Ahoj!

We’ve just finished up our 3rd week in Prague, already a third of the way done (oh dear)! We spent the whole past week and weekend here in the city, so we got to check out a lot of places around Prague we hadn’t seen yet. The long weekend also gave us the opportunity to catch up on non-school realted things, like editing our resumes and submitting externship applications that are due on Monday. The weather has started to cool down quite a bit in the past week, which has been a welcome change for most of us who are in love with fall! It’s been a busy week – here are some highlights:

On Wednesday afternoon, our Czech Politics and Culture class went on a brief field trip out in the city. We first went to Wenceslas Square, one of the main squares in the city that often is used for public and political gatherings. It was here that a Czech university student, Jan Palach, protested the end of the Prague Spring and communism in 1968 by lighting himself on fire. To the Czech people, Palach is considered a national hero. Over the last week we have learned about Jan Palach through readings as well as the new film that is currently in theatres in the Czech Republic about the final years of his life. Going to this place of memory was a powerful way to tie together what we had learned and what we know about the city. We lit a candle in memory of Palach at the memorial that is in front of the National Museum in Wenceslas Square.

From Wenceslas Square, we took the metro to Vyšehrad, a historic fort on the Vltava River that contains a basilica and a cemetery where many important Czech figures are buried. It was an absolutely beautiful day to walk around outside, and the view of Prague from the fort was phenomenal. We visited some graves in Vyšehrad including Karel Hynek Mácha, a prominent Czech poet, and Milada Horáková, a Czech politician and victim of the Soviet regime that we will learn about more later in our Politics and Culture class. From Vyšehrad, we continued along the path that students marched in 1989 on International Students’ Day. We ended our tour down by the National Theatre, on the street where this peaceful demonstration turned violent as police trapped the crowd in the street. This demonstration and other events around this time helped catalyze the Velvet Revolution, named because the collapse of the communist regime and transition to a parliamentary republic occurred without any bloodshed. This tour around the city was particularly interesting because we got to learn about how university students like us made a difference in Czech history.

Our Politics and Culture Class at Vyšehrad

The Velvet Revolution Memorial

On Thursday afternoon those of us in the Czech Art and Architecture class took another field trip, this time to visit the Prague Castle. We began our tour at the Royal Summer Palace, commissioned by Ferdinand I in the 16th century. This building provided great examples of Renaissance architecture that we have been learning about in class. From the Summer Palace, we walked through the Royal Gardens to the main castle.

In the castle we toured St. Vitus Cathedral. The castle was a good example of Gothic architecture, though we were able to see many styles of art and architecture inside. This cathedral is the most important in the country and holds the tombs of many important kings and other figures from Czech history. One of the most impressive tombs within the cathedral was of St. Wenceslas, with a whole chapel devoted to him.

The exterior of St. Vitus

The interior of St. Vitus

After our official tour was over, many of us continued to explore the interior of the castle, the basillica, and the golden lane. It was another beautiful day to walk around outside!

A group of students at a lookout point in the Prague Castle

Charlotte, Alexa, Katie, and Erica at the Golden Lane

The Golden Lane

On Thursday evening apartment 32 had fun making some apple strudel with our Czech buddy, Kamila. On our welcome diner in Prague we had some strudle for dessert at the restaurant and Kamila told us that it was super easy to make, and she offerred to teach us sometime. So now if anyone ever wants some apple strudel, ask apartment 32!

Alexa, Kamila, and Katie putting the filling in the strudel

Kamila helping Erica put the strudel together

Some of us used this free weekend to go out of town on short trips! Eli and Nariah spent the past week going to frisbee practices so that they could go to Czech mixed nationals with a team this weekend. You can’t expect Carleton students to go to Prague and not play frisbee!

Eli and Nariah at Czech mixed nationals

A group of students also ventured out of the city to visit Kutná Hora, a Czech city to the east of Prague. While there, they visited a vineyard, the Sedlec Ossuary bone church, and the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist.

Katy, Shelsea, and Kalyin in Kutná Hora at a vineyard overlooking the beautiful town

Sedlec Ossuary in Kutná Hora, where over 60,000 people have been buried. The chandelier made of bones was a good mixture of spooky and awesome.

The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist. This church had beautiful tall golden ceilings and amazing Baroque Gothic artwork.

After walking around all morning, Shelsea, Katy, Yumeka and Kaylin stopped for some delicious pizza

Because it was such a beautiful weekend, some students took advantage of the weather and tried out the paddle boats (a group of students had already tried it out first week and recommended it). It was a lot of fun, though we almost got run over by a large boat on the river.

Charlotte and Katie enjoying the ride on the paddle boat

On Saturday Ken had organized a variety of activities for us to attend. First, a group of students went with Ken to a FK Dukla Prague soccer game, a team that plays in the first division of Czech soccer (or football if you’re from here!) Ken informed us that Dukla was pretty low in the standings and the team they were playing was 4th in the league, but they ended up tying and it was a great game! A group of students also went to Ken’s apartment for weekly movie night on Saturday to watch Kolya, a Czech film that won an Oscar in 1996 for best foreign film. The students gave very positive reviews of the movie!

The soccer field at Stadion Juliska

Katie and Allison showing off their new Dukla gear!

Ken went to go get some snacks during the game and came back with a selfie with the mascot!

The group of students who went to the Dukla game with Ken

It’s crazy to think that we’re already a third done with our study abroad program – it feels like we’ve only just arrived! That’s the blessing and the curse of our short 10 week terms. We were lucky to have such a wonderful weekend with beautiful fall weather in Prague. Next weekend we’ll be heading to Český Krumlov, a city in the Southern Bohemia region of the Czech Republic!

A big thank you to Kaylin, Erica, Nariah, Eli, Allison, and Alex for providing some beautiful photographs this week!