Off to Interlaken!

Happy Weekend!  It's Wednesday afternoon and I'm done with class for the week.  It's been a BEAUTIFUL week here.  The sun has been out and the temperature has been in the mid to high 50s and even the low 60s.  

Sunday I remembered I go to school here and had to sit down for a few hours and do some work.  My roommates and I ventured to The Globe, a coffee house a few blocks away from us.  The atmosphere was great and I got a lot done. 

I had a pretty low key week.  I wasn't feeling great and spent some time hanging around doing work and resting.  Luckily I'm feeling much better now.  I had class this morning and then packed.  I leave to go to Interlaken tonight and I can't wait!  I'm going with 3 of my roommates and 2 of the other girls we're hanging out with.  Some of the guys from our trip are coming as well so it should be a blast.  We're going to try to ski tomorrow (though I'm not sure how that will work as the weather is nice there too).  The town is supposedly really cute so we'll check that out, have some fondue, go for a hike, night sled, etc.  It should be a great time.

Just wanted to give you all a quick update before I head out for the weekend.  I won't have my computer in Switzerland so it'll be pretty hard to communicate.  I'll be back in Prague Sunday afternoon and I'll send more news then.  Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Lisa

P.S. HAPPY 21st JENNA! 

Update

Hey guys.  Sorry I haven't been great at this blogging thing...  I'm working on it...

There's lots to tell you but I don't have a lot of time now so this is going to be quick.

I've settled into my new home and love it!  I can spend days roaming the streets and feel as though I get lost in the beauty that surrounds me.  I know my way around which is a great feeling. 

Saturday afternoon Molly, Lizzy and I ended up at a bakery.  We had walked past it many times before and never ventured in.  After a long walk along the river we decided to go.  We bought some bread and decided to make Bruschetta.  Lizzy had also bought the ingredients to make baked brie so we spent the later part of the afternoon making appetizers.  They were delicious!

Yesterday it was 65 degrees outside.  A couple of my roommates and I went to have lunch at an outdoor cafe in Old Town Square.  We walked all side streets to get there and sat outside soaking up the rays and enjoying our lunch.  There was lots to see and great people watching.  One of our favorites was a lady with hair down to her ankles.  It was very thick and looked like she had crimped it that morning to go out.  It was actually nuts.  After what was an amazing lunch we went and sat in the middle of the square.  There was a movie filming in the square but the square was still open to the public.  We sat and watched the movie filming for a bit before venturing off for some gelato.  Last night we all cooked dinner together and curled up to watch a movie.

This morning I'm at an internet cafe by my flat.  The internet in my flat always cuts in and out so its frustrating to try and get stuff done there.  This is my first time here, at the Globe, though people from years past had told me to come.  I actually really like it.  It's a quiet and relaxed atmosphere.  I had a cup of coffee, did some reading, and am responding to emails as well as blogging.  It's been a good morning.  I have class at 2:45 and go until 9:30.  

I leave for Interlaken Wednesday night.  I can't wait!  I've heard from many people that it's one of the best trips they've ever taken.  I plan to ski, night sled, hike, etc.  I'll be in Prague the following weekend for my birthday.  The next weekend my roommates and I are taking day trips.  We haven't quite decided where we're going yet, though we're going to stay around the Czech Republic and try to hit up two or three places.  After that I head to London for 3 days and then meet my parents in Italy!

Lots to look forward to...

Hope all is well at home.  Keep me posted on your lives too!

xoxo

Lisa

Let's try again...

Supposedly half of you can't see my pictures.  Let's try again...

http://gallery.mac.com/ldsheridan

Let me know if it doesn't work so that I can fix it

Northern Bohemia

This weekend my program took a trip to Northern Bohemia, in the northern Czech Republic. On Friday we went to a wine tasting and a castle. We tasted 6 different wines, all made in Northern Bohemia. Most of them were really good. I enjoyed the white wine more than the red wine. I found the red wines (there were 2 of them that we tried) to be bitter.

After the wine tasting we went to a castle nearby. The castle was very interesting to see though not as lavish as I was expecting. The detailing on the walls, trim, and ceilings is incredible.

Friday night we stayed in a hotel. I roomed with Molly. A bunch of us had a few drinks at the bar in the hotel before going to Disco Oko, the local disco. Most of our program went to the disco and I met a lot of new people from our program. It was great. The disco was VERY European. There was lots of techno and we danced all night.

Saturday we went to a glass blowing factory. We learned about and saw the process of how glass is made. The factory was very interesting, not the nicest working conditions, but the process is intricate and the glass was beautiful. The factory makes all custom pieces. After this we took a bus ride for another hour to a mountainous area. We hiked up the mountain to the top where we saw a famous broadcasting building. The building is positioned at the top of the mountain in a circular format. It is no longer used as a broadcasting building and has since been turned into a hotel/ monument/ restaurant. The hike up was beautiful. We were able to see out over the city. It was also interesting that certain sides of the mountain had snow and some skiing while other sides were pure greenery. We all sat down to relax and have some coffee in the broadcast building before heading back down.

After the hike we had some time to spend in town. A bunch of us went to eat. We split the bill and were too lazy to split the change. Lucky for us there was a casino next to the restaurant. We decided to put all the of change on red on the roulette table. It was a spontaneous move but we went with it. We won the first roll and became loud boisterous Americans. We decided to flip a coin to decide which color for the second roll. We won 2 rolls, lost, 1, and won the last roll. We cashed out our 2000 crown (about $100) and went to the bar to celebrate! It was a ton of fun and truly an amazing day.

On Sunday we went to another Castle. This castle was one of the most unbelievable places I've ever seen. From the outside you would never know it was a castle. On the inside it had the most exquisite decorations and detailing. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so I have very few (my friend Mike would sneak a couple pictures when he thought no one was looking so I've stolen his pictures).

Sunday afternoon we came back to Prague and all crashed around our flat, did some homework, and got ready for the week.

That's about it for now. Talk soon!

Lisa

More pics!

Some people said they couldn't access my pictures... if you are having trouble try to type in:

http://web.mac.com/LDSheridan/Site

This should take you to the main page (probably the first album I uploaded).  After that you can go from album to album by clicking on the links on the top of the page.  There are 3 albums up now!

Enjoy!

I forgot part of the html to see my pictures.  Try this:

http://web.mac.com/ldsheridan/site/praha%21.html

Hopefully this will work...

I started school on Monday.  The culture here is very different than at home.  People walk into class late all the time and chat to their neighbors during class.  There is a very low level of respect for professors.  It's actually kind of annoying.  Luckily only one of my classes is like that.  In the rest of them the teachers command attention which is great.  The classes seem interesting so far.  They are each 3 hours...sooooo long.  Each class only meets once a week though so I can't really complain.  I have class Monday night from 6:30- 9:30, twice on Tuesday, and twice on Wednesday.  I'm done on Wednesday at 5:30.  I figure this gives me leeway to leave early or come back late from a weekend trip if I end up wanting to.

My roommates are absolutely fabulous.  We're having a great time together and got really lucky with our housing situation.  We've spent a bunch of time exploring the city and going out.  The clubs here are very fun and many of them have dancing which I love!

Anyway we're about to go out but I wanted to say a quick hello.  I also uploaded some of my pictures.  Here's the link:  http://web.mac.com/ldsheridan/site

I'll put up a new link when I upload a new album.  Look for it in the next day or so.  Not all of the captions are complete, but I'll get around to it sooner or later.

Na shledanu (bye!)

And it begins...PRAHA!

Hey everyone.  Welcome to my blog.  Don't forget to check in for updates and to read about all of our exciting adventures.  I'll try to update this as often as possible...

Luckily I got out of Chicago before the storm hit yet the adventure started right away.  Our plane was hit by lightening landing in Chicago and was delayed while the airport people double and triple checked to make sure everything was ok.  We made up some time in the air but landed in Frankfurt about 5 minutes after my connecting flight left.  Luckily I met one of my roommates Molly and her twin brother Mike at Ohare.  We traveled the rest of the trip together which was very nice.  After a couple hours in the Frankfurt airport, and another delayed flight due to fog, we left for Prague.  We finally arrived, a bit late, but we made it!  One of the leaders of my program met us at the airport to take us to our flats.  

My flat is absolutely amazing!  I live in Praha 2 by Karlovo Namesti.  My program calls my apartment the dancing apartments because we're right next to a building that looks like its dancing.  (I don't really think it does but that's what people here say.)  There are 6 girls in my apartment: Jess (my roommate), Molly, Kyle, Jordan, and Sara.  Kyle is here for the year and she's been great in showing us around which has been a huge help.  We're also getting lost on our own which is always great.  

We had orientation on day 2 which was nice.  Everyone from our program was together and it was a great way to meet people.  I also lucked out because there are 3 CEA apartments in my building.  One building has 2 apartments and all of the other apartments are singles around town.  We've become good friends with everyone in the building and spend a lot of time together which is great.  There are always people around and everyone wants to go out and explore.

We've done lots of walking in and out of Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square as well as along the side streets.  The buildings are magnificent.  It seems that everywhere we go we find another beautiful building or landmark place.  The other day we had coffee at an outdoor cafe by the clock tower in Old Town Square.  The food here is also amazing.  We've been to lots of little cafes and restaurants and the food has been great.  I haven't tried any traditional Czech food yet, but I'm sure I will soon.  The beer is also great!  I've tried many new kinds and they don't compare to beer in the states.  Luckily for us, beer is cheaper than water! 

We went to the museum of torture on Friday.  It's hard to believe that people used to use those torture techniques.  They seem very barbaric and unjust- though I know people didn't think that was the case at that point in time.  Today we went to the Prague Castle, the largest land mass in all of Europe. The walk up the hill was breathtaking.  The cobblestone streets twist and turn and you lookout at the city and the river.  The view from the top is also amazing.  You can see the whole city, the river, multiple bridges, and the amazing architecture of all the buildings.  We weren't able to go into the castle today but loved being able to walk around in 50 degree weather with the sun shining.  (Sorry to all of you battling snow storms!)

The city is very easy to navigate.  We take the tram and the metro everywhere and luckily both are right near my flat.  

The nightlife is also great!  People go out late and the clubs don't really close.  We went to Mecca- a dance club- one night and danced to crazy techno until 5 in the morning.  It was a great night.  We made friends with people from Russia and Portugal; they were a riot.  We've also hit up a couple pubs and more low key bar type places.  I've loved them all.

I think that's about it for now.  I start class on Monday and will probably settle into more of a routine then.  I'm hoping to write a short post everyday or every other day once things get going.  Sorry for the long post right now- just wanted to catch you all up.

Hope all is well at home! Don't forget to send me updates on what you guys are doing.  You can also reach me on skype: my name is sheridanlisa

Talk Soon!

Lisa