Not much time left!

I realized today that there are only 30 days left of our semester! I'm both happy and disappointed about that. The other students are starting to pack up and some are moving home. Their semester is coming to an end now. In the next month we are going to be so busy that the time is going to fly by! We have group trips to Krakow, Auschwitz, Kutna Hora and Cesky Krumlov. We also have a whole week free for whatever we want! Kelly and I are making plans to go to Ireland, Dublin and Paris. I'm actually looking up flight information as soon as I'm done writing this entry. We also found out that on Tuesday we are going on a little extra field trip to a local castle. We leave for Krakow on Thursday and we will be gone for 4 or 5 days. We're going to Auschwitz on this trip too! I'm pretty excited about that!

We also just found out that there are a LOT of really awesome things in Olomouc that we didn't know about! We knew there was a Zoo but we also found out there is a ropes course and a go-cart track! We've been packing in the fun events since we got back from Spring Break because I think it really hit us that we're running out of time.

On Wednesday I went to a futbol (soccer) game! It was the local team Sigma Olomouc, and the game was a really great time. Today we went to race some go-carts and tomorrow we might go see a movie. We are for sure going to a Rugby game on Sunday and we are thinking about going to the Zoo on Monday. It's going to a busy weekend and after Thursday a really busy week of traveling.

-Jessica

Paris

Being in Paris was really cool but it was definitely the most touristy city I have been to so far. My favorite part of Paris minus the Eiffel tower at night was the Musee d' Orsay. Great artist like Monet and Van Gogh were in this museum and it was just so cool to see their original works. I remember seeing all these painting in Art classes with Mrs. Noecker but to see the real thing just took my breath away. I could have stood there for hours just examining the colors and brushstrokes and things like that. I don't even think I could pick out a favorite painting because I loved so many of them. If I would ever go back to Paris I think I would just spend all my time at the museums and skip all the other touristy spots. Although I had so much fun on spring break I was so excited to see the Olomouc sign when I was pulling in on the train. I have missed my little home away from home and I will not miss living out of a suitcase. Now back to school and homework but I'm ok with that for now. I only have like 31 more days here. I can't believe it has gone this fast!! Below are the links to my pictures from spring break. I hope you all enjoy!
-Bernice

-Vienna
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37641&id=1317120081&l=ec08f01fdb

-Venice
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38538&id=1317120081&l=b38b076e05

-Rome
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38540&id=1317120081&l=a556a1bea4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38547&id=1317120081&l=d6535c65b8

-Barcelona
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38561&id=1317120081&l=1cb058d234

-Paris
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38565&id=1317120081&l=821504f651

Festa de Sant Jordi

So while in Spain on the 23 of April they had this festival called Festa de Sant Jordi. It is a festival celebrating the Patron Saint of Catalunya. On this day the men buy the women roses and the women buy the men books. There are rose and book stands everywhere along with thousands of people out on the streets. I saw roses of every color and even a rainbow rose. It was really cool to see a cities big cultural festival and how they celebrate that day. If your wondering no I didn't get any roses from a cute Spaniard. I know disappointing!
-Bernice

Ace at PT

Let's be honest, public transportation is pretty much nonexistent in Nebraska. What do we have, some buses? In the last week I have pretty much conquered every form of public transportation that there is. Buses, trams, taxis, trains.... and boats. Boat skills will only be handy if I go back to Venice. The fact that public transportation is just part of my life every day now is really strange when you think of how it doesn't even exist in my world usually. Clearly I'm going to have to continue traveling so I can use my newly developed skills.

I'm spending a few days in Prague right now. Exploring and buying things in a place that is CHEAP! I missed the Czech prices more than anything in our week and a half away on break. Tomorrow it's back to Olomouc!

-Jessica

Rome/Barcelona

When I last updated you I had just got to Rome. Well Rome was amazing on Sunday we went and walked the tour we took the night before to take pictures in the light. That took most of the morning and then in the afternoon we went on a tour of Rome by the same people that gave us the night tour. It was really awesome we saw all these cool sites including the Colosseum, Mouth of Truth, Jewish Ghetto, site of Julius Caesar's assassination, Pantheon. Piazza Venezia, Mussolini's balcony, Roman Forums and more. It was really interesting the tour guide Justin really knew his information and was really cute too...total plus!!
The tour started at 2 and ended at 5:30 so it was a pretty long day. We came back and ate, packed, and went to bed hoping that we would be able to get on the plane to Barcelona the next day. The next morning we got up early to go to the Vatican. There I went to St. Peter's Square and the Sistine Chapel, which was breath taking by the way I could have stayed there and looked at it all day. After the Vatican and a quick cheap lunch the group went to the Colosseum to tour the inside, which because it was culture week was totally FREE!! The Colosseum was just amazing and interesting enough they don't know how this amazing building was constructed, which makes the building even cooler. We then went back to the hostel to get our bags so we could go to the airport!
We got there and were so excited because our plane was totally flying! Score! To Barcelona we went. We got to Barcelona really late, so we basically just got to our hostel and slept. The last two day here have been spent like all vacaciones should be (look some Espanol) on the playa (beach). Well that and napping....totally relaxing!! Its really really pretty here and the sea is gorgeous all though it is quite chilly. The first day I got a little burnt but today I was fine. Tomorrow we are hoping to explore downtown and do a little bit of shopping. Adios for now!!
-Bernice

The Silver Lining

Even in all the disappointment of our plans being canceled and all the stress of creating a new plan, a little bit of light peeked through today.






A few of the students from our group found a hostel that is on the outskirts of Rome. It happens to have a beach. And they invited us for a visit. I spent most of the day laying in the sand next to the Mediterranean Sea. I also fully submerged myself in the salty, chilly waters. It was, by far, one of the most fun days I've had here so far. We turned Sam into a Mermaid. The day was a success!
-Jessica

Staying Positive!

In the words of Peter McKay, "The erupting Icelandic volcano achieved what world wars, terrorism, environment campaigns and even Britain's Got Talent all failed to do: it shut down European aviation".

So due to the shut down airlines EVERYONE is looking for a train. There are no longer any trains to Paris or Amsterdam, so those trips have been canceled for me. I have a ticket in my purse that will get me back to Vienna and from there I'm headed to Prague then Olomouc. It's too expensive and will take too long to get to the places we planned at this point. So we are nixing the rest of our trip and heading back to our dorms. Not exactly the most exciting Spring Break, but we are going to be making plans for our last free week and we will stop at a couple of the places we missed. Hopefully by then everything will be back to normal!

-Jessica

Eww Volcanoes!! LOVE VENICE!!

So I haven't written in a few days...I know so much for updating the blog everyday. Well its mostly because I didn't have free internet, so besides for a quick email to my mom that I had made it to Venice ok that was all my internet usage!

The last day of Vienna was actually pretty interesting because we went to this science museum with all these cool taxidermy animals...sounds kind of weird but it was actually really cool. We also went to this really cool local pub and the one guy that works there was from San Fransisco, it was a really awesome experience.

The next day we went on a SEVEN HOUR bus ride to Venice. It was a long ride but it was totally worth it to be in Venice! Venice was beautiful, gorgeous, fantastic and every other good adjective you can think of! I just want to live there!! Its soo pretty and as soon as we went to the main island on a train I knew I was going to love it! The first day we went to San Marco, the main square there and then went and ate the best spaghetti and lasagna I have ever had!!

The next day we got up nice and early to tour the old palace and church in San Marco square. After that the day got even better we rode a gondola, which even for 15 euros was totally worth it...only bad thing is that we had an old man as our gondola driver...but later in the afternoon it was made up for when this really cute gondola driver totally blew us a kiss and winked at us! He might have to be my new boyfriend! We sat at the pier for a long time and even saw this girl get pooped on by a bird. It was a relaxing/entertaining afternoon!

Today was the most interesting day maybe of all. We got to the airport only to find out that no flights were flying in Europe! Awesome! Stupid volcano in Iceland! So instead we hoped on a train in Venice and got to Rome in about three and a half hours. It has been an interesting day to say the least. We got here relaxed for a while then went on this really awesome night tour of Rome that included the Trevi Fountain which was really pretty at night. Also our tour guide Tad was so much fun and told us all kinds of behind the scenes information. Now its time for a shower and bed. Its been a really really long day for real! Hopefully this volcano ash will settle down so we can fly to Barcelona on Monday but for now I will just enjoy Rome and Italy. My favorite country on this trip so far!!

Awesome! Volcanoes!

So we don't really have access to the internet all of the time, and that's our main means of hearing news. Apparently a volcano erupted in Iceland? I found out this morning, soon before I found out my flight to Rome was canceled. So I'm stuck in Venice until midnight. That's the soonest we could get a train that cost less than 100 Euros. I'm sitting in a McDonald's. It's the only place we could find free wifi.

We took a boat taxi to the Airport, talked to a really rude lady at the information desk. Then I found the bus desk and we caught a bus to the train station about 20 seconds before the bus pulled away from the curb. We got to the train station and stood in a line that was so long that there were about 50 people out the door standing on the steps. Then after about 20 minutes we figured out there were fast ticket machines. After a crazy few minutes trying to figure out the machine we got the only ticket under 100 Euros. The train leaves at midnight. So we had roughly 7 hours to waste in Venice. We ended up walking in the direction to our Hostel and made a complete circle for the day. Then it started to rain.

We're going to hopefully get away with sitting in McDonald's for a couple more hours, stealing internet and keeping dry. As sucky as the situation is it's been kind of a good thing. We've met a bunch of people today that are in the same situation that we are. So far in McDonald's we have been asked if there are any free outlets by us, how to spell "hugs" in English, and what internet network we are connected to.

I won't get to make my trip to Pisa because we'll be out of time in Italy though! That's not very good news! And I found out just recently that there is speculation that the eruption that just happened could set off another one? Not anything I wanted to hear. More news when I'm in Rome!

-Jessica

Vienna...start of LONG vacation!!

So I am going to try to update you everyday during my great adventure of five countries in two weeks! This stuff is way more exciting then boring old school in Olomouc! Today we took a three hour bus trip to Vienna. We stopped for twenty minutes at this place on the highway it was really strange. When we finally arrived we got in our hostel and dropped our stuff off before heading to the center.
Our hostel is really nice it has two four person rooms, a living room with a table and a tv, a kitchen complete with a oven, microwave, fridge, and even a dishwasher!
Here are some pictures of it...




After that we went downtown and ate at this pizzeria it was the best pizza I have had over here. We then went to the old town center which was really pretty and walked around. We then went into this really beautiful church, St Stephan's that was to dark to take pictures in. On our walk back to the hostel my friends Jeana and Shannon and I went and got some really good ice cream and then did a little shopping. I got a really cute little dress to wear out with some leggings to go underneath. Now we are back in our room and hanging out for a bit before we catch up with the others for a few drinks. Well I have to go but hopefully another update from Vienna will follow.
-Bernice

Missing Home

Yesterday I got to talk to my mom side of the family on skype! It was so nice to get to see everyone and answer their questions. I really miss my family and can't wait to go back and see them!! I love them so much and would not be the person I am today without them. I wanna do a special shout out to my mom who without her I wouldn't be experiencing all the great things I am over here! Thanks mom!! It was so comforting to see familiar faces again and my little cousins just put a smile on my face! (Thanks Tia, Chloe, and Tyson). It was also really good to talk to my Grandma Tycz and yes I still claim her kolaches are much better than the ones over here! Although yesterday made me a little homesick, the excitement of spring break has helped a lot, along with the fact that I have to focus on the dreaded packing!! Hope all is well for my followers in the U.S. and my lesson for the day is let your family know how much you appreciate them because when you are away you realize just how important they really are!!
-Bernice

This stuff is never going to fit in this bag...

So I have to pack 2 weeks worth of STUFF into a little carry on bag. We have a mixture of flights and train rides making up our Spring Break, and since I'm cheap I didn't want to pay to check bags. So don't judge me if I wear a shirt twice without washing it! Now I bet you're wondering where I'll be adventuring, well I'll tell you. Bernice told you some of this.
Tuesday 13th - Wednesday 14th we will be in Vienna as a group
Thrusday 15th - Friday 16th we will be in Venice as a group

This is where our Spring Break starts! I'm heading off with Kelly and Shannon.
Saturday 17th we have a flight from Venice to Rome. While we are in Rome we are staying in a hostel called The Yellow. It has some really good reviews and is mostly students. I think most of the group is headed to Rome and staying at the same place!

On Tuesday the 20th we are flying from Rome to Paris! We are staying at a hostel called The Plug Inn. We're only there for 1 night; enough time to see the Eiffel Tower and then we're out of there. Shannon had an oops with her flights so she's actually headed to Dublin after that but Kelly and I are headed to...

Amsterdam! On a train! One the 21st. While we're in Amsterdam we are staying at this really awesome place. It's called Lucky Lake. This is what I'm most excited about. It's like a camp ground! And we have e-mailed with the staff and they seem really nice.

I'm pretty sure this is going to one of the most amazing times I have ever had, and I can't wait to show off some pictures!

-Jessica

Excited for Spring Break!

The last week has been filled with lots of school and schoolwork. Which surprisingly I am actually doing. Want to get a jump on these papers before I run out of time here. Time which is going so fast by the way. I can't believe I have been here for almost a month already! It seemed like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to my mom at the airport in Omaha! We had our first test last week in our Czech Language class and while it was only for us to see where we were at I did really good, so that gives me confidence going into the final test! Thank goodness for taking a language in high school because it makes understanding this language a little easier. Today I'm going to begin packing for my two week hiatus from Olomouc. Yes, I said TWO WEEKS, yikes and I have to pack light....something I seem to have a problem with...you should see my room! On Tuesday we leave as a class to a trip to Vienna, Austria (Yay to visiting another country...but I guess these next two weeks will result in visiting four different countries). We will be there for two days before heading to Venice on Thursday. After spending two days in Venice we begin our spring break, which I have been greatly anticipating every since I found out I was going on this trip in November. Most of the group is headed to Rome after Venice and we are staying in this really cool looking hostel called Yellow! While there we plan on hitting up Vatican City, which I am so excited for!! Maybe I'll even get lucky and see the Pope!! We will be in Rome from Saturday till Monday. On Monday night 7 of us are flying to Barcelona, Spain! Ever since taking Spanish in high school I have really wanted to visit Spain, so I am so excited that I have the opportunity to do so (and yes Mrs. C I will try to get you a menu at a bar de tapas). The group will be there till Friday morning and then leaving for Paris. My friend Jeana and I booked our flights at a separate time as the rest of the group so we don't leave until that Saturday morning. When we get there we hope to meet up with the rest of the group, who will be staying in the same hostel as us! I can't wait to visit the Louvre and the Eiffle Tower. I am hoping to get a picture ANTM (America's Next Top Model) style in front of the Eiffle Tower (just for you Renee). There was a little issue with booking a flight back to Prague (mostly the fact that I had a blonde moment and the calendars with dates to book the flight started with Monday being the first day of the week instead of Sunday). So instead of getting home on Monday like we needed to be we will be in Paris till Tuesday and have to miss some of lecture (don't worry MOM the lady over here with us told us not to worry about it)! So I will be traveling for a full two weeks..phew its going to be exhausting but a great experience at the same time! I'm planning on bringing my computer with me so I hope to be able to update you all on my travels during the next two weeks. Now its time to start the dreaded packing!!
-Bernice

Train to Brno!

Today I spent the entire day in Brno, another city in the Czech Republic. It is only a hour and a half train ride from Olomouc to Brno, and only costs about 15 bucks for a ticket. Kelly needed to visit the Mendel museum for research she is doing and I offered to go along to keep her company.

We have taken trains already, but the few times before someone has told us where to go. Today we were all alone, but we figured it out relatively easily. So with the train ride out the way we then had to find the museum. It rained on us as we were walking, and we actually ended up at the back side of the building to start. But by the time we figured out where the entrance was (after some slight embarrassment and giggling) the rain had stopped.

The museum was really interesting. Gregor Mendel is known for his work on heredity. You know, they guy with the peas? Well okay, maybe you don't. Here's a wikipedia page if you really want to know about him. Along with the museum there is also the garden area and... The Bee Houses. We all know I hate bees, but we had to go! I mean we were there! So check these pictures out! I hope you're proud, Mom!









This is the original bee house, the boxes in the windows have obviously been replaced. Mendel tried to cross breeds of bees, but because of how he tried to do so it wasn't a success, apparently bees breed about 10 meters in the air? News to me. (This is information given to us by the guy who showed us to the bee house.)









You might not be able to see the bees, but I sure could! And hear them! We walked right past these and as we were leaving the man giving us a tour knocked on a little box on the ground and said "This one has bumble bees. I'm not sure where they are right now though." He knocked on a box that should be fully of bumble bees! I'm not a bee keeper, but I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea!












This is cropped a little weird, but that's me... and those boxes of bees are right behind me! I'm even smiling!

New post about the upcoming Spring Break soon!

-Jessica

I'm a slacker. But I'm learning stuff!

So I feel really bad, I had all these intentions of posting a blog as close to every day as I could get! So I'm going to get on the ball and be better at that. I have plenty to talk about.

No one really cares to hear about classes though, so on to the good stuff. We missed Easter :( I was actually much more upset about that fact that I realized I would be. We didn't color eggs, but there is an even better tradition here. Apparently there is a pagan tradition of Easter whippings. On Easter Monday the men get to whip women (lightly) on the legs with sticks made from braided willow branches. The sticks used to be made by the men, but now you can buy them just about everywhere. We saw stands all over with these sticks, they were actually very pretty! Outside of the mall we found an old man who was braiding them himself and decorating them with ribbon. Kelly bought two of them to take home for her family. By the time I decided I wanted one I couldn't find a stand. Awesome luck.

Due to the pretty crappy weather Bernice and I chose to stay home on Monday and the report we heard back from the girls who bravely ventured out was that it wasn't nearly as chaotic as we had all hoped. I guess it's more of a family/friends tradition than a go-out-and-whip-every-female-in-sight tradition. I did see a couple men coming in and out of the apartment building across the street from our balcony. To be honest it made me a little nervous. I'm not a big fan of being hit with sticks, even if it's supposed to signify good health for me. I almost forgot the best part! Not only do men hit you with a stick, but you're expected to give them candy (used to be pretty eggs) after they hit you. I can honestly say this is a tradition I wouldn't mind seeing catch on around the States.


If you look closely you can see this is an old man on the tram, he is holding a whipping stick! (This picture was stolen from Jenny who's on the trip with us. Thanks Jenny!)


This wasn't ON Easter, but it is a tree decorated in the Easter market in Prague. The Easter decorations were beautiful there! Everything was bright colors and all about spring! There were also really awesome eggs that stood taller than me. Not real ones!


We went for a walk downtown in the center to see if there was anything happening. I found some shoes on a wire. Gang territory? Drug sales? All possible, it was a pretty sketchy alley that I found them in.


This isn't as clear in such a small picture, but these are the adorable flowers we found in the park. Kelly said they smell wonderful! There are the little blue ones and there are also tiny baby daisies. ADORABLE and very Spring Time!

Laundry Day!

Today was a pretty nice day and we all day dirty clothes so Bernice, our friend Kelly and I decided to do some laundry. There was a drier in the room we went to, but they charge you by the hour so it's easier and cheaper just to hang our clothes up on our balcony.
But maybe it isn't such a good idea for both Bernice and me to do our laundry on the same day. See it's in the forecast that it's going to rain tonight, so we hand to bring our laundry in, before it was dry. We started hanging up lines in our room, and the total number comes to, I believe, eight lines of clothes now hanging in our room.

Walking isn't exactly possible without going over or under at least 3 lines of clothes. We're confined to our beds until tomorrow. I really have no idea how we're going to get ready in the morning for class. And I REALLY hope that there isn't a fire because I'm not sure we could get to our door, but wet clothes should come in handy in that situation, right?! It's been an adventure!

This weekend is going to be an adventure for sure! We have some tentative plans for our long Easter weekend. The group has talked about having a pot-luck dinner, or just going out all together on Sunday. And Bernice, Kelly and I have talked about visiting the zoo because they have some special event going on this weekend (I'm not well informed, Kelly was telling me about it). There is supposed to be a castle really close to Olomouc that we have talked about visiting, and we also have talked about making a trip to the mall. So hopefully we're going to have a very busy weekend!

- Jessica