So let us start by apologizing for the lack of posts over the past week, we have barely had a chance to tour around Prague, much less have time to write a post (not that you would want to read a post about accounting for mergers and acquisitions anyway). On to the good news, class one is officially complete! This morning we took our final exam for ACC 510, as long as we all passed, we are hopeful, then we can place a check mark next to that one!
Now back to what we have done for the past week. Although we have had very little free time we are having a great time, learning a lot about the city, and meeting a lot of new people! So far this has been a great experience and I think we are all very thankful that we have taken advantage of this opportunity.
Through the struggles of time management we have been able to squeeze in a few of life's more appealing options as compared to studying our lives away. At the beginning of the week we took an afternoon and went to Petrin Tower to take in the view from high atop a mountain. As in every European country, public transportation is our best friend, we took the tram up to the hill and then took the Funicular up the mountain. Petrin Tower is a miniature Eiffel Tower and visitors are allowed to climb the 312 steps to the top to take in the breathtaking views of the city. We were troopers and made it to the top without a break and it is safe to say that the climb was well worth the experience. It is evident from the skyline view that Prague is an old city full of history and culture. All of the buildings look alike, the stucco look with red clay tile roof tops.
On Tuesday some of the group went to the Beer Gardens, these are fairly popular throughout Europe, while some of us stayed in to study (lame, I know). For those of you who may not know, the Beer Gardens are basically like a park that includes a few beer venues, with several picnic tables and places to sit and sip on a few drinks. The Beer Gardens are very pretty from what everyone said and I think that everyone had a great time and enjoyed a few relaxing pivos!
Wednesday consisted of another morning of class and then a venture to the Castle. There are many more castles in European regions than we have in the U.S. and it is amazing to see the time and energy that are placed into creating the intricate details of such structures. As cheap college students we decided not to pay the additional fee and to actually go into the museums and such, but we took the free route and took the tour of the grounds and also a tour of the cathedral. The cathedral was beautiful, especially the stained glass that were created so perfectly in each of the cathedral windows.
So Thursday night was full of a little excitement, after a long day of studying. Everyone had stayed at the institute practically all day in an effort to prepare for our test this morning and returned to the pension around 8:30 pm. After arriving back at the pension we heard from some of the other students that there was an Elton John concert scheduled for Thursday night. Several of us decided this would be fun and wanted to go, but we didn't know where the concert was, what time it started, or how much the tickets cost. Despite our better judgment we went for it considering it an adventure! We were able to use the internet and determine that it was to be held at the O2 Arena. We went downstairs asked which metro to take and started our adventure. After witnessing a free burning fire, several tram stops, and a part of Prague that we had never cared to see we found the O2 Arena. Once we got there we could not find an open ticket window to ask about tickets. We walked to several entrances and finally found someone, but we soon found out that the concert started at 8:00 (keep in mind by this point it is 9:30) and that we were going to have to pay 950 Koruns to get a ticket. After all of the excitement we decided that it probably wasn't worth the money for the remainder of the show so we made our way back to the metro station, but we knew we weren't going straight back so instead we headed for Old Town Square, there we stayed for a few hours before beginning the (much longer than anticipated) journey back to the pension. In Prague the metro stops at midnight, when we decided to leave the square it was just a little after 12:00, so no metro for us! We thought no problem we will take the tram, well it was no problem but 1.5 hours later we arrived at our pension, (keep in mind it was probably a max 30 minute walk)! Although we waited at many stops for well over 20 minutes to ride on the tram for a mere 5 to 10 minutes we had a great time hanging out and it is all part of the experience!
So as many of you probably know, soccer is HUGE in Europe! Well how cool is it that we are here for the World Cup, but if you are like me I didn't know what the World Cup was until about a week ago! Old Town Square had huge screens set up to broadcast the games so we decided to immerse ourselves into the culture and to learn about soccer the European way. We headed down to the square and watched the game for a little bit and then went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and a few drinks, everyone had a great night hanging out as a group and really getting to know each other!
Saturday was not one of the best days, but it was one of the days none the least. Saturday was spent studying in preparation for our test, but it did not pass without some fun and interesting moments! As we were sitting outside studying, still in our pajamas at 5:00 or 5:30 we were approached by an interesting man with ladies lacey panties on his head and a bright neon orange jersey that read Shorty's Hangover. He wanted to sell us some shots off of his belt and some gummy bears, we soon learned that he was the bachelor of a bachelor party from Germany and was being forced by his friends to sell these items as part of his party. The guys were actually really nice and attempted to help us with our studying, they must have thought we needed some help by the looks on our faces! It was quite entertaining and a nice laughing break to our long day of studying!
On Saturday night we wanted to go down to the square to watch the American soccer game and to show our national pride we all dressed in red, white, and blue! We headed down to the square and watched the game in the square with everyone else, we were thrilled that the US stayed strong throughout the game.
This morning was stressful, but a huge relief to finish the first half of this three week semester. Although the test was ridiculously hard there is a huge weight lifted off of each of us now that it is behind us. Now it is time to pack for Vienna and to enjoy a few days of relaxing fun!
Clock Tower in Old Town Square
World Cup
Branson lunch date
German Friends
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