My dad came into to Prague to visit this week. We stayed in Prague fro two days. Went south to Ceske Budejovice for a daytrip and then headed to Budapest. We did a lot of fun stuff in Prague besides the general touristy stuff. After taking my dad around to Prague Castle, Old Town Square, Vysehrad, Wencelas Square and the like, we went to Letna Park, walked through the entire park - hoping to see maybe a foot left of the Stalin statue that used to be up there (but were disappointed to find an unworking giant metronome). Then we walked over to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Both places I had been meaning to visit but never got hte chance. I really enjoyed Letna Park, which is definitely not taken over by tourists and enjoys ... read more

I know learning- bleck! But wait, this is interesting learning. This week for my Reading Prague class (a class where we read about Prague, specific places in time and what not, then go visit them) we went to the Czech suburbs. Now, I know what you American Foreigners are thinking, suburbs, wow that sounds like outlet malls, cul de sacs and perfectly congruent houses lined up for days near large forst perserves, however; in Europe suburbs have a slightly different feel. In the states we tend to think of the inner city as the "rough" part of town and the suburbs as a safe haven, but its completely opposite in most European cities. Take the riots in Paris last year- all the hard working folk and immigrants in the suburbs were rioting cause they didn't ... read more

This weekend Jess, Miles, Josh, and I went to Amsterdam. We took a rideculously long busride from Prague, I think it was about 17 hours there (we hit traffic) and 16 hours on the way back, so we pretty much spent the same amount of time in Amsterdam as we did on the bus, but it was totally worth it. I think Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Its a pretty strong competitor even against Portland (Oregon). The whole city is built on canals and people ride their boats down them like they're just strolling along through a park and the whole city is run by the bike community. It's relaxing to wander through the streets and enjoy the beautiful views of the canals and of course, the weather could ... read more

Chapter four contains the climax and conclusion of the journey. We flew into Athens at 7 in the morning and had flights out at 4 the next morning so instead of getting a hotel or hostel, we decided to save money and hang out in Athens/ the airport and left our backpacks in lockers at Athens International. We took a taxi into the city because as long as you split them four ways, taxis are actually cheaper than everyone buying individual metro tickets. The first thing we decided we needed was coffee and food, and low and behold when we stepped out of our cab, what did we see like a shining beacon of hope - Starbucks. Oh Athens, you know my weakness. It was just about Mocha Frappuccino time, grande please, no whip. I ... read more

...instead we got the best view of the Czech Republic yet. Jess and I went to Karlovy Vary this weekend, a spa town two hours West of Prague. The story of the town is that Charles IV was out hunting in this area when one of his hunting hounds saw a stag and began to chase after it. The dog bounded through a hot spring and got scalded and Charles IV decided that the spring contained healing waters and since then the town has been frequented by Royals, celebrities and general folk searching for "the cure" or "the source" as Jess and I refer to it. The whole town is set up so bizarrely. The majority of buildings run through a valley on either side of the Tepla River (Czech for Warm) which is really ... read more