tax on the computer. Um, veto. Jakub, one of the assistants who works at the Institute, wrote me a letter explaining the situation and sent me off to the post office.
Now, most people will tell you that everyone in Prague speaks English. This is a lie. A big fat honker of a lie. I was sent to three different offices [and going in at least four wrong ones before I found the one I was supposed to be in], getting a different stamp on my mail slip at each, before I got the package. Lots of hand gestures and over-enunciation of English [and Czech on their part] was involved. Two hours after entering the building, I had it in my hands.
But that doesn't matter now! My new computer is lovely. Plus, I got to upload all of my pictures [finally!]. Attached are some of my favs, from the very beginning.
It has just hit me that I'll be home soon. I mean, by soon, a month and and week, but that seems like small change now. We only have two weeks of class left. I can't wait and I'm dreading coming back all at the same time. Is that normal?
Retiro Park in Madrid
Cesky Krumlov
St. Nicolas Church in Old Town Square
Our Lady Before Tyn Church in Old Town Square
Jewish Cemetery
Castle from Vltava
Karelskirche in Vienna
Big Ben
Sony Center in Berlin
No comments:
Post a Comment