Blogs from Prague, Czech Republic, Europe - page 2

"Wow! It looks like a magazine!" Ava's eyes were wide as we walked into St. Vitus Church. I have to agree, it was grandiose. The ceilings were high covered in ornate decorations. The front of the church had an amazing altar. There were ornate and brightly-colored stained glass windows covering half of the wall space. Mom and I spoke about royal weddings throughout history taking place in this church, and what amazing affairs they must have been. After all, St. Vitus is inside Prague Castle. We walked all around the castle, taking in the grandeur. Unfortunately, it was very cold outside. It was windy and had snowed on and off throughout the afternoon. When we first arrived to the castle, I was feeling famished. We decided to go into the first English-speaking restaurant that I found. ... read more

Okay so I finished off Part 1 with Jaclyn and I being absolutely exhausted from spending the entire hours between 8am-6pm on foot through the streets of Rome. We crashed and burned in our beds that night and were in no mood to hit the town like I failed attempt the night before (I hadn't mentioned it as there was, well, nothing to mention). The morning of the 29th of January we got up slowly but surely, had our breakfasts of cake and orange juice and made our way to the bus station to catch a bus to the airport for a flight to Vienna, Austria that afternoon. This was the point where we said to ourselves...why did we have to do 6 cities in 10 days? We were sore, tired and I was getting very ... read more

Today we had a tour around the old Jewish area of Prague. We saw 5 beautiful synagogues and a large Jewish cemetery. One of the synagogues really got to me. As you entered, every wall was covered in names of all of the Jewish people, about 80,000, from Prague that were killed. As I kept entering rooms I expected the names to finally run out but it never did. There were in all but one room. This other room is the room that upset me the most. The room was full of pictures that the young Jewish children drew while they were in the ghetto. They were picture that ranged from what they missed from home, what life was like back then and in the ghetto, and what they thought life would be like once they ... read more

Prague is a city that can treat you well with beautiful sights, delicious food, good beer and amazing music. We have visited all the main places such as Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, Astronomical Clock etc. Our hotel was relatively close to the city center so we could walk through the streets and get a broader view about Prague. Since we visited it during the Christmas time there was a very beautiful market where you can buy some souvenirs, food and warm up with Glühwein. I especially liked the one where you can add slices of oranges, it gives the Glühwein a better taste and aroma :). The weather was too cold for walking long time, therefore we took small breaks for tasting the Czech cuisine. It is very tasty, home-made style, and relatively cheap in comparison ... read more

Prague used to have the third-highest Jewish population in Europe, concentrated in the district called Josefov since the city was founded. Famous Jewish people from the Czech Republic include Franz Kafka and Sigmund Freud. The Zidovské Museum v Praze (Prague Jewish Museum) was established in the beginning of the 20th century. During WWII, the Nazis decided to preserve it to make a "museum of an extinct race". It's a sickening thought, but it does mean that the Jewish Museum was left almost completely intact, so it could re-open after the war even though the vast majority of Prague's Jewish citizens had been wiped out. Zidovské Museum v Praze has six sites that you can access under one ticket: four synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Ceremonial Hall, all within a few blocks of each other ... read more

Quick life update Apologies for the lack of entries since the summer. It was an executive decision on my part to attempt to power through this semester without traveling/exploring/blogging in order to a) save money and b) continue to survive the course. Quick course update As per the English schedule, lectures and clinic for Semester 1 are finished, but we have 2 exams, 3 essays and 1 case study due in January. Next semester is structured differently: the first 6 weeks we have very few lectures (only one module meets on a weekly basis) but we are each doing intensive therapy for one person for those 6 weeks as part of an off-campus placement. I've been assigned to a local SLT service for adults, and although they haven't decided who will be assigned to me, they ... read more