Updates and then some

It has been a little bit since my last post, but not too much has changed in the time being. We've had some visitors at the apartment, including a friend from Columbia who's studying in Paris and some friends of my roommates. That's actually been really fun to see people's reaction to the city when we do the "tourist loop," a nice walk that includes Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square, Prague Castle, and Lennon Wall, with a tour of the obligatory bars at night, of course. Its also been nice sticking around Prague and not having to worry about flights, packing, fitting in sights and sounds etc. That being said...

We leave for Italy (spring break, already...what a world!) this Friday morning. We'll head to Venice for 2 days, take an overnight train/bus to Florence, where I'll be staying with my good friend from Laconia, Sean. We'll be in Florence from Sunday to Wednesday night, but I'm hoping to take a day trip to Siena and/or Pisa, which are not far away. On Wednesday we leave for Rome until Sunday, which should be absolutely amazing given that it's Easter weekend. I'm sure it will be packed but well worth it.

2 weekends ago I went to a little Czech town called Cesky Budejovice...the home to the Budweiser (the original one is Czech, not American!--also called Budvar, and Czechvar in the states due to copyright fights) Brewery. It was a really cool small town with a very European/former Communist feel to it--a big open square, a big fountain and some churches/towers, but also old run down row apartments and other reminders like that of what this place was just 30-40 years ago. The brewery itself was really fun and interesting too. I went with 3 friends from my program, and we got to see a lot of the brewery and how the beer is made, etc. Also got to try some beer midway through that wasn't completely ready for sale, and then went to the beer hall afterwards to get some official Budweiser liters. We walked around town a bit more and eventually grabbed some Indian food--which was a NIGHTMARE for me, for some reason I got the spiciest lamb dish and regretted it very much. Everyone else's was good though! We got back pretty late that night after a long but great day.

Our friend was in town this weekend so we did some cool touristy stuff in Prague besides the normal stuff, like walking up this big hill and up to the top of the 1:5 replica of the Eiffel Tower at the top which offers absolutely amazing 360 degree views of the city. Unfortunately I hadn't planned on that trip, so I didn't have my camera...will have to go back soon! Also went to a concert hall called Rudolfinum to see some classical music being played that night which was really cool. Right now there are a bunch of stands set up in Old Town Square for Easter which have all different foods (delicious sausages, and a fried dough-like creation that they put garlic, ketchup, and cheese on--amazing), some knick-knack stuff, and things like a blacksmith set up, a little petting zoo for kids, and a concert stage...it looks really cool. We went there after the concert, which was really cool at night.

All in all its been a great couple weeks. My family and Aunt Jane come 2 weeks from Wednesday which I'm really looking forward to--it will be great to get such a taste of home around the midway point of my trip. Plus I'm sure Aunt Jane will know some great spots that even I don't after all her reading and preparing. After that it's a whirlwind of trips in a row--Paris, Budapest, and Krakow. Can't wait!! Make sure to check out my pictures on snapfish if you haven't yet, and I'll try to keep them pretty updated. Again, just type in my email (w.patrick.kerns@gmail.com) and the password is: prague.

Hope all is well with everyone, keep in touch! Emails are always appreciated. Go Celts and Sox!!