Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Czech Repbulic- day 1 & day 2

Hey Guys!


This past week, Bjarke, Solvej, Kyla and me went the the Czech Republic! It was such a cool experience and I/we had was SO much fun! So, I will try to recap this past week for you.. day by day.. I also want to say
Bjarke and Solvej- Thank you so much for taking me along!



day 1




The drive to the Czech Republic is about 10 hours. You can see on the map how we got there. We left Ringe at 12:30 am on Saturday morning. I ended up sleeping most of the way.. so I can't tell you what everyone else did.. hah. At one point we made a pit stop to use the toilet. I swear- it was an insane experience for me. First of all, we had to PAY to use the toilet!! Then.. i was looking at the toilet for like 5 minutes trying to figure out how I was supposed to flush it.. (sorry.. no pictures!) but I did discover that it was like a hand motion sensor. Right, ok then the toilet made this weird sound.. and this thing came out of the toilet seat and the seat started to spin! like to clean it! I was just standing there gapping, mouth-open STARING at the toilet. I washed my hands and got out of there. It was actually less amazing the next few times I used this weird toilet..



We arrived in Úštěk, the town where we lived, at about 9:30 am. We checked into our hotel and went to Litoměřice to walk around and look in shops. Then we went to this underground really cool restaurant in Litoměřice for dinner.




these pictures are of me and kyla signing the restaurant's book..

In Litoměřice!


and back at the hotel in Úštěk ->





day 2

Sunday morning- Solvej told me that Sunday is the best day to explore Prague because the people are relaxed and everyone is taking it easy. It's an hour drive to Prague from Litoměřice. And Prague/Praha is SO BEAUTIFUL! We walked and walked for hours and saw so much´.. but it was really just a fration of Prague.
We got to see the famous Astronomical Clock! "According to the latest researches, the astronomical clock was constructed in 1410 by the clockmaker Mikulas of Kadan.The astrolabe mechanisms they have built over 600 years ago are still functional. 80 years later, the legendary master Hanus rebuild the clock and as legend has it, the Councillors had him blinded, so that he would not ever manage to build another instrument greater than the Orloj in Prague. The story also says that before he died, master Hanus deliberately damaged the clock so seriously (because he was mad about being blinded.. who wouldn't be?), that nobody could ever fix it again. He also cursed the instrument, so those who tried to repair it have either gone mad or died." (read more at http://www.prague.net/astronomical-clock)
We walked over the Charles Bridge, which is really beautiful! Unfortunately, they were working on preserving some statues so we didn't get to see some of them. But.. "Charles Bridge is a stone Gothic bridge that connects the Old Town and Malá Strana, where the Prague castle is (I will talk about the Prague castle later). It was actually called the Stone Bridge during the first several centuries. Its construction was commissioned by Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and began in 1357. In charge of the construction was architect Petr Parléř whose other works include the St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle."

We saw the Town Square, which awed me just at how OLD it is! "The Old Town Square is one of two main squares in the city centre. With its ancient buildings and magnificent churches, this is one of the most beautiful historical sights in Europe. Dating back to the late 12th century, the Old Town Square started life as the central marketplace for Prague. Over the next few centuries, many buildings of Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic styles were erected around the market, each bringing with them stories of wealthy merchants and intrigue." It is just SO cool and i'm lucky that we got to see it in the day AND at night, when everything is lit up! (read more at ttp://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=594)




Then we walked the main walking streets with all the shops, etc. Kyla and I were both amazed at how OLD everything was. I mean- the U.S. and Australia are both very young countries.. ESPECIALLY in comparison to the Czech Republic! We walked up a trillion steps to have a view over the city, right where the Metronome is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Metronome). Then we went back to the hotel for dinner..


Please check up on my blog tomorrow to read more about my trip to the Czech Republic!
love francine

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really nice trip! :) look very good :) grettings francine :) see you :)

Anonymous said...

Hey fancine that looks like tons of fun! we are going to hawii on web. so i will not be able to read your blog for a bit. the city that you are in looks super intresting, and very old! well got to go, have tons more fun, kyle perkins

court-knee said...

hahahahhahahahahahahahahahaah easily the best blog EVEEEEEEEERRRRR!!!! you sure are a passionate writer when it comes to writing about toliets, i could imagine it in my head and man it made me laugh...hhaahah seriously made my decade reading about the toliet, ive read it like a bazillion times already...im going to go and read it again