I woke up very excited Friday morning, looking forward to visiting Prague that afternoon and seeing Sam after two weeks. I spent most of the morning checking my watch, willing time to somehow go faster so I could finally be at the airport. Lessons went well, with no embarrassing mistakes (for the first time ever!), although when we started talking about superstition I did get a little freaked out.. I hadn't realised Sam would be catching two flights on Friday the 13th! Feeling mildly concerned about him landing safely, but mostly still excited, I whiled away the next couple of hours of lessons...
At 1 o'clock I went and found Nic and Tadeja, who were also planning on going to Prague for a spot of shopping. We headed to the fave cafe on the naměstí (square), the aptly named Square Cafe, and ordered the most delicious pasta dish ever - lots of pesto, bacon, chicken pieces, spinach and about half a block of cheese! After lunch we popped back to the kolej to grab our things and left for the station, luckily only getting lost once.
After buying our tickets and confusedly going up and down the underpass three times, we finally found our train. Yay the Prague adventure was beginning!
We arrived at Hlav Naž only 10 minutes late (impressive for Czech trains!) just enough time for me to run round the station a few times, following the traditionally awful Czech signs, and find the Airport Express bus.
30 minutes squashed between a family and a business man later and I was at the airport - woo!
Waiting at arrivals I played the highly amusing game of "Guess the man on the sign". The game consisted of watching the men holding signs - taxi companies etc. - as a new bunch of businessmen came through the gate. The Sign Men then surged forward clearly crying "PICK ME, PICK ME!" in their heads. Those who managed to scoop up a businessman or two then looked smugly at the other and left. Such fun.
Ten minutes of Sign-Man-Game later and the boy walks through the door. This time it was my turn to look smugly at the other waitees - haha I won! We hopped back on the Airport Express bus to Hlav Naž and I pointed out some sights on the way (Charles bridge, TV Tower, the Eiffel Tower look-alike on the hill, etc.) On arriving at the station, the first thing we did was buy a map of Prague, then we left the station only to be confused almost immediately. On one side of Hlav Naž is a nice park - the way we should have gone - on the other side is a huge mismatch of motorways and dual carriageways - the way we decided to go..
After going in and out the station a few times from a variety of directions, we eventually decided on our route and wandered up and down the cobbled streets of Žižkov, in Prague 3. Unfortunately due to a large amount of dithering plus a noticeably long route, it took us an hour to reach the hotel...
We checked in - the woman thought I was Czech until I gave her my passport, YAY! - and decided to go into the centre of Prague, roughly a 23 minute walk, to grab some dinner.
Eventually, after a lot of indecision and wandering round the Old Town, we decided on a nice looking pizza place just off of Vaclav Naměstí. Some food and a walk later and we decided to head back to the hotel for some pivo and sleep, ready for the day of exploration that would follow!
Thursday 19 July 2012
Days 10-13 - Lessons, lectures, and learning the Polka
Lessons continued on as usual, with the odd lecture in the afternoon as a little nap-break during the day. Unfortunately as these lectures took place in the second week, they decided that by now we should be able to understand speedy and complicated Czech, thus preventing them from saying any of it in English. For us this meant that once every couple of days or so we'd head into a nice cosy room, sit down on a comfy chair, and fall asleep to the sound of a teacher speaking very fast Czech about some very interesting things that we had no hope of understanding...
The highlight in amongst this sleeping was the Polka lesson, which is supposedly one of the most common and popular dances in the Czech Republic (along with the rest of Eastern Europe). Our lesson on Wednesday was very amusing, as our teacher decided to introduce the balloon into the dancing. For reasons I still don't fully understand. This essentially meant blowing up a balloon and having it in between your face, and the face of your partner, and the aim was to prevent it from falling. Essentially impossible for us beginners but led to a funny hour of chasing balloons and generally dancing like the (clearly) elegant people we are!
 |
| Nic and Michael balloon dancing |
What is Smaž?
 |
| Smažený Eidam |
It's full name, Smažený sýr translates into English as fried cheese, something that you wouldn't think was possible, and if it was, surely the Americans would have invented it first!
Smaž can come in many forms: Hermelin (Camembert), Eidam (Edam) and Mc (guess that one) and is available from most restaurants and I imagine all pubs around the Czech Republic. Some examples can be found below:
 |
| Smažený Hermelin |
The most modern form of Smaž existing in the CR is the McSmažak, essentially a burger bun with a layer of tartar sauce and a fried cheese in the middle. Quite possibly the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten, being modelled in this photo by Mr S Bennett.
 |
| A McSmažak |
Yum.
Wednesday 18 July 2012
What your favourite Czech case says about you
Now Ladies and Gentlemen it is time for a bit of grammar fun: find out how your favourite Czech case can reflect your personality!
Step 1: Pick your favourite Czech case
-Nominative
-Accusative
-Dative
-Genitive
-Locative
-Instrumental
-Vocative
Step 2: Discover what your favourite case says about your personality and love life!
If you're a Nominative
You just love being the centre of attention! You like to gather people around you so you're very rarely alone. You're not a massive fan of change, instead preferring to be left to be the way you want to be. Love: You are very compatible with Accusative people, and find that you will work well as a team to solve problems in your life.
If you're an Accusative
You are a sociable person and like to be in contact with those around you, and are a particularly caring person who is interested in other people. You are fond of going to open spaces and common local amenities! You like taking control of the situation and doing the tasks at hand, thus working well with Nominative and sometimes even the Vocative. In terms of love you should search for an Instrumental person, in order to go to those places and do the things you like so much, but with a group of friends.
If you're a Dative
You just love sending letters and visiting people! Often you might have trouble following things through, instead merely going up to them and not continuing on inside. Long conversations on the phone are another favourite of yours, as are helping all those around you, whilst offering advice. You are a very sociable person and love speaking to people, although sometimes maybe you should let them reply a little more! Love: You would be compatible with an Instrumental person as you are both such sociable people.
If you're a Genitive
For a Genitive person one of the most important things is to belong - you just don't like being alone and often will be referred to as the friend/boyfriend/wife/cousin of another person, as you always like to have your connections. You, like Dative, love visiting places, but are often more preoccupied about where you have come from than where you are now. You also like being close to and next to people, meaning you have a lot of close friends and enjoy spending time at their houses. In terms of love you might work well with a Nominative, as your caring and belonging nature can counteract their me-me-me personality!
If you're a Locative
As a Locative person you concentrate very much on the present and where you stand right now. You like to be on top of things and keep track of the life around you. As a Locative make sure you watch your tongue and don't talk or write about other people too much, as this might turn them against you! You might also find as a Locative person that many people depend on you, but you must not take this too much to your advantage in your gossiping. As a Locative you should look for an Accusative companion, in an opposites attract manner, as Accusative are looking for places to go while you concentrate on the present.
If you're an Instrumental
You just love spending time with people! Possibly the most sociable of all the cases, you love spending time with friends and family and meeting new people. As an Instrumental you are often also looking forward to the future, and know what you want to become and the profession you are aiming towards, either now or later in life. Among your friends and colleagues you are particularly well known, and are generally satisfied with your situation in love, life and work. Unlike the Locative you might be slightly less sure of where you stand among people, and find you are often between or behind people. For this reason aim to pair up with a Locative and together make the most out of your sociable lifestyles!
If you're a Vocative
Calling people's names could only be this fun to a Vocative! You love to get the attention of others, although perhaps your friends and family find you too confrontational at times! Try not to make the situation all about what you want as people might find you are too self-centred at times. Alternatively find a quiet Genitive to join your life, and use your confidence and their sense of direction to become a powerful pair.
So there you are, you now know how your favourite case can help you go further in life!
Step 1: Pick your favourite Czech case
-Nominative
-Accusative
-Dative
-Genitive
-Locative
-Instrumental
-Vocative
Step 2: Discover what your favourite case says about your personality and love life!
If you're a Nominative
You just love being the centre of attention! You like to gather people around you so you're very rarely alone. You're not a massive fan of change, instead preferring to be left to be the way you want to be. Love: You are very compatible with Accusative people, and find that you will work well as a team to solve problems in your life.
If you're an Accusative
You are a sociable person and like to be in contact with those around you, and are a particularly caring person who is interested in other people. You are fond of going to open spaces and common local amenities! You like taking control of the situation and doing the tasks at hand, thus working well with Nominative and sometimes even the Vocative. In terms of love you should search for an Instrumental person, in order to go to those places and do the things you like so much, but with a group of friends.
If you're a Dative
You just love sending letters and visiting people! Often you might have trouble following things through, instead merely going up to them and not continuing on inside. Long conversations on the phone are another favourite of yours, as are helping all those around you, whilst offering advice. You are a very sociable person and love speaking to people, although sometimes maybe you should let them reply a little more! Love: You would be compatible with an Instrumental person as you are both such sociable people.
If you're a Genitive
For a Genitive person one of the most important things is to belong - you just don't like being alone and often will be referred to as the friend/boyfriend/wife/cousin of another person, as you always like to have your connections. You, like Dative, love visiting places, but are often more preoccupied about where you have come from than where you are now. You also like being close to and next to people, meaning you have a lot of close friends and enjoy spending time at their houses. In terms of love you might work well with a Nominative, as your caring and belonging nature can counteract their me-me-me personality!
If you're a Locative
As a Locative person you concentrate very much on the present and where you stand right now. You like to be on top of things and keep track of the life around you. As a Locative make sure you watch your tongue and don't talk or write about other people too much, as this might turn them against you! You might also find as a Locative person that many people depend on you, but you must not take this too much to your advantage in your gossiping. As a Locative you should look for an Accusative companion, in an opposites attract manner, as Accusative are looking for places to go while you concentrate on the present.
If you're an Instrumental
You just love spending time with people! Possibly the most sociable of all the cases, you love spending time with friends and family and meeting new people. As an Instrumental you are often also looking forward to the future, and know what you want to become and the profession you are aiming towards, either now or later in life. Among your friends and colleagues you are particularly well known, and are generally satisfied with your situation in love, life and work. Unlike the Locative you might be slightly less sure of where you stand among people, and find you are often between or behind people. For this reason aim to pair up with a Locative and together make the most out of your sociable lifestyles!
If you're a Vocative
Calling people's names could only be this fun to a Vocative! You love to get the attention of others, although perhaps your friends and family find you too confrontational at times! Try not to make the situation all about what you want as people might find you are too self-centred at times. Alternatively find a quiet Genitive to join your life, and use your confidence and their sense of direction to become a powerful pair.
So there you are, you now know how your favourite case can help you go further in life!
Day 9 - Boats, Libice and Vlačeks!
Monday we had lessons in the morning which went well, followed by a trip up the river to the village of Libice and Cidlinou.
We boarded the boat Král Jiři at 3:30, which took us on a nice gentle trip up the river, under the rickety boat and towards the village. It dropped us off at a restaurant placed randomly among the forest along the bank of the river, right at the confluence of the rivers Cidlina and Elbe which was a very pretty view.
After being hurried off the boat we walked 2km upriver to the village of Libice and Cidlinou, which is one of the oldest settlements in Bohemia. There are some very exciting foundation stones that show us that the Slavic people first came in around 900AD, and for many years was the centre of Slavic rule in the region. Despite the clear excitement in the interesting stones in the ground, I was pretty keen to get back to the nice restaurant on the river and have a sit down!
Being ignorant I'd misread the information about the day so thought that we were, somehow, travelling back to Poděbrady from the mysterious tiny settlement of restaurants by train - but surely this couldn't be!
Oh no indeed it couldn't. Instead we were picked up by a vlaček, aka a road train! When it came trundling around the corner ringing it's bell I temporarily turned into a 5 year old again and was SO excited!
Our journey home took us back through the forest, and it was all going swimmingly until about half way back - 4km or so in - I asked Michael where his bag was and he realised he'd left it at the restaurant... Cue everyone trying to stop the vlaček so he could get off and run back! Two or so hours later he eventually rocked up at the kolej with his bag safely back in his care. Very funny, and classic Michael.
We boarded the boat Král Jiři at 3:30, which took us on a nice gentle trip up the river, under the rickety boat and towards the village. It dropped us off at a restaurant placed randomly among the forest along the bank of the river, right at the confluence of the rivers Cidlina and Elbe which was a very pretty view.
Being ignorant I'd misread the information about the day so thought that we were, somehow, travelling back to Poděbrady from the mysterious tiny settlement of restaurants by train - but surely this couldn't be!
Oh no indeed it couldn't. Instead we were picked up by a vlaček, aka a road train! When it came trundling around the corner ringing it's bell I temporarily turned into a 5 year old again and was SO excited!
 |
| The vlaček!! |
Day 8 - The Jezero
Woke up on Sunday very excited - it was jezero (lake) time!!
We'd planned to spend the whole day by the lake, as the weather was so nice and we didn't know how long it would last!
Quick trip to Albert (the local supermarket, not some random old man) and bought some snacky food to last us the day. This meant a yoghurt, an apple, and a lot of bacon Tuc biscuits! (which are amazing, in case you were wondering)
When we arrived the lake still wasn't that busy, but it was certainly heating up. We changed quickly and jumped in for a bit of strenuous floating around: unfortunately the lake hadn't had quite the same amount of time to heat up as it had to previous day so there was a lot of screaming as we got in!
Getting out the lake and I was really on the ball with the sun-cream as per usual, whacking on the factor 30! I have some pretty fancy sun-cream from Tesco which is supposed to be invisible and grease-free, so as predicted it was too good to be true! It was so invisible that I couldn't see where I'd put it! This meant that when I got back to the kolej in the evening and had a shower, I realised I'd managed to lightly burn a perfect bikini shape into me. FAB! That'll be there until at least December!
Still with lots of pent-up energy (and sunburn) after dinner we decided to go for a walk up the river Labe, which runs through Poděbrady. We timed it beautifully with the sun setting, thus allowing me to get a pretty photo of the castle and dam (from a terrifying bridge!).
We'd planned to spend the whole day by the lake, as the weather was so nice and we didn't know how long it would last!
Quick trip to Albert (the local supermarket, not some random old man) and bought some snacky food to last us the day. This meant a yoghurt, an apple, and a lot of bacon Tuc biscuits! (which are amazing, in case you were wondering)
 |
| Photo of the lake from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11707804 |
Getting out the lake and I was really on the ball with the sun-cream as per usual, whacking on the factor 30! I have some pretty fancy sun-cream from Tesco which is supposed to be invisible and grease-free, so as predicted it was too good to be true! It was so invisible that I couldn't see where I'd put it! This meant that when I got back to the kolej in the evening and had a shower, I realised I'd managed to lightly burn a perfect bikini shape into me. FAB! That'll be there until at least December!
 |
| The super rickety bridge! |
 |
| The view of Poděbrady castle at sunset |
Day 7 - Žleby and the fountain
Saturday morning and we finally had a lie in. Which here means getting up at 8 instead of 7 - aka still shattered!
After a speedy breakfast - still bread, cheese and ham, sometimes with a yoghurt and one time even cereal! - we got on the coach that would take us to a castle with maybe the best name: Žleby (pronounced j from jam + lebby: jlebby. Hours of fun.)
The castle of Žleby is in a very small village about an hour's drive from Poděbrady and doesn't contain much aside from it's pretty castle on the hill. In, my mind the castle is very fairytale-esc, with lots of towers and archways and beautiful views.
One tower in particular has to be the place where Repunzel was set, it's just too good to be true! You can imagine her prince at the bottom shouting to her, and her hair tumbling out of the tiny window...
The castle has been rebuilt and rebuilt many times over the years, so features many architectural styles, as each generation came and added to it. Originally it was built as a Gothic fortress before1289, then was rebuilt by after the Hussite war in the 15th Century. The final reconstruction was in the mid 1800s when it was developed to be used as a very fancy and glorified hunting lodge.
Around Žleby castle is the white deer park and falconry, which holds lots of massive birds of prey and beautiful white deer - both of which were very posy and happy for you to take their photo!
We got back from Žleby in the late afternoon and had a rest before heading out to dinner. Looking at rooms filled with armour and swords can really take it out of you...
After dinner we all fancied a walk so went towards park in Poděbrady for a twilight stroll.
In the centre of the park we found that the big fountain was all lit up and about to do some sort of fancy firework display, so we sat down with our cameras and watch as more and more lit up water was thrown into the air. Sounds lame but it was very cool!
 |
| Castle Žleby |
The castle of Žleby is in a very small village about an hour's drive from Poděbrady and doesn't contain much aside from it's pretty castle on the hill. In, my mind the castle is very fairytale-esc, with lots of towers and archways and beautiful views.
 |
| One of the many archways |
The castle has been rebuilt and rebuilt many times over the years, so features many architectural styles, as each generation came and added to it. Originally it was built as a Gothic fortress before1289, then was rebuilt by after the Hussite war in the 15th Century. The final reconstruction was in the mid 1800s when it was developed to be used as a very fancy and glorified hunting lodge.
 |
| GIANT BIRD |
 |
| Such trendy deer |
We got back from Žleby in the late afternoon and had a rest before heading out to dinner. Looking at rooms filled with armour and swords can really take it out of you...
After dinner we all fancied a walk so went towards park in Poděbrady for a twilight stroll.
In the centre of the park we found that the big fountain was all lit up and about to do some sort of fancy firework display, so we sat down with our cameras and watch as more and more lit up water was thrown into the air. Sounds lame but it was very cool!
 |
| The fountain at Žleby |
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Day 6 - Bowling tournament
Lessons getting mildly more difficult as the week continues, but still good fun, especially as the last 45 minutes is always dedicated to an exciting vocab learning game (which in my case tends to just be embarrassing!). We played a game where we were in two teams and a member from each team went up to the board at the same time and had to make a sentence out of the word she gave us. Pretty easy if you've learnt the vocab from the day before, however being a silly like I am I didn't...
Therefore the game went like this:
My team were doing pretty well, we'd beaten the other team on writing a sentence first a few times. Then it was my go. I went up to the board only slightly panicking, up against Lun (Slovenia) from the other team. Our teacher wrote up postižený on the board and I thought "YES a word I know! It means comfortable!" So on my side of the board I wrote Můj pokoj je postižený (my room is comfortable) and Lun wrote Co známená postižený (what does postižený mean - which got some laughs). I was feeling pretty confident, at least I'd written a viable sentence! Then I noticed everyone was laughing at what I'd written..
It turns out the word postižený means "disabled", in the sense of "unable to move". So essentially on the board I had just written "My room is unable to move". Yay embarrassing!!
After some lunch (probably smaž but at this point I can't remember!) we met Paní Vonkova and some others outside the kolej and walked over to the bowling place. Now this is not the same as your standard 20 lane GoBowling as you'd get in the UK. This was a 2 laner, and pretty trendy on all fronts. A couple of throws in and we decided it would be British boys v British girls - a mistake as Michael turned out to be insanely good. About halfway into the game and I was getting very competitive, and intent on beating them (although it was becoming more and more apparent that we had no chance what so ever...) so I leapt up and chose the nice pink bowling ball and did a pretty snazzy throw. Aside from the fact that the barrier was down as the machine was still sorting out the pins.... Cue me shouting a LOT at the machine to hurry up, which thank GOD it did, and just in the nick of time it lifted up and I got quite a few pins!
Lovely embarrassing day in general really! Gotta love 'em.
Therefore the game went like this:
My team were doing pretty well, we'd beaten the other team on writing a sentence first a few times. Then it was my go. I went up to the board only slightly panicking, up against Lun (Slovenia) from the other team. Our teacher wrote up postižený on the board and I thought "YES a word I know! It means comfortable!" So on my side of the board I wrote Můj pokoj je postižený (my room is comfortable) and Lun wrote Co známená postižený (what does postižený mean - which got some laughs). I was feeling pretty confident, at least I'd written a viable sentence! Then I noticed everyone was laughing at what I'd written..
It turns out the word postižený means "disabled", in the sense of "unable to move". So essentially on the board I had just written "My room is unable to move". Yay embarrassing!!
 |
| After lunch - The Bristol crew |
 |
| Action shot - pre almost-disaster |
 |
| Action shot of Nic |
 |
| Action shot of Nick |
Day 5 - Learning Czech songs and the Polka
Thursday lessons were good, we were learning plurals (YAY) and I felt all nice and Czech inside.
Instead of a lecture in the afternoon we had a class on Czech songs (we sang and everything) and then a Polka and Waltz lesson. Dancing is always fun (if not mad and dizzying) but combined with extreme heat it made it pretty hard to dance and look even remotely attractive at the same time!
A pretty intense hour of dancing around madly later and we headed back to the kolej for a quick rest before a spot of pivo (beer) and dinner.
Instead of a lecture in the afternoon we had a class on Czech songs (we sang and everything) and then a Polka and Waltz lesson. Dancing is always fun (if not mad and dizzying) but combined with extreme heat it made it pretty hard to dance and look even remotely attractive at the same time!
A pretty intense hour of dancing around madly later and we headed back to the kolej for a quick rest before a spot of pivo (beer) and dinner.
Day 4 - B1, Zmrzlina and the lake
Wednesday turned out to be a much nicer day, full of learning things, ice-cream, and swimming in the lake.
The day started off bright and sunny and was made immediately better when Paní Vonkova (the headteacher lady) said we could move up into class B1, so we'd finally start learning things! The morning was filled with intense grammar learning and vocab noting, and went in a flash we were having so much language learning fun!
Lessons were followed by a lecture on the Geography of the Czech Republic, which was very interesting but the lady's voice was so soothing, the chairs so comfy, the room so snugly and warm... So I spent the hour and a half struggling to keep my eyes open.
Finally free from the torture of being forced to stay awake, a group of us decided to go and find the lake for a nice evening swim. Instead of heading to the touristy beach bit where you have to pay, we had the clever idea of walking a longer way to the lake and seeing if there was somewhere to swim round the other side. The answer is no, but it was a nice hour walk, only made better by the fact I'd picked up a lush looking zmrzlina (ice-cream) on the way :D
Arriving on the beach bit I was so excited to get in the water that I changed straight away and went straight in (something I never normally do). Thanks to the hot day we'd had the lake was (slightly) warmed up, and was so nice and refreshing after a day sitting inside!
The only downside (yet so amusing) part of the visit to the jezero was the attack of the slutty fly. This was essentially a GIANT FLY that decided to, in turn, chase me, Nick, Michael and Hannah around for a good half hour or so. Even after it left I felt myself constantly checking around me to see if it's cheeky self had appeared again to harass my hair (apparently it had a thing for redheads, and was also bisexual)!
So all in all a pretty lush day, with learning, ice-cream, and a swim in a warm lake.
The day started off bright and sunny and was made immediately better when Paní Vonkova (the headteacher lady) said we could move up into class B1, so we'd finally start learning things! The morning was filled with intense grammar learning and vocab noting, and went in a flash we were having so much language learning fun!
Lessons were followed by a lecture on the Geography of the Czech Republic, which was very interesting but the lady's voice was so soothing, the chairs so comfy, the room so snugly and warm... So I spent the hour and a half struggling to keep my eyes open.
Finally free from the torture of being forced to stay awake, a group of us decided to go and find the lake for a nice evening swim. Instead of heading to the touristy beach bit where you have to pay, we had the clever idea of walking a longer way to the lake and seeing if there was somewhere to swim round the other side. The answer is no, but it was a nice hour walk, only made better by the fact I'd picked up a lush looking zmrzlina (ice-cream) on the way :D
 |
| My zmrzlina. I know. Be jealous. |
Arriving on the beach bit I was so excited to get in the water that I changed straight away and went straight in (something I never normally do). Thanks to the hot day we'd had the lake was (slightly) warmed up, and was so nice and refreshing after a day sitting inside!
 |
| The jezero |
So all in all a pretty lush day, with learning, ice-cream, and a swim in a warm lake.
Day 3 - Storms and Harmony Dance
Woke up to rainrianrain on Tuesday, and being blamed by half the language school for bringing it with us from England!
We had our first lot of lessons, with all the Bristolians - me, Nick and Hannah - and Michael, being placed in the A2 class. Due to the fact we'd taken a test to place us we assumed we'd be in a class similar to the standard we were. However we spent the whole morning learning how to introduce ourselves and say where we were from.. something I've been able to do since October! This didn't exactly put us in the best of spirits, so we all vowed to ask to change classes as soon as possible the next day.
Next up on the to-do list was get internet. We rocked up to the meeting a little bit late due to our smaž (you'll find out what that is in due course) fest, pretty soaked from the rain outside, only to find that we needed our laptops. Cue running back to the kolej (dorms) and wrapping our laptops up in as many layers as possible before legging it back to the castle again. The man then played around with our laptops for a bit and kindly informed us that the storm had taken out the internet and we probably wouldn't have it until Monday - great!
Returning to the dorms feeling very sorry for ourselves, Hannah, Nic, and I decided to go to Zumba, mostly to work off the extortionate amounts of smaž we'd been eating. However on arrival at the gym (aka the basement) we discovered that Zumba wasn't on, and in place of it was a mysterious sounding class called Harmony Dance. Sounding very ominous but fun we decided to give it a go anyway. Bad mistake. It was possibly the weirdest hour of my life, with some nice tribal music blasting out and swaying and moving our arms around A LOT. Very amusing but shan't be going again! Everyone there seemed like little keenies though, knowing all the weird moves and things! You might find a video on Youtube if you are fascinated, but to get the real experience, find a local class in a kolej near you ;).
We had our first lot of lessons, with all the Bristolians - me, Nick and Hannah - and Michael, being placed in the A2 class. Due to the fact we'd taken a test to place us we assumed we'd be in a class similar to the standard we were. However we spent the whole morning learning how to introduce ourselves and say where we were from.. something I've been able to do since October! This didn't exactly put us in the best of spirits, so we all vowed to ask to change classes as soon as possible the next day.
Next up on the to-do list was get internet. We rocked up to the meeting a little bit late due to our smaž (you'll find out what that is in due course) fest, pretty soaked from the rain outside, only to find that we needed our laptops. Cue running back to the kolej (dorms) and wrapping our laptops up in as many layers as possible before legging it back to the castle again. The man then played around with our laptops for a bit and kindly informed us that the storm had taken out the internet and we probably wouldn't have it until Monday - great!
Returning to the dorms feeling very sorry for ourselves, Hannah, Nic, and I decided to go to Zumba, mostly to work off the extortionate amounts of smaž we'd been eating. However on arrival at the gym (aka the basement) we discovered that Zumba wasn't on, and in place of it was a mysterious sounding class called Harmony Dance. Sounding very ominous but fun we decided to give it a go anyway. Bad mistake. It was possibly the weirdest hour of my life, with some nice tribal music blasting out and swaying and moving our arms around A LOT. Very amusing but shan't be going again! Everyone there seemed like little keenies though, knowing all the weird moves and things! You might find a video on Youtube if you are fascinated, but to get the real experience, find a local class in a kolej near you ;).
Day 2 - Meeting people and Prague
Monday morning, having had no sleep the night before due to the party apparently going on outside my room, and we were up at the crack of 6am - nice.
After a spot of nourishing bread and cheese (luxury breakfast!) half of us went to do the entrance test while the rest of us hit the internet café for a bit of facebooking.
When the others finished their test we went for a spot of lunch at Park Cafe (7/10 yumminess) where we had approximately 10 minutes to order, eat and pay for our meal! After rushing through it Michael (Sheffield Uni) stashing most of his pizza in his bag for later, we headed back to the main square and got on the coach to Prague.
50 minutes later, having travelled via a mildly rickety coach (with a suspicious drip coming from somewhere) we were let free into the boiling afternoon. We then set out on a mini tour of the city on the way to Charles University, via the Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square), a large square home to a Gothic church and beautiful Baroque buildings. On an outside wall of the Old Town Hall is the Pražský Orloj (Astronomical Clock) that does some pretty groovy things on the hour, if you are patient enough to wait for them.
The mini-tour was followed up by the official course opening of Univerzita Karlova v Praze (Charles University, Prague) summer language schools, in the impressive Carolinum hall at the university, which dates back to the 14th Century. The hall has since been renovated but still has some elements of the original building, for example the old doors and some statues and tapestries. If you are in the area and into history it's definitely worth a visit, even if you just see it from the outside!
Following a quick talk welcoming us and basically saying how amazing we were for studying Czech, we were set free in Prague for a couple of hours.
This prompted a visit to a cafe near the Staroměstké náměstí for a spot of tiny traditional Czech cake (weird, wouldn't recommend it!)
After cake we headed for Karlův Most (Charles Bridge), built from 1357 under the reign of King Charles IV. The bridge stretches across the wide Vltava River, which runs through the centre of Prague, and gives any keen tourist a great view of the waterfront buildings, mostly built in the Baroque style. From the bridge you can also see the St. Vitus Cathedral, a spectacular work of Gothic architecture, standing high on a hill above Prague. All in all I'd recommend visiting Karlův Most for a fab view of Prague, just expect there to be a lot of tourists at most times of the day!
After a spot of nourishing bread and cheese (luxury breakfast!) half of us went to do the entrance test while the rest of us hit the internet café for a bit of facebooking.
When the others finished their test we went for a spot of lunch at Park Cafe (7/10 yumminess) where we had approximately 10 minutes to order, eat and pay for our meal! After rushing through it Michael (Sheffield Uni) stashing most of his pizza in his bag for later, we headed back to the main square and got on the coach to Prague.
 |
| Staroměstké náměstí |
 |
| Astronomical Clock |
 |
| Staroměstké náměstí |
 |
| The Carolinum is the building on the left |
Following a quick talk welcoming us and basically saying how amazing we were for studying Czech, we were set free in Prague for a couple of hours.
This prompted a visit to a cafe near the Staroměstké náměstí for a spot of tiny traditional Czech cake (weird, wouldn't recommend it!) After cake we headed for Karlův Most (Charles Bridge), built from 1357 under the reign of King Charles IV. The bridge stretches across the wide Vltava River, which runs through the centre of Prague, and gives any keen tourist a great view of the waterfront buildings, mostly built in the Baroque style. From the bridge you can also see the St. Vitus Cathedral, a spectacular work of Gothic architecture, standing high on a hill above Prague. All in all I'd recommend visiting Karlův Most for a fab view of Prague, just expect there to be a lot of tourists at most times of the day!
 |
| View from Karlův Most with the Cathedral in the background |
Friday 6 July 2012
Poděbrady 2012 - Day 1
 |
| My first glimpse of Poděbrady |
After
getting up at the frankly cruel hour of 3am and travelling for an hour and a
half by car, I arrived at Gatwick, tired and preparing myself for the mayhem of
getting through check-in and security at a big airport. Despite queuing for a
good half hour to check my bags in – thank goodness I’d checked in online so no
need to faf around with that queue as well – and getting more and more paranoid
about missing my flight, I only had to wait 30 seconds at security. This meant I
actually managed to get to the gate before they’d closed it! (Unlike to Berlin
where I had to run a mile to get there and only made it with seconds to spare)
After a fairly uneventful flight from London Gatwick to Prague, I was all set
and raring to go, if a little tired. The fact that I didn’t have ear pain and
wasn’t deaf after the flight was definitely a plus! I then did the classic
trick of following the crowd to baggage collection, which I never would have
found otherwise, winding our way through the entire airport, or so it seemed.
I was almost at the point of thinking they just let you into the country for
funsies when we eventually reached customs, which was absolutely mad. The
Czech’s clearly need to jump on the “EU Only Passports” bandwagon like the rest
of us, because I spent way too long waiting for a huge party of Japanese
tourists get their visas checked. They also need to learn to queue, something that most of Europe should have lessons in. Finally I went through and headed to the
baggage lounge, grabbed my bag, and made my way out of the airport. Let’s just
say that if every sign hadn’t been in German and English as well as Czech I
might still have been there now. Turns out that being able to read political
articles in a language doesn’t mean you can understand airport talk.
 |
| Prague Main Station - hlavní nádraží |
Escaping the
airport I headed for bus stop “D” to wait for the Airport Express which would
take me to Praha Hlavni Nadraží (Prague Central Station). You’d never
think getting on a bus could a) take so long or b) be so entertaining, but here
Prague was to prove me wrong. For a start it seemed like the entire population
of the plane I had just got off of was joining me on the bus, hence the 15
minute wait while everyone got on with huge suitcases, pushchairs, and the
likes. With one lady left in front of me I was all set to go, practising how to
ask for a ticket in my head – Prosla bych
jízdenku do hlanví nádraží The nice seeming lady in front of me turned
out to be a German crazy – aka she spent 5 minutes or so arguing with the bus
driver over whether she could pay for her fare in euros – No – and what it
would cost in euros – 5 – until eventually he convinced her to get off the bus
and go and change some money. Oh those Central Europeans, they need to learn
that not everyone has the Euro! When it finally came to me I was about to start
my well-rehearsed speel when the bus driver went “Main station? Single? 60
Koruna” so all I could do was nod. Disappointed!
The bus trip
from the airport was boring on the most part, until we came to the old town. We
crossed a long bridge (not Charles Bridge, I spent a lot of time checking) and
were suddenly surrounded by beautiful Baroque buildings, all domes and arched
windows. It was beautiful, especially in the sunlight. Unfortunately the old
town didn’t last long at all and soon enough we were back surrounded by the big
block grey buildings that seem to dominate the scenery of the new town.
 |
| Ticket to Poděbrady |
Going into
the station I was this time determined to get my ticket in Czech, I found the
ticket place (again, English signs) and asked for a Jízdenku do Poděbrady, prosím (Ticket to
Podebrady please) but again luck was against me when the lady replied “a
single? 80 Koruna”. How do they know?! Still at least after that I felt it was
acceptable to ask in English what time the train went and which platform it
went from.
I’m now
writing this from the train, an old rickety thing with compartments. For the
first 5 minutes of the journey I thought I was in luck – my own compartment to
myself! Now, however, I am sharing it with 8 school boys aged around 9. Very
relaxing. It’s also about 40 degrees on the train which is lovely! Sudden
torrential downpour occurred about 10 minutes ago and I’m hoping that if there
is any more, it will hold out until I get to the dorms!
Later:
Later:
I arrived at
the dorms at around 1pm after only getting partially lost and being rescued by
a fellow student type person. I unpacked my things but as my roommate hadn’t
turned up I started to get bored, so took my melon and went to explore the
building. Arriving at the stairs in the centre of the building I noticed the
common room/library where a meeting was taking place – one that I was supposed
to be at and was 10 minutes late for, oops! However in my defence the sign on
the door was miniscule so how anyone turned up at all is a miracle. Due to the
fact that I’d been up since 3am I wasn’t exactly on top form with my Czech
listening skills, and mostly spent the meeting staring into space until they
passed around the next thing for me to sign.
 |
| My room in the kolej (dorms) |
They gave us our meal vouchers – 85 koruna, about £2.80 – which can be used in any
restaurant in the Czech Republic, a new programme for the week and a fetching
Charles University green t-shirt (only for use as pjs due to its colour and
size). They then informed us that we would be having the test at 6pm, and sent
us off to our rooms again. Panicking somewhat at my lack of Czech skills
combined with lack of sleep, I went and had a nap and revised for a couple of
hours. Needless to say the test didn’t go brilliantly but luckily I ended up in
a class with other Bristolians.
By evening I
was even more tired, hungry, and still lacking a roommate so feeling a bit sorry for myself. To solve at least part of the problem I went in search of
some food at 9pm, and thankfully stumbled across a pizza stand that sold slices
the size of my head for 25 koruna. After a slice of mozzarella a salam I was feeling much better and very ready
for bed. Just as I was getting to sleep at 10pm my roommate turned up – a
Slovenian girl who thankfully speaks amazing English who I get on well with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)