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Pictures I will post tomorrow. Some reason it takes a long time to upload 5 pictures at a time so it's frustrating and I dont want to deal with it tonight. But soon!

Prague...I missed you

So after a great time in Vienna, we head back to Prague. I start school the next day and it would be my first night sleeping in my apartment. Luckily, my mother and I before leaving for Vienna moved all my stuff in the room so I could just collapse when I got home which I did. The next morning I woke up around 6:30am and started my day. I get to work by taking Tram 16 to the red station. I take the red metro for 2 stops then am at the main train station. Purchase my ticket out to Ricany which I still cant pronounce and always have to end up writing it for them. Czech is one of the most difficult languages to learn because of the dialect that we are just not familiar with. I get on the train and it takes about 25 minutes to get to Ricany. I walk a few blocks and there is my school. I met all my coworkers. There are 5 czech teachers and 3 english teachers and 1 spanish teacher. The staff is great and they love the fact that I'm from California and cant wait to see me reaction to winter and what it is really like to be cold. The summers here I feel can be a winter day in San Diego...cloudy chilly but honey, that's nothing from what I'm told! Yikes! I have my own little desk and share the room with the other second grade Czech teacher and first grade Czech teacher. I feel like I'm a scavenger taking any teaching materials and art materials I can get my hands on. I have no resources so its a good thing I am artistic so I can make all my posters and crafts. I met the principal Honza who is very nice and funny. How my schedule works is I teach 1 to 3 english and math lessons a day and in the afternoons have club. So Monday I teach second grade math. Tuesday I teach 2nd grade Math and English. Wednesday I teach 3rd grade Math and 4th grade PE and Thursday 4th PE and 3rd Math. Friday is 2nd grade English. Club is an English immersion program where you read aloud in English, play English games, sing English songs, talk in English, and group activities in English. My days usually will end from 2-5pm so not too shabby. The school has 48 students from grades 1-5 so some classrooms have 14 and some have 4! Its a big change from 30 students in one classroom that's for sure. The first day of school in next Wednesday Sept. 1 where we have a theme week and it's the Zoo! Coming from San Diego which has the world famous Zoo I know a thing or two. But for trying to make things as easy as I can for myself during this transition, I chose butterflies :) What I'll do it I have made giant butterflies out of cardboard and giant flowers. They will come in and decorate butterfly sugar cookies, I'm sure I'll be accepted right away. I have been so busy all week preparing and I am getting adjusted to having a full time job. This is my first full time job so its exciting but now I know why people are so excited for Fridays to roll around...phew I am exhausted. But gives me lots of time to update my blog.

So now back to the government again....I had to go to the foreign police to register and asked Carrie (my coworker) how I do it. She started to bang her head against the wall...uhoh. She said, when she went people were screaming, fighting, crying, yelling just to get inside! She said she had to try a few times to get in and how it is inhumane! She told me that it is even on Youtube of how horrible it is. My roommate Mylene told me her horror story of going at 5:30am and couldnt get in and the next at 4am and she could not get in and third day arrived at 3am and had to push and shove to get in! BUT she said now they have another entrance for American, Canadians, and Mexicans. The next morning at 7 am I find the station. It was great, grabbed a ticket, waited in a chair, no problem right? Did you forget they dont do anything easy here. I get called and she opens my passport and said, "NO" and started speaking in Czech. I told her I dont speak Czech and English and she didnt speak English. She just wrote an address so I knew I had to go to another police station. I called my boss Martina and she told me that I guess they are sending me to the Old foreign police station. I take a taxi to the station because I have no idea how to get there. When I arrive, it is jam packed with people and everything is in Czech. Even the ticket to grab your number was covered with a sign in Czech. I assumed maybe it said out of order so I was like great where do I get the number. Tried to ask around but no one spoke English. Well I saw a line and decided to stand in it. Well good thing I did because one hour later I got a ticket. I waited 5 hours to get my number called. When I walked in it was one woman who looked my age. She opened my passport and said, "NO" and I said English and she said, "You needed to be here August 2nd when you arrived and register" I said no I was a tourist and in Vienna I have my work visa/short term visa that needs to be registered. She argued it was the same (which doesnt make sense....thousands upon thousands of people visit Prague and do NOT have to go to Foreign police...) Well she makes a call and hangs up and she says, you have to pay a penalty! I am hungry, tired, stressed, scared, confused so I just paid the penalty. I got it done so now all I have to do is wait for my long term. Hopefully no more government for the time being otherwise I will burst! Now back to some happy thoughts.

My apartment in Prague is soooo amazing. I am so happy here and I love my roommate. We went on a walk last night to listen to a band performing on the street playing Czech music and she took me on a tour of Vinohrady where I am living. I couldnt have picked a better place to live. We have a third roommate moving in next week. Her name is Sharka and she is from the Czech Republic. I am really looking forward to living with her and hope she will teach me a lot of Czech. Today, after work, I went grocery shopping. I can not tell you how nice it is to cook for yourself and not eat out every meal. When I go shopping, it takes me a good hour to complete it because I basically stand there and try to figure out what everything is. Luckily a lot of things have pictures so I feel I have some good stuff. Although I bought some sandwich meat that I was hoping would be turkey. My sister said what if its horse meat...good question. oh well! This weekend I plan on just relaxing. Tomorrow Mylene and I are going to Ikea to buy some stuff for the apartment. I am going to get a desk, lamp, clothes rail, and stuff for the kitchen. I have pictures I brought from home I'll hang up and start to make my room feel even more homey. Speaking of homey...I am on Skype every night my time which is lunch time SD time. My screen name is alison.lavine if you need to add me. I love skype and it is like you are sitting there with me. I can give you also a grand tour of my fabulous apartment.

Well now you are all up to date with Czechin up on Ali. I miss you all and thank you so much for reading my blog. Til next adventures!

Living the good life in Vienna

The day after our adventure in Cesky Krumlov, my Mom and I headed on the train to Vienna to apply for my short and long term visa. We arrive and unwind in the hotel and eat at the hotels cafe. I fell in LOVE with the soup there. It was a potato creamy soup with mushrooms. It was delicious and lets just say I think I had that soup almost everyday. My mother ordered schnitzel with lamb lettuce and potatoes. That was also very delicious and wonderful however, I do not eat veal so I had a sample of the chicken schnitzel. That night, the weather was insane! There was a huge thunder and lightening storm with gusts of wind and pouring rain. It is nice to experience different weather patterns so I sat in the window of our hotel room and enjoyed watching the storm.

The next day, we head to the Habsburgs Palace, as my mom said in line to another family from Washington D.C. their "hood". We take an audio tour through the apartments and I think my mother is related somehow to the Habsburgs because all their china and fine dining sets are just like something my mother would own! She was in seventh heaven on that tour. After the apartments, we went to see the Bohemian Jewels. Incredible! It amazing how old things are and how beautiful they made them. Some items there were Crowns, original items from Jesus Christ, and all types of jewels. After the tours of the habsburgs hood, which it has many palaces and so much to do, we went to the famous Opera House in Vienna and took a tour. Unfortunately, it is off season for the symphony and opera in Vienna during the summer. So we got to take a behind the scenes tour and learn about the history of the opera house. I have to come back to Vienna in 3 to 4 months to get my long term visa, so I will purchase a standing ticket (cheap seats but standing up seats) to an opera!

That night, the hotel gave us a recommendation to eat at Plachutta and they said, "they know their meat". My mother (the adventurous one on the trip) ordered the very traditional Viennese dish, Boiled Beef. I ordered a steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. The boiled beef comes in a vegetable soup broth and it is traditional to eat a cup of soup out of the pot on your table with some vegetables. Then after your soup, they take out the boiled steak and place it on your plate. They have sides of potatoes that were just like hash browns, and cabbage pureed sauce. Also on the side is a horshradish sauce that is very mild and apple sauce. It takes like an excellent brisket and is DEEEElicious. Also, in the broth they have a bone with bone marrow!!! You eat the bone marrow by spreading it on a piece of toast. Mad props to my mother because she did it! I cleaned my plate as well and it was my favorite dish this whole vacation.

After that delicious dinner, I had to go back to the hotel room and change into pants that would be more....comfortable with my food baby. We then head to a summer Mozart concert in the Golden Hall. It is a symphony and a couple opera singers. The musicians wear white wigs like back in the day. It was a beautiful hall and a wonderful musical performance. We loved when the conductor would turn around and instruct us to clap along with the music. He would change tempos, go from loud to very soft, and everyone had a great time.

The next morning, we took the train to Melk which is a small town near the Danube River. We walked through the charming town and up to the abby. It was Sunday morning to we were not able to take pictures or walk through the abby. The abby was incredible and Melk is a cute little town. We then walk down and hop on to a boat to cruise down the Danube River. We sat on the top and ordered a beer while cruising by towns. You would see old castles, traditional houses, vineyards, and green luscious landscapes. Very peaceful and relaxing, good idea mom. We ended our boat tour 2 hours later and hope back on the train back to Vienna. We did not get to see much of the town because something we are not accustomed to much in the states is that everything shuts down on Sunday. But it was still a great day and great weather.

Ohhhh the government, all I really want to say is OYE VEY but I will explain so you can see the headache and dark side of my transition over here....

We arrive at 9:30am and wait our turn in the Czech Embassy to request for a visa. The Czech Republic makes you leave the country to apply for the visas and guess what, you have to pick them up there too! So I give him all my stuff that Martina handed me and he said it was all wrong forms. So I filled out a new form and he said I needed more passport photos! Also it cost 161 Euros for the request. He calls us a cab and we RUN to a picture studio to take my pictures. Hop back in the cab, go to security because the embassy closes at 1030am and he dropped it off to the man. He then tells me that I have to COME BACK to the embassy in 5 days and he will call me. Well great, I told Martina I would be at work on the 23rd and my mother and I already booked our vacation in Salzburg. We decided to stick to our plan. Phew, I was exhausted and stressed with trying to figure all that stuff out. We had a nice lunch in the park and decided to call it an early easy night since a thunder storm was approaching again. I was relaxing when my mom runs in the room panicking that my Dad received a call at 3:30am and some man was speaking czech to him. What in the world? Well I turn on my phone and just dont care about roaming charges trying to figure out what is going on. I was praying that the short term visa was done. The next day my mother and I stick to our plan and headed on the train to Salzburg. While on the train, my cellphone rings and its the czech embassy. He said he needed my notary slip and to mail it! After we asked millions of times if he had EVERYTHING. I told him I was on a train to Salzburg and will be back Monday so he said I can give him the notary when I pick up the short term visa.

At least now we can enjoy our vacation in Salzburg without worrying about the embassy wondering what they wanted. We arrive in Salzburg and head to our hotel in the center of town and wow I have never seen so many people crammed on a street. We were like salmon swimming up stream trying to get to our hotel. We eat in the restaurant in the hotel and I decided to be brave like my mom when ordering traditional food. I got sausage with saurcrout and horseradish with a pretzel...which I find out later it is basically bar food but was the chefs specialty. We then decide to stroll around and sightsee. I forgot to mention, in Vienna I was desperate to find The Sound of Music because we were heading to Salzburg and we were going to take an 8 hour Sound of Music tour! I have never seen the Sound of Music but luckily I found it and my mother and I watched the movie before we left. Of course every night before bed I would watch it and love the songs. The next day, we had our Sound of Music Tour. It was great because it was just my mom and I on the tour. We saw all the "Salzburg" scenery. So much juicy information, for instance, the scene where they are rowing on the lake and they fall off when they see the father. Well little Grettle did not come up and they had to resuscitate her! Also, the mansion the movie was shot at (well the back of the house where they drank pink lemonade) is owned by Harvard and is private property. They had to move the white gazebo to another park since so many people were trespassing to sing, "I am 16 going on 17". She took us to the park and of course what did I do, I sang, "I am 16 going on 17". Then she drove us out to the Lake District and asked if my mom and I want to go Luge. I did not hesitate to sign both my mom and I up! How it works is a cable latches on to you luge and drags you up a few hills going higher and higher. Then you get off and a man lifts your luge to the track. I went first thinking my mom would take it slow. It was a lot of fun but I was nervous I would fall off and slice my head off so I was cautious. I get off and my mom gets off behind me and was like, "you were going so slow I had to pull my brakes!" I didnt know my mom is an adrenaline junky. Back on to the van and off to a town where Mozarts Mom was born. It was beautiful. It had mountains and a lake and the town was very nice. We saw the church where they filmed the wedding of Sound of Music even tho Maria was married in the Abby in Salzburg but since its an active nunnery, they were not allowed to film. After seeing the church where they filmed the wedding, we had lunch overlooking to town. We had the local fresh fish Char that is fresh from their lakes. I was a little shocked it still had its skin, head, and tail! But it was delicious! We then headed to Hallstatt! It is a small community where there is salt mining. It is the jem of the lake district and now I see why. It is so cute settled next to a large lake and mountains. We hope on a boat tour that takes you around the lake and you see all sorts of landscapes. I kept saying that Disney must have visited here because it is something beautiful that Disney would create. We then meet up with our tour guide again and she took us to a church where you can see the traditional burial rituals. Basically, it was painted skulls with their family name on it and their large bones. And I am talking about 100s! It was a little disturbing but yet cool at the same time. We walked through the charming streets and my mom got great souvenirs. We then headed back to our hotel in Salzburg and so fortunate we got to see the lake district and Hallstatt.

A strong/main factor in us going to Salzburg was to see the University of Redlands Study Abroad School so the next day we went up the hill to find the school. All we had was the address where we learned the number 1 looks like a 7 when it is written. We were a little lost until I remembered the 1 and 7 deal. We found it and knocked on the door and a professor/director opened it. She was very nice and gave my mother and I a grand tour of the school. Not too shabby! I wish I could have studied abroad but as you know moving to Prague is more amazing :) Then after our tour we decided to find Augustiner Beer Garden that many people had told us to go to. Well, we got lost surprise suprise. We ended up in a cow pasture this time instead of a sheep pasture. But as always, we always find our way and the beer garden did not open up til around 3pm. So we headed back to our hotel to eat some pizza and then get ready for the Sound of Music Marionette Show! It was awesome! It was so lifelike and we learned it takes 10 years to become a professional puppeteer! After the show, we went to the beer garden. There are little food stands with pretzels, salted raddishes, meats, breads...all the drunk food you can think of. We see a wall full of beer steins. What you do is you grab the size you want, pay, clean with water, then fill er up! You go outside where you find tons of locals singings, laughing, talking, and enjoying life with their giant beer steins. My mother is not a beer fan so she stuck with a coke but she tried it so I was proud. I got a little stein and a pretzel and it was delicious and a cool experience.

The next day we return back to Vienna and have some delicious Italian food and relax back at the same hotel we stayed at before. It was a Friday and so we could enjoy the weekend in Vienna before going back to the doom doom dooooooooooom Embassy on Monday. We toured the Habsburgs Summer Palace. If you didnt know, the Habsburgs were kinda a big deal back in the day. It was a BEAUTIFUL summer day and the gardens at the palace were magnificent. We hiked all the way to the top of the garden and had a whole view of Vienna. Then there are tons of little trails that lead you to other incredible gardens. After the garden walk, we toured the palace and it was impressive of course. Life is good living as a Habsburg. Then to finish off the day, we went to an apple strudel show. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only did you get a free sample but watch them prepare it. But I must say, I am apple strudel'd out for now which is probably a good thing if you know what I mean. Back at the hotel, we had my favorite soup and my mom had schnitzel. The last day in Vienna we did the Rick Steves walking tour of Vienna. If you havent used Rick Steves just know he is the Man when you are traveling. My mom wanted to tour another Habsburg palace but I was musuem'd out so I went back to the hotel and took a nap. That night we went back to Plachettos to have the same dishes again. The next morning bright and early it was the day we had to go back to the doom doom doooommmm embassy again. So I turn the notary in and he was supposed to get my short term visa...well nothing is easy so... he comes back and says we have a problem, you dont start work til Sept. 1 and you can not get your visa til 3 days before work and have to come back to Vienna. I had to be at work the next day and not going to keep going back and forth to Vienna. We firmly told him how he told us to come in Monday and we cant keep coming back here. I think he was looking for a little cash money but that doesnt fly with my mom and I. He makes a "phone call" and we got our visa :) He tells us we need to go to the foreign police when I get back to Prague to register me in the computer to keep track that when my 3 months are up I have to leave the country until I get my long term visa. Which I will have to wait for their phone call and travel back down there. I cant wait....

Thanks for being patient

Sorry for the long delay in writing in my blog but it has been a whirlwind of events and now I will catch you up on the past few weeks of adventures in Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg.

After the castle adventures in Prague, my mother and I decided to take a lovely day trip to Cesky Krumlov. Cesky Krumlov is a Historical Hertiage Center aka a tourist trap. My mom and I took a 4 hour bus ride from Prague to Cesky Krumlov and rushed to the castle there to get tickets for tours. It was a very cute town with a river running through it. It was great to stop and watch tourist kayaking or rafting down the river. My favorite part is when they were going down a shoot and the current was so strong at the end many people fell over board. First thing my mom and I did was take a tour of the Baroque theater. It is ONE out of two in the WORLD! It was incredible and what great condition the theater is in. Pictures were forbidden but the stage was an optical illusion to make it seem a lot bigger than it was. It can change scenery in 12 seconds and stage is made out of wood. Underneath the stage are men turning wheels to change the scenery, set up stage foot lights, and curtains. It was very neat to see and twice a year, for the die hard baroque fans with invitation only they put on a play.

After the Baroque theater, we took a tour of the Palace. They had a lot of stuffed bears and it was a pretty basic castle. They have two live bears in the castle that you can see...I hope the bears dont know whats inside the castle. My mom and I had a cafe dinner along the river and the landscaping is beautiful. I love the green rolling hills, blue skies, clean air, brown river rushing by...pretty great. Although unfortunately, they have a lot of tourist stores that takes away from Cesky Krumlov. We headed back on the bus and back to Prague at our Bed and Breakfast in Mala Strana.

Pictures

Dobře dem!

Now that all the "business" part of my trip has been taken care of, my mother and I have been doing the touristy things in Prague. We moved Pensions and are staying closer to the "city" or Prague 1. The location in which we are staying is called Mala Strana, Prague 2, where you can find all the world's embassies. Our pension is called Dum u velke boty or the House at the Big Boot. On the taxi ride to this pension we were stopped by police check point where they inspect for bombs by walking around your car with a mirror and have the driver get out and open the hood. At pension Vternik, my mother and I were the only guests, but here at the Big Boot House we have found lots of Canadian and American families here on vacation. The man who is running the pension is Jakob. He is extremely helpful on the touristy side where he sits you down and lists 10 restaurants they highly recommend and answer any questions you might have as how things are done. Our room is very nice with two beds, sitting area, nice shower, and wooden antique furniture. People who assist us with our luggage always comment that we are heavy packers. However, we inform them that it's a years supply of luggage.

Once settled in, my mother and I explore the area and hoping to find a place for lunch. About two blocks down we spot the Aria hotel. That's the hotel where Samantha Brown stayed while she was here documenting her time in Prague! I love Samantha Brown so we decided to treat ourselves by having lunch at the Aria Hotel in the restaurant Covo. The restaurant was beautiful with a theme of music. The plates had famous singers and composers with a modern artistic twist. My mother ordered tandori chicken with jasmine rice and I ordered the steak sandwich and we both had coca cola which come in the cute old fashioned glass coke bottles.

The clouds started to roll in and a change in weather. I bundle up and my mother and I decide to simply just go on a walk. We are a couple blocks away from the famous Charles Bridge. We are warned to avoid peak tourist hours on the bridge (it's shoulder to should during noon-8pm) but we are just so tempted that we decide to cross. There you find people trying to sell everything imaginable and music of all kinds. There are dozens of statues that are magnificent. I learned some are more significant than others such as the statue of Saint Jan Nepomuk from 1683. The story about this statue was that St. Jan Nepomuk was a priest in Prague and listened to the Queen's confessions. The king demanded to know what the queen was confessing to the priest and he refused to tell the king. As a consequence, he was thrown off the Charles Bridge and died. He was declared a saint and a statue was created in his honor. Story goes if you touch St. Jan Neopmuk statue of him falling off the Charles Bridge with your left hand and make a wish, it will come true and bring you luck! I have yet to touch it because they say you can only wish for ONE so I want to make it very special. After the chaos on Charles Bridge my mother turn right and find ourselves not in the best location. We finally turn a corner and find ourselves head on with the Astronomical clock. It was almost 6 pm so we stay to watch the "show". The skeleton rings the bell and reminds us that time on earth is precious . Then the doors open above the clock and there is a parade of Saints. The door shuts and a man on the top tower plays his trumpet and waves at all the tourists at the end. It was very cool to see.

The next day my mother and I were going to head to the Mucha Museum since the forecast predicted rain. On the walk over, we decided to look for a place to eat. We took out the map Jakob gave us and decided to find Cafe Louvre. This is a historical cafe located in Prague 1. My mom orders the czech dish Goulash. Goulash is dumplings and beef in heavy gravy. I order a hamburger. I will eventually expand my food repitoire but if you saw Czech food you would be hesitant too. Goulash tasted like a beef stew and was surprisingly good. It will be great on a freezing day in the winter but not too many otherwise I'll have to buy two seats on the plane ride home. The weather outside was pouring rain. We come across a Tesko which is a Macy's and Target combined. We decide to shop for apartment stuff instead of going to the museum since we are drenched.

The next morning we decide to tour Prague castle. I totally missed the turn to head up to the castle from our Pension and I took my mom up the steepest hill. We lost our breathe and my mom caught on to my secret that I screwed up. We see the castle behind us and a sheep pasture to our left. We decide maybe we can cut through it to make it to the Castle. We find a nice man and he tells us to climb the grassy and muddy hill to get on the other side of the wall. Again, we entertain another local as he watched us attempt to climb the hill. My mom was slipping all over the place so I stood behind her pushing her up the steep muddy hill. I was cracking up but my mother was not amused. We get to the castle finally, sweaty, out of breath, and not to mention there is no more rain and is a sunny warm day. We get our audio tours and begin to tour. We climb up 297 steps up a tour to get a great view of Prague. Let's just say my mother and I burned off all that goulash with all the work out obstacles we encountered that morning. We then tour the Lobkovwicz Museum and it was fascinating. We learned that the Lobkovwicz family had their property taken not once but two times! First by the Nazi's, then by the Communist. Finally, they were able to retrieve most of their stuff. The man who owns it is from Boston where he was an investment banker before he returned to the Czech Republic to reclaim his ancestral homes. He personally guides you through his museum on an audio tour. Very interesting family and interesting history. We enjoyed a lovely lunch on the museums terrace with a ham and bre sandwich and listened to a flute, viola, and piano concert there as well.

At noon everyday, there is the main showing of the changing of the guards. It happens every hour but at noon they play music and it is more of a spectacle. It was a lot of fun to watch, little did I know what I was about to encounter with them the next day. The castle is huge and too much to see in one day. So we took our exhausted bodies back to the Pension (found out it only takes 4 minutes to get there and we did not have to cross a sheep field to get there).

The next morning we head back to the castle. I decided I wanted to take my picture with the guards standing outside like I see all the tourists doing. I think of doing something funny like blowing a kiss to the guard from the side. BIG mistake because once I did that the guard went "NO" and took his hand on my chest and shoved me to where I fall back a few steps. The crowd just freezes and I'm scared sh**less. I decide I'm not taking a picture with a guard anymore and it ruins my day. I try to cheer up by going to the toy museum and seeing the barbie museum. Nothing like reminiscing about your childhood. It was VERY neat! I saw the first Barbie created. I guess it was created after a prostitute from France named Lillie. It was kinda like finding out that Santa Clause didnt exsist. My mother and I loved that museum and it was a lot of fun. We visited the history of Prague museum and then took a tour of the inside of the church. Beautiful stained class mosaic windows and incredibly high ceilings. How did people create something like this hundreds of years ago?! As we were leaving the Prague castle I notice two girls infront of the guard (who was in his booth to stay out of the rain) and were putting their hands together in his face laughing and goofing around. I stopped to see if this guard would treat those girls how I was treated. NOTHING! My mom goes up to the girls to tell them what had happened to me and they were shocked. They were funny saying I should have pushed him back but I kinda dont want to mess with someone who is holding a gun with a knife at the end of it. The guards really are scary here in Prague. Another example was I was standing outside the gift store waiting for my mother to finish gift shopping and a guard walks right next to me and stops. I couldnt understand why he stood so close to me when there was tons of open space around the area. He looks up at the sky then he just turns and stares at me. I just give him the most awkward smile I'm sure and he just turns and walks away. Do I look like a spy or have an evil plot up my sleeve? Just creepy but my mom told me he was checking me out. I dont know but I have learned to stay clear of the authority here in Prague.

Last night we went to my FAVORITE restaurant thus far here in Prague. It is called Cafe de Paris and is a few blocks away from our Pension. My mom ordered their signature steak with a cream sauce and french fries. I had the beef lasagna and ratatoui (always curious what it tastes like after the movie). My mothers dish was out of this world! The sauce is a secret sauce that has every herb you can think of. The servers and Czech people are so friendly and love to have conversations with my mother and I. For dessert we shared a sample plate of creme brulee, chocolate mousse, and lime sorbet with a cafe latte. MMmm MMMmmm Mmmmmm. After dinner, my mother and I head to Namesti Miru where my apartment is to meet with Mylene to pick up my keys! Wow, my first apartment and not to mention an AMAZING apartment. I can't wait to show you pictures of the place, it will tempt you even more to come visit ;)

Today, my mother and I are going to move my suitcases to the flat and shop at Tesko. We are leaving Thursday to head to Cesky Krumlov just for the day. Then on Friday we are taking the train to Vienna to get my residency visa on Monday and then travel down to Salzburg! Things are really great here and get ready to read about more adventures to come. Djweski! (goodbye!)

Astronomical Clock

This historic landmark was created 500 years ago!

Pictures August 6, 2010

Cafe Imperial and Milos from the Pension.

Dinner at Cafe Imperial

Cafe Imperial restaurant was established in 1914 with Mediterranean and Egyptian style architect located in Staremesto, Prague 1. The restaurant is covered in colorful tiles with craftsmanship that is breathtaking. The food is delicious to go along with the scenery. My mother was the adventurous one and had the Chef's specialty, "Beef Cheeks" with mashed potatoes and a Czech white wine. I had Chicken and vegetables with Czech red wine. For dessert, I had the Chocolate Bomb Surprise and my mother had the cheesecake. Everything was out of this world and we are eager to arrange another trip back to Cafe Imperial.

How you pronounce the town my school is at! YOU TRY!

The town in which Magic Hill is in is called Ricany. However there are symbols on top of the letters that give it a distinct sound that is not in the English dialect. It is one of the hardest things to pronounce and I don't think I will ever get it right. Helping me learn how to say it is Pension owners Milos and his daughter Blanca. Now, you give it a try. . . RICANY!

St. Nicholas Church Concert

Pictures!

Pictures!

Czechin it out and I'm Czech in!

Everyone was correct about Prague, it is absolutely INCREDIBLE! On August 1st my Mother and I headed off to the San Diego Airport at the glorious time of 5AM. It was a great flight to New York and London. However, whoever created London's Airport was on Crack because it seems like the largest most confusing airport in the World. We barely made our flight down to the Czech Republic.

Once we landed, we had our driver take us to our Pension in Prague 6. Prague 6 is where the locals live and our Pension is very humble and quiet. Once we got up to our room, we didn't waste any time and headed to Downtown (Prague 1) to get a SIM card for my phone. We had to figure out the Metro system here in Prague and found out it is not bad at all! It's a lot different then the trolley station in San Diego, where are the crazies? After we set up my phone at Voto phone, we headed back to the Pension for dinner.

The man who owns the Pension is named Milos (pronounced Milo). He is very friendly and a happy man at age 76. He made us Pork and Potatoes with beer and wine surprise surprise a very Czech meal. It was a little too hearty for me with the jet lag, so I didnt eat much. Czech food is known to be heavy so I stay cautious. After dinner, we begin our journey to Prague 2 to meet with a girl I found on expats who was looking for a roommate for her flat. Here is the process of transportation my mother and I have taken to get to Prague downtown. We take an outside tram to the metro. We go underground and there are three lines (A,B,C and they are color coded Green, Yellow, Red). Each tram/metro/train arrives between 5-15 minutes so it is GREAT! Here is where things got ROUGH! So my mother and I get to the station Malostranska and I see the metro just arrived and people started to hurry down the escalator to catch it. I was infront of my mother and tell her to hurry so we can catch it. Well, I jump in and right behind me the doors CLOSED right before my Mother. I turn around and she gives me a smirk as I wave goodbye! CRAP what do I do now? I forgot to get my mother's new cell phone number. And to make matters worse, I held on to both of our metro tickets so she can't go on the metro without worrying about getting a HUGE fine! The ticket booth was also closed! I tried to strategize and I get off at the next stop. No mother to be found. Then I figure maybe she went to buy a ticket ( I didnt know they were closed) and I would meet her in Namesti Miru station (where the apartment was). I waited 30 minutes when all of a sudden I REALLY had to use the bathroom. I saw a security officer and he spoke English and told me it was up the LONGEST escalator ride I have ever seen. I didn't want to miss my mom getting off the metro, so I told him if he saw a woman with blonde short hair looking frantic that was my mother and to tell her I would come back. I run up the escalator and couldnt find the bathroom so I run back down hoping to catch my mom during each cycle. No mom, so I ran up the escalators again and finally found a bathroom. Well great, I see they charge 5 crowns to use the bathroom and all I had was 1000crowns note and some US Dollars. I take out a dollar bill (I was that desperate) and she didn't speak a word of English. I plead...telling her 1 dollar is 18 crowns and how badly I had to go. She was funny because I must have looked like an idiot and she was entertained. Mission accomplished there but still no mother. I run back down the escalator that goes on forever sweating bullets and out of breathe ( I should work out more) and I start to panic. What do I do? What is she doing? A lightbulb clicks and I call the girl whose apartment we would be looking at. She told me my mom called and she would give my number to my Mother. Houston we have connection! My mom called me and I journey back to Malostranska station and we are reunited again. We head to Namesti Miru stop and we walked by the security officer and I raised my mom's arm and I said to him, "I found her!" and he replied, "Congratulations" in a monotone voice...but with an amused smile. Of course this has to happen 6 hours in to just being in Prague.

After that fiasco, we were off to Vinohrady, the area in which I will be living. The apartment we looked at was TOO good to be true but it was all true. The apartment was PERFECT and I really liked the roommate. Her name is Mylene and she is from Canada. You know Canadians are super chill and I get great vibes from her. I just had to figure out my resident visa and I was sold. Mylene works for EXXon gas company. I get a key on Saturday and can start to move in. I can't even explain how nice and LUCKY I was to find this apartment as quick as I did. Don't worry, pictures are on the way and you will be VERY impressed.

The next day we met with my Principal at Magic Hill Elementary in Ricany. Now I know some of you have heard me pronounce it just like it is spelled...RrrrriiiiKany. Well I was WAY off...it is one of the HARDEST things to say in Czech...it kinda sounds like, Gdshiskany. ya I know it's tough. But my mother is hilarious trying to pronounce it so it entertains me. The train ride out was very interesting. I got to see the communist buildings and one thing in Prague is there is a lot of graffiti. It will be interesting to learn why and learn about Czech culture. My mother and I arrive in Ricany and the place is so quaint! It is a very nice suburb and very small. We walk 5 minutes to the school and meet with Martina my Principal. She gives us a tour of the school and it is in a two story building. The class sizes are very small and the building is very nice. The US can learn a thing or two from Prague schools. I was very happy since the school was nice and Martina was very nice and helpful. She's helping me take care of my Visa's. We turned in my work visa and now all we have to do is get a residential visa. On August 16th my mother and I will travel down to the Czech Embassy in Vienna to get one...don't ask why.

Today, after turning in my work visa, we went to a charming cafe and went to a organ and trumpet concert in the St. Nicholas Church. Prague is truly magical and I am already off to great start. Like I said, I was czechin prague out and I am czechin in! I can't wait to share more adventures with you soon!