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

Hartford Times Press Article

If you weren't able to get a hold of the Hartford Times Press on Friday, here's a really great article about my trip to Prague!

Xoxo,

Jackey

Welcome to Postcards from Prague

Hello All!

Welcome to my blog, Postcards from Prague! This is where I will be posting updates about my study abroad trip to London and Prague. Once I've arrived in Europe, I'll will be posting at least two times a week with pictures and stories from my travels. Until then I'll post updates as they come!

So first of all, a little bit about me:

I'm Jackey, I am a 2012 graduate of Hartford Union High School and am now a BFA Musical Theatre major at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. I am currently a junior in my program but, as a transfer student, this is my fifth year of college.

This summer I will be studying abroad in London, England as a part of the Theatre in London study abroad trip through UWSP. The Theatre in London trip focuses on "expanding your knowledge of drama and theatre from Shakespeare to contemporary writers by reading and viewing plays, engaging in post-show talk backs, and immersing yourself in the culture of London...". While there, I will attend lectures and 7-9 professional productions. We also get to tour Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born and theaters such as the Globe and the Royal National Theatre. I will be spending the the majority of the month of June here.

In March, I was also accepted to study with the Prague Shakespeare Company for their summer Shakespeare intensive in the Czech Republic. While in Prague we will be studying detailed voice, text and speech work, hand to hand and armed stage combat, puppetry, mask, clowning, Baroque dance, and more. The faculty consists of professional master teachers from around the world including graduates from Julliard and professionals from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

I am currently raising funds to pay for the tuition, if you are interested in donating you can find my GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/prague-shakespeare-intensive-fund where there is also more detailed information about how my time in Prague will be spent and other current updates.

Feel free to comment and browse around the blog, I know there isn't much up right now but I'm hoping to have everything fully functioning soon!

Xoxo,

Jackey