Sorry for the time between posts but we have been so busy the last few days!!

On Wednesday we took a tour of the city and saw St. Vitus Catherdral and the surrounding area, the Charles Bridge and the Clock in Old Town Square. The first place we went seen to the left is the presidential square where the President's office is. The picture next to it is a building used for offices and governmental meetings today. The last photo here is a view from the top of the hill where the Presidential offices and building are. The panoramic photo doesn't do the view justice at all. The city is so beautiful and full of history. I am so happy and I love this city!!!




St. Vitus Cathedral has some of the most beautiful Gothic architecture I have ever seen. There is also some interesting history behind it. Saint John, not the apostle, is buried in the foundation of the church. Also one of the windows in the cathedral is not stained glass, it was hand painted by and the famous Czech painter Alfons Mucha and depicts the story of creation very intricately. The tomb of John of Nepomuk, the national Saint of the Czech Republic is also inside the cathedral and is made of 250 tons of silver. We could not get close to this but it is an insane amount of silver.

We then walked to Old Town Square were we saw the Astronomical Clock of Prague (The Orloj). The Orloj is on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall in the square and is a very popular tourist attraction. There are three components: the astronomical dial, represents the position of the sun and moon and displays various astronomical details. "The Walk of the Apostles" is an hourly circulation of figures of the Apostles at the top of every hour along with the ringing of the bell by a skeleton. There is also calendar dial with medallions representing the months of the year. The mechanical clock and astronomical dial dates back to 1410. There are four figures above the clock which are set in motion at the hour The four things represented left to right is Vanity, represented by a figure admiring himself in a mirror. Next, a Jew holding a bag of gold represents greed or usury. Across the clock stands Death, a skeleton that strikes the time upon the hour. Finally, the infidel Turk wears the Turban. This is a very historical and famous clock that attracts many people to the square every hour to see the clock at the top of the hour. The clock holds many years of history and its amazing how it keeps track of the time, day, month, year, and the sun and moons positions.

I signed up for classes on Thursday morning. I am taking four classes. The first is Building Structures in Civil engineering (Lecture: Wed 9-12, Lab: Thurs 6-8) where we learn about vertical loads, joints, materials to use, and design concepts. Second is Waste Water Treatment in mechanical (Lecture: Wed 1:15-4:45) which we learn about waste water treatment obviously and renewable sources of energy which will be good for my energy studies minor. The third is Energetic and Ecological systems part of the civil department and will also help the minor. This class meets Monday 8-10 or 10-12 depending on what section i am in and lab is 12-2. We will be learning about water supply, drainage, gas supply and heating systems. The last class is the Czech Culture class which will count towards out culture requirement for Union. Not sure when that class meets yet. Signing up took most of the day becasue I had to get each class approved individually so I had to go back and forth from mechanical to civil buildings. Thursday night Liz and I walked back to New Town to get dinner and walk around a bit. We then walked to Old Town square to see a concert. There was a Serbian band playing in the square. It was a very different type of music but there were people of all ages and nations standing in the same square have a great time dancing and laughing. As you can see the location is one of a kind. It was definitely something I will remember.

Yesterday, Friday, about 40 of us went to Czech Paradise. In order to get to paradise we took a very small two hour train ride into the northern countryside of the Czech Republic. We hiked through the wilderness and saw some amazing views very different than Prague. We played a lot of silly camp name games but they did help us meet more people and learn names. We hiked from about 11 to 4 and stopped at a few castles through out the hike. The first was Valdštejn and the view from that castle is the picture with the girl in the purple shirt. This is one of the oldest castles in the Czech Republic. The last photo is our groups creative photo. Each group of people that went on a trip had to think of a creative photo and the most creative photo gets an prize at the beginning of next week. Angela and I thought of spelling out Czech Paradise with people becasue we thought of the "Z" which is not shown well in the picture, it was much better in practice. We had a long train ride home and were exhausted from our 8km hike. Not only was this trip full of beautiful scenery but I also met a ton of people, created new friendships and strengthened existing bonds. Another beautiful and successful day in the Czech Republic.

Our veggie stir fry came out great! I am so happy we have a systems of guys and girls who all help cook and clean! Yesterday at orientation we just went to an informative meeting and learned the times of our registration for our faculty (major) and some tours and trips and the rest of the surrounding area. In the mechanical engineering building there are these really cool elevators. They have no doors and one side goes up and one side goes down. You have to jump in and out of the elevator in order to switch floors. The left side you jump in to go down and the right side goes up! Its really cool, once I get a camera I will take a video or a few pictures and post them. After orientation Liz, Kristin, Allie (a girl we met from Kansas), Nick and I went to pay for our internet at the bank. Kristin and I also got our cell phones which are nothing extravagant but they will get the job done. We walked around the town of Mustek for a little bit where I must go back to. The architecture is absolutely beautiful!! The buildings are so full of detail and color! We then went to the next town on the metro, Andel, and found the best store to buy everything needed here, its basically a super Wal-Mart but better and cheaper. I could have spent hours in there, but we needed to get back for our international student club (ISC) first party and bonding event in Prague 2 at the P.M. Bar. There was a live band playing and it was so much fun. At one point they were playing 50's swing stuff and me and my ISC buddy we dancing the night away. It was so fun! We all had a really fun time and were back in our rooms in bed by midnight becasue we were so tired from all the walking and dancing. Now off to have some breakfast of fruit and probably more touring today!

I am finally all registered and have all my swipe cards and what not. The international student club people have been very helpful showing us the city and telling us where to go! Two nights ago Nick, Angela and I went to find Ikea in Zlicin and were successful, we aslo found a huge mall with H&M, sweet! At Ikea we bought plates and silverware and some stuff for the room. When we got we went to the basement bar for an international student party and it was German night. We had a lot of German food and candies and gummy bears, I didn't know gummy bears were German. The next day, Saturday, Angela, Nick and I went to the grocery store and got some food to make dinner. We got chicken, apples, nectarines, bread, a peach, pasta, sauce, eggs, yogurt, and a bottle of wine for only about $35!! When everyone came back to the room last night we all made dinner together, we were like a little happy family! I cooked up some chicken and some pasta with sauce and it was a delicious meal. Mind you I have not had a full meal in about 5 days with all the traveling and trying to figure things out. After dinner, a very late dinner, we went to the popular 5 story club which was very fun. There is a different type of music on each floor, its pretty cool but very hot on the bottom floors. We got in very late last night, 6am but had a great time with the whole group. We woke up today, Sunday morning and Marc made us all scrambled eggs and we had some bread with butter and jam. Orientation starts tomorrow so there will be more to do and we will learn the city better. There are a bunch of trips that the club has planned for us. Tonight on the docket for dinner is vegetable stir fry with spaghetti. Off to the market to get some more things we need!