Kutna Hora

Saint Barbara's Cathedral

On Thursday, the weather in Prague was terrible. It stormed and poured all day long. So I decided to go away for the day to discover Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora is a town about an hour's train ride outside of Prague and is the home to three beautiful churches as well as a medieval silver mine, which is the whole reason the town is there. The main reason I went was for the Bone Church or the Sedlec Ossuary. Basically, the whole lower level of the church is a mass grave for over 40,000 people that died during the Hussite War or from the plague. I've seen videos and pictures of the church before and I was surprised by how small it actually was. I thought it was incredible that so many bones could be fit into such a small area. I'm so glad that I got the chance to go.

Bone chandelier at the Sedlec Ossuary

After that I headed over to the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist. It's literally right across the street. I loved the clean lines and subtle yellow color of the walls inside this church. It's over 700 years old but it didn't feel like it. Inside is a spiral staircase that was revolutionary for the time because it was built without a pillar in the middle. After walking through the incredibly creepy attic of the church by myself, I ended up in the choir loft. I was the only one up there so I couldn't help but sing a little bit. I have to say, the acoustics are absolutely amazing! I'd love the opportunity to sing there or at least hear a choir sing there.

My final church of the day was Saint Barbara's Cathedral. It's about an hour walk from the first two churches. You can take a taxi, bus, or the local town train but I decided to walk. Unfortunately, it started to rain on my way there but I had my umbrella and coat so it wasn't too awful and didn't last too long. Thank God I'm from the Kettle Moraine area in Wisconsin because I don't know if I would have made it up the hill to the church if I wasn't already used to climbing ridiculous hills. I also ended up taking the incredibly scenic route to the church after getting a little lost and wandering through a really cute neighborhood, past a beautiful stream, and eventually up a dirt path. The church itself was pretty cool. The frescos within it were really cool but the organ cover was my favorite. It was just beautiful and ornate and HUGE! The church itself was actually designed and built by the son of the architect who built St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle (I have a post with a picture of it).

View from the choir loft at the Church of the Assumption

While in Kutna Hora, I had the best trout I've ever had. The dish I chose was at a local restaurant. It was butter grilled trout with potatoes and fresh vegetables and I also ordered a beer. It was so incredibly good. And it was the perfect meal after having walked around all day. 

I left the restaurant around 3:00 and ended up at the train station around 4:00, my train didn't leave until 6 though. There really wasn't much else to do in an hour/hour and a half, anything else would have taken more time and it also started pouring. So I was happy just to sit and relax at the train station (even though it was really cold). When I got back to the hostel, I ate a burrito I bought from a street food booth and just passed out for the night. It was a great day and definitely worth the trip!

Xoxo,

Jackey

My Free Week in Prague

Hanging out in Old Town Square

Horses in Old Town Square

Berries at the market

After a few snags in my travel plans, I successfully arrived in Prague on Saturday June 24th. Since then I have pretty much spent my time wandering the city and getting all of the tourist locations out of the way. At this point I have visited Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the John Lennon Wall, Prague Castle (which includes the Old Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Golden Lane, the Czech Crown Jewels, St. George's Basilica, and a ton of other historical museums and towers), a market, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, and the giant Prague Metronome. I've also found the building where I'll be studying with the Prague Shakespeare Company and saw a production of Blood Wedding at the Estates Theatre which is part of the Czech National Theatre.

I have to say that after only a few days, I have officially fallen in love with this city! The architecture here is beautiful and there is so much appreciation for the arts, it's incredible. In Prague, people respect artists and the fact that they've chosen to make a career out of being an artist. No one asks "What are you going to do with that major?" or tells you to not put all your eggs in one basket. Artists are respected and appreciated. 

So far, I think my favorite places have been the giant metronome (and the park that goes with it) and St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle. Both places have amazing views over Prague and the history behind them is incredibly interesting.

St. Vitus Cathedr

St. Vitus Cathedral is a Gothic style church built in 1344 but it wasn't officially finished until 1929. When I first got there, I wasn't going to buy a ticket (which includes the entire grounds of the castle). I thought I would just wander the parts that were free and if I had time, go back later to see the rest. The cathedral was the first thing I saw and when I walked through the doors, I immediately wanted to see the entire church. So I bought a ticket. And you know what? It was totally worth it! I spent way longer on the grounds of the castle than I intended. While I was touring the inside of the Old Prague Castle I didn't realize that you weren't supposed to take pictures until after I had already taken a picture. Oops... No one said anything so I didn't delete it. Near the cathedral and the Old Prague Castle is a small museum containing the Czech Crown Jewels. According to the church, the cross on the top of the crown contains a preserved thorn from Christ's crown of thorns. Pretty cool.

The picture of Old Prague Castle that I wasn't
supposed to take.

The giant metronome is an actual working metronome that was erected in the 1990s to replace a giant 75 foot statue of Joseph Stalin that Czech citizens blew up in the 1960s. The statue of Stalin was supposed to stand for all time but obviously that didn't happen. The metronome now symbolizes time continually moving on. It's surrounded by a park that is now a popular spot for the younger generation to hang out. I'm definitely going back at some point.

I also found out that the Estates Theatre, where I saw Blood Wedding, is the theatre where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni. Pretty darn cool.

More Market berries

Tomorrow the plan is to visit Kutna Hora to see the Church of Bones and St. Barbara's Cathedral. If I have enough time, I may visit the silver mine as well. 

Xoxo,

Jackey

This is the front of my hostel by the way

If it Doesn't Challenge You, Then it Won't Change You

"If it doesn't challenge you, then it won't change you."

I've adopted this as my motto for this trip after having a few snags in my travel plans.

The Dresden train station on my way to Prague

The original plan was to take a train from London to Brussels and then connecting trains from Brussels to Prague. It was all supposed to be done in one day and then I would check into my hostel late Friday evening. Unfortunately, my first train ended up being delayed by an hour making me miss my train out of Brussels. The international ticket manager was super cool and because it was the railway's fault that my train was missed, I was given a new ticket for free. This time I would have 4 connecting trains instead of 3 and I would be arriving even later to my hostel.

While waiting for my new train, I emailed the hostel to let them know that my train had been delayed and I would be arriving much later than expected. They said it was fine, I could check in anytime since I had already made a reservation.

So I ride my train out of Brussels and end up in Frankfurt, Germany where my train was delayed again. I was supposed to get on another connecting train in Fulda but unfortunately I ended up missing that one too. Once I got to Fulda, I went to the ticket office to get another ticket (again free because it wasn't my fault) and it turns out that there are no more trains going to Prague that day. So my options were to stay in Fulda for the evening and take two trains to Prague in the morning or go to Dresden, Germany, stay the night there, and then only have to take one train to Prague in the morning. I, obviously, decided on Dresden.

With help from my mom, we found a reasonably priced hotel in Dresden that was only a 4 minute walk from the train station called the Hotel Pullman Dresden Newa. I arrived in Dresden at about 11:30pm and hopped off the train. When I got further into the train station, I realized that I was not where I was supposed to be. I was definitely at the wrong Dresden train station and had no clue where I was in the middle of the night. I panicked a little, especially since I didn't have any wifi or data so I had no clue where I was or how to get to where I needed to be. I couldn't even contact anyone to let them know where I was. I decided at this point I would get a new SIM card when I arrived in Prague. Thankfully, after walking around the station for a while I eventually stumbled upon a taxi. It's a good thing I had the booking for the hotel in my text messages because he couldn't understand my accent and where I was asking him to take me.

He drove me to the hotel and on the way I was able to see the Dresden skyline lit up over the river. What a treat! I wasn't able to get a picture of it because I was in a moving car so I'll post a picture pulled off of Google Images below.

Dresden Skyline

Beautiful right?

So he drops me off at the hotel, I pay him, and check in. The hotel ends up being the coolest hotel I've ever stayed in. The whole thing was beautiful and it was so nice to have a night to myself after being on trains with hundreds of people all day long. After checking in I realized that I was REALLY hungry because with everything going on, I had forgotten to eat all day. There was a McDonalds across the street. So here I am, lounging in this beautiful 4 star hotel room, munching on McDonalds fries. It was great.

The next morning I get up, walk to the train station I was supposed to get off at the night before (it was literally right across the street from the hotel) and get on my train to Prague. I didn't sleep much the night before so I napped on the train for a bit, woke up to see the countryside, and fell back asleep again. Before I know it, they're announcing that we are approaching Prague. I'm supposed to be getting off at Prague hl.n (which is the abbreviation for the station) and out the window I see Prague H (something I don't speak Czech so I assume this is my stop). I rush off the train and realize that I am definitely not at the right station. AGAIN. So to the information booth I go. Lucky me -not really- there are no more trains to Prague hl.n that day. It's only 9am! I'm told I'll have to use the metro (their subway) which I have absolutely no clue how to use and again I don't have wifi. 

So I get to the metro and realize that I'm supposed to buy a ticket. I don't have any coins and there is no change machine. There is also no attendant at the booth, just ticket machines. They don't have doors that open when you scan your ticket so I just walked down to the subway. There was an older women who was kind enough to teach me how the subway worked and told me that I'm supposed to buy a ticket but they probably wouldn't check so I would most likely be fine without one. I waited for my metro, hopped on and hopped off again at the right station. They didn't check my ticket on the way out thankfully. I actually just found out that the metros and trams here run on the honor system so they trust that you've bought a ticket and if they decided to check and you don't have one they'll fine you 800 Czech Korunas. Good thing they didn't check.

I walked to my hostel, should have taken an uber but again no wifi. All of the sidewalks are made of cobblestone here which made it really difficult to pull two suitcases. I did it though.

I finally reached my hostel at about 11:30, go to the front desk to check in, and am told that I'm not allowed to check in until 3. Remember how they told me that I could check in anytime after I emailed them because I had a reservation? Well I brought that up and they still told me that I couldn't check in until 3 but I could store my luggage in a locker. So I did and I ended up just napping on their common area couches until 3.

After that I checked in, moved into my room, and took another nap before finding some food to eat. 

Getting here was definitely a struggle but I learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way and because of my mistakes I got to see some cool places I never would have gotten to see otherwise and was also thrown into learning how to use the Czech public transportation system right away. It was scary at times, being on my own and not really knowing what to do but I think I've handled the situations well and obviously I made it to where I am supposed to be.

Xoxo,

Jackey

A Belated Update

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of blog posts lately. I realized that my phone will not let me log into my blog account so I cannot update from my phone while I'm out, which lately has been about 95% of the time. I've also found myself just falling asleep as soon as I get home. I come back fully intending to write a blog post and journal and instead I just pass out as soon as I sit on my bed. We've been averaging about 13 miles a day, every day plus whatever other extra stressful things we'er doing (like getting stuck in a stairwell at 11pm). So I'm sorry for that, I'm going to try and really make time for blog posts from now on.

Second, I'd like to just write a small update so you're not left with nothing.

So the theatre. We've seen lots and lots of theatre! Don Juan in Soho (starring David Tennant), Twelfth Night, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (starring Damian Lewis), Angels in America part 1 and 2 (starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield), Salome, and Julius Caesar. That's 8 plays in just 12 days! We still have to see HIR, Anatomy of a Suicide, The Play that Goes Wrong and whatever else we decide to rush tickets for.

I have to say, everything we've seen has been good but there are definitely some things that were better than others. I really loved Angels in America, Don Juan, and The Goat (it actually became one of my favorite shows and I knew nothing about it previously) but unfortunately Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar weren't my favorites. But that's a story for a whole other time. Maybe I'll start writing my own reviews on the shows we've seen.

As for the city, it is absolutely amazing. You don't realize just how big it is until you're here. I can pretty much walk to most places but there are some that are far enough that I'd rather take the bus or the tube. Most of the time if I'm traveling by tube or bus I do it with a group but there have been a few times now (during the day) that I've had to take either by my self and figure out how the routes work. I actually have found that I prefer riding in a bus than the tube. And yes, I have ridden on the top of the double deckers. It's kind of bizarre and a good way to get hurt if you're standing on the stairs waiting to get off. But you also get a really beautiful view of the city, especially if you sit in the front.

This is Shakespeare's grave but it isn't my picture because my phone decided
to delete the one I took. Cool.

We went to Stratford-upon-Avon this week to see the birthplace of Shakespeare, his grave, and other places that were relevant to his life. It's a really beautiful place and I'd love to spend more time there. It almost seems like the ideal, utopia, city. It's quite and just overall a very lovely place. The architecture is beautiful as the town is filled with Tudor style houses.

I'm having an amazing time here, I cannot believe that the London portion is over halfway done! I promise I'll be getting more photos and updates posted in the near future. Thank you for all keeping up with my travels and checking in on me! You're all awesome!

Xoxo,

Jackey

The Stairwell Fiasco

So if you have me as a friend on Facebook, you may have seen my post from a few days ago about getting stuck in the stairwell of the building where I'm living. I've had quite a few people ask about the whole story so I thought I'd share it here.

So to start it off, I had a fantastic day beforehand and was really tired by the time I returned back home. I intended on doing my laundry and getting dinner but I ended up falling asleep instead. When I woke up it was dark outside, probably around 11 o'clock. I was hungry and exhausted but I didn't want to walk to Tesco, the grocery store that's right down the street without someone to go with me. It just so happened that no one else was home yet so I decided instead to just get a sandwich from the vending machine.

When I got down to the machine, there were only three sandwiches left. My options were Egg or Ham. Well I'm allergic to egg so that's a no. I also don't eat pork products but I was hungry enough that had there not been a Chicken one behind it I would have eaten it. I decided to just buy the ham and the chicken sandwich, eat the chicken for dinner and if I was still super hungry, I'd eat the ham one later. I paid and got my sandwiches and started to walk back up the stairs.

All of a sudden, the guy mopping starts yelling "No no no! Lift lift lift!" and before I knew what was happening he unlocked the elevator and rushed me into it. I pushed the button for the first floor as I assumed it would take me up to the level I lived on. Instead, it took me to a part of the building that I am completely unfamiliar with. I walked to the end of the stairwell where there was a staircase to make my way back down to the lobby area where I knew I could get back to my room. When I got all the way down, I realized that the only door was an emergency fire exit. I assumed I was in the wrong stairwell so I walked back up to the floor I had been on to look for another set of stairs. However, when I pulled on the door, I discovered it was locked. I ran up to the next level and that was locked too. I ran up and down the stairs pulling on every door and every single one was locked. I started to have a panic attack, I felt like the walls of the dimly lit stairwell were closing in on me. In my panic I rushed to the bottom floor and pushed my way through the emergency exit setting the alarms off behind me. As soon as I reached the entrance to get back into the building, the housing manager met me to ask what happened and why I exited through the fire door. Suddenly my panic attack reached its peak. I started to bawl. There I am crying, trying to explain myself through my tears, fire alarm blaring behind me as I awkwardly hold two vending machine sandwiches, all the while a crowd is forming (mostly of my classmates who had just returned for the night, wanting to make sure I was ok) wondering what in the world was going on. The housing manager understood completely and I returned to my room where I cried in the bathroom for a half an hour and then called my mom.

It was a rough night, but I can laugh about it now as I think it's quite funny. I'm no longer embarrassed or afraid, and I thoroughly enjoyed my vending machine sandwich.

Xoxo,

Jackey

Sunrise, Sunset, and Hampton Court

The view from my seat. On the left, sunset leaving the US and on the right, Sunrise entering the UK

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, CLICK ON TITLE SO ALL IMAGES ARE VISIBLE!!!!

I have officially arrived in London! With the attacks that have been going on I want to let everyone know that I am just fine, everyone on the trip is all good, and we're looking forward to a fantastic 3 weeks! That being said, we will still continue to remain highly aware of our surroundings.

But I'm here, and I'm going to be honest with you, my flight was not great. I was on an 8 hour flight from Chicago to London and I didn't sleep a wink. Leaving at 6:20pm meant that, with the time difference, I'd be arriving at about 8am in London but it would feel like 2am to me. Now, I've never been sick on an airplane before so I was quite surprised when we took off and I felt like I was spinning. I didn't bring any Dramamine with me but I figured it would just go away once we took off and started flying a bit. Nope. The cabin looked and felt like it was spinning for a full 8 hours. I tried to sleep but it just wasn't working out and the dizzy feeling was starting to make me nauseous. I decided to just close my eyes and rest as much as I could until I could get off of the plane. After doing our activities for the day I finally hit the wall. I almost fell asleep at lunch and ended up sleeping on the bus between the restaurant and our housing.

Yes, I took this photo and I'm very proud of i

Even though I was absolutely exhausted, it didn't prevent me from being able to wander around Hampton Court Palace. The beautiful palace owned by King Henry VIII was almost like a maze (it actually had a hedge maze but we got lost enough inside the palace itself). The whole thing is surrounded by beautiful gardens and ponds with ducks, fish, and swans. Inside, it's almost as if the whole thing were a tiny, private village. The king even had his own resident chocolate maker who had a chocolate shop and kitchen basically right outside the king's bedroom. The walls are lined with extravagant tapestries, paintings, sculptures, and magnificent frescos on the ceiling of each grand staircase. We learned that the grand hall in Hampton Court is one of only two remaining places left that Shakespeare performed his own work. We got the opportunity to walk through that room and stand where he did. It was really quite a cool experience. One of the things that I found absolutely fascinating was the fact that there was so much detail put into things that would most likely go unnoticed. Things like engraved door locks, busts high up in the walls of the courtyards and monograms engraved on the corners of the outside of the building overlooking the gardens. It was  quite a spectacular place to visit, I only wish we had more time there as we didn't get to really see everything the palace had to offer.

A view from a peephole cut into a hedge

So even though I'm so completely exhausted, it was still a fantastic way to start out my time in Europe. Cheers to the first day in London!

Xoxo,

Jackey

Hartford Players Don Freidemann Memorial Scholarship

I'd like to say thank you to the Hartford Players who awarded me one of the $1500 Don Freidemann Memorial Scholarships. Half of this scholarship will be applied to my summer study abroad tuition and the other half will be put toward my first semester of the 2017/18 year. Your considerate contribution toward my education is greatly appreciated. You're helping me to achieve my dreams and to gain more experience in my field before I graduate.