Dobre den (Good Day)

Prague has been an amazing city so far, every street is beautiful. I share an apartment with 5 others and it is very large but missing some basic necessities (like a microwave). It is farther away from Wenceslas Square, where my classes are, but very close to a mall grocery, and metro stop. Food in Prague is absolutely cheaper and I am already spoiled by $30 or $40 worth of groceries usually no exceeding 300 krona, or $15. Other things, like clothes, are about the same as in the U.S. but still not ridiculous for a large city. As for historic sites close by, we have a grave yard near our where many famous Czech's are buried, including Frank Kafka.

We also had a group tour last week of the main historical places in Prague. Primarily, we went to the astronomical clock with the beautiful church across the street and the castle grounds. Both have stunning medieval and other architecture along with very interesting stories. We did not go into any of the sites but I plan on going back!

Prague has lived up to my expectations for beer and I have had a few lessons on beer here already. Some bars have it for around $1 per half liter while others are a little more like $2 or $3 but still much cheaper than a fancy bar in DC. Pilsner beer is the most popular, at least in advertising, and it originates from Plzen in the Czech Republic. This beer is light in color but not in flavor. The dark beers here are also more sweet are commonly seen as beer for the ladies (nothing like Guinness!) We had a special opportunity to go to a restaurant where they brew their own beer and the beer was great, I wish I could bottle some up for home!

Finally the boring part, classes started today. We had 4 hours a day of Czech language classes last week but no other courses. I learned a fair amount, mostly just food vocab and greetings. A background in Russian has been mildly helpful but the language is still hard! My classes seem very interesting but I was hoping they would be a little easier, which doesn't seem to be the case. I guess I am getting what I paid for though! The program as a whole is great and many different trips and events are included. We have already had many "free" meals that were all great!