The Basics

I have neglected writing for the past week, so let me backup to Friday:

We did a little grocery shopping during the day and then went to a school event with our new friend, Elise. We met up with her at "The Horse" (which is really the easiest place to meet) and then went to a movie theater to watch a short film a teacher had created. Little did know that when we arrived, we would be scarred for life. We took our seats and noticed the title of the film: Cold Rape. And that's really all I am going to say about that. It was an interesting experience to say the least, and it showed us a little more about the culture. People in Prague are very open and expressive about the facts of life and quite frankly, because I grew up in a different culture I view most of it as rather crude. After the movie ended, we went to the after party at a nearby club. They had free champagne, so I had my first taste and I must say it is delicious. My favorite treat of the night though was a cheese platter that us girls split-it was superior!

The next morning we barely made our bus for Olomouc. The ride was long, and the woman I sat next to had a horrible cough, but eventually we both fell asleep and it no longer mattered. Olomouc was adorable. It is much smaller than Prague and had a quaint feeling about it. We really didn't know much about the city, so we had my Rick Steves book open for most of the trip. My favorite part of Olomouc was this park that we found. A blanket of white, fluffy snow covered the ground and everything seemed to glisten. It was refreshing to see trees and have a break from the endless buildings. We ate at a restaurant (recommended by Rick) that was delicious! I had meat dumplings (a traditional Czech meal) that filled my stomach to the top-I was so full.

Sunday was wonderful. I went to two different churches and loved them both. The people were so welcoming, I wanted to meet all of them! On the way to the second church, I was with the two guys from school here and we completely misunderstood the format of the street, because before we knew it we were sauntering down the middle of the tram tracks with a tram coming our way...so we climbed through a fence-like structure to the sidewalk (and our safety) and continued on to the church.

Sunday night we had a dinner party with the girls for Valentines day. We cooked with all our random ingredients combined and found out we are much better cooks than we thought.

I went up to Prague Castle a couple days ago to see what it looked like up close. Despite the abnormally cold temperatures and hundreds of tourists, it was wonderful. Detail and history dripped from every corner-I cannot wait to go back on a warmer and brighter day.