Jan. 24 - 25, 2009

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

We went to the Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge today (24)! It was awesome and I got some great photos! Check them out in the links at the bottom...

Today (25), Steve challenged us. First, we spent the morning learning some useful Czech phrases and words. This was our one and only Czech lesson. The rest we will be learning by using the barefoot approach. That's a fancy term that means we just have to figure it out! So, after we got our lesson, we real fun began. Steve gave us each different "assignments" that we had to carry out on our own. No help! Completely by my lonesome! My task was to go order lunch at Strašnická. This is a simple and easy task in America, but when you don't understand anything but simple words and phrases it is hard! Another problem was that I also had to go by Tesco(a British Wal-Mart) and buy something, but the catch is that I had to use 2 different ways to get there and back. Well, I started of up the hill (the wrong way) to the bus stop. At every bus stop there is a list on a sign that says where all the buses go. Well, the list was gone. Just my luck! I tried in my best Czech to ask an old lady if this bus (195) went to Strašnická. She didn't understand me and I couldn't understand what she told me. So, I just got on the bus anyways. As it turns out the next stop was the end of the line (not where I wanted to be). So, I had to wait on on the bus driver to take a break and then I rode to Skalka because the bus didn't go to Strašnická. So, I got on the next metro to ride to Strašnická even though the Tesco was at Skalka! So, I had to go back to Skalka! I bought 4 Milka bars in different flavors. Milka is a European chocolate company that is freaking amazing! The best chocolate ever! I also bought some gum and some laundry soap for Steve's wife Cathy. I put all my goods in my pockets and then hopped a metro back to Strašnická where I used my broken Czech to order a slice of pizza for 30Kc. and then got on the bus (224) that took me home. It was quite an ordeal! But it taught me a valuable lesson in what I'm in for...

Prague Castle 1
Prague Castle 2
Prague
Charles Bridge and Old Town Square