This is the week that we’ve all been waiting for and all
been dreading. This past week was our last time spent together as a group. It
was also an amazing trip spanning across the Czech Republic. Some cant wait to
get home and others never want this to end. You can find me somewhere in the
middle, mostly leaning on the side of never wanting this to end. Just give me
my friends and family and I could be here the rest of my life. It’s the
beginning of the end, and would not want to spend it anywhere else besides the
Czech Republic.
My small group and I returned from Paris Monday afternoon,
quickly got a few tasks done, and then hustled over to the History building
where we took our Czech language final. I was fairly nervous for the test, but
ended up doing very well on the test. After the final some of our group headed
to Rockstar to have one of our final drinks with Tereza and Ann. The next
morning I was up bright and early to pack for our Bohemia trip.
Soon after our departure we arrived in Litomysl, our first
stop of our “Bohemia Tour”. Litomysl is
a quiet, quaint town home to about 10,000 citizens. We all checked into our
very nice hotel, grabbed some lunch, and then sat down for a presentation on
the town. A nice lady from Chicago gave us a history lesson of the city and
described the recent revitalization that was taking place. Many of the old
buildings, the castle, and school went under a 17 million dollar project. After
the presentation we got a tour of the main church in town. Throughout the years
it had been destroyed by fires, by the towns people, and then eventually by the
Nazi regime. Recently in 2010 the church went under a major reconstruction and
is now a beautiful, strong standing church. It possessed a few modern aspects,
which is very uncommon for a church of this age, but was necessary in the
reconstruction process.
 |
Inside the church in Litomysl |
 |
My professor and I! |
Next, we were on our own for the rest of the day. We
meandered around town and ended up grabbing some traditional Czech cuisine.
That day was Jessica Krecklow’s birthday, therefore many of us helped her
celebrate at a bar. Approximately 15 of us squeezed into an underground bar and
had a night full of stories and laughter.
Kutna Hora was next on our Bohemia tour. Our first stop was
outside the city at the bone church. This is also referred to as an ossuary. I
was really excited to see this because just the weekend before I was in Paris
where I had the opportunity to see the most famous catacombs. I choose not to
go in Paris, because I had read on ricksteves.com that the Kutna Hora bone
church was one of the best in Europe. Experiencing this church was very
different. There was mounds of skulls and a variety of different other bones.
It was an eerie feeling walking though and seeing all these bones that stood in
front of me. We left the ossuary and checked into another nice hotel with a
complimentary breakfast. Our first stop in the city was St. Barbara’s
Cathedral. It was very beautiful and large. Jan and Martin gave us a tour and
told us stories about the paintings on the walls. After this tour we were free
for the rest of the day. I choose to sit on a park bench and write names in the
gravel. It was so nice to relax in the wonderful weather we had. I continued my
journey by sitting on a ledge overlooking the cathedral and part of the city.
From this ledge Molly, Alexander, and I saw a walking path that led into a
forest. This was way to intriguing for us and we had to go exploring. We hiked
through the woods and got new views of the cathedral. It was so refreshing to
go out into nature and get some fresh air. Eventually, we got back into the
city and sat down for supper. I can safely say that this was one of the best
meals I have had in Europe. My supper consisted of a pork loin with a delicious
sauce, a baked potato filled with blue cheese, and finished dinner with a
traditional Bohemian honey cake. This was a perfect ending to a great day. A
few hours later I was fast asleep in bed ready for the next day.
 |
A look at some of the bones |
 |
Playing in the sand like a little kid |
 |
St. Barbara's Cathedral |
 |
My delicious meal |
Two days were down and we had two days left. The next two
days were the best days of the trip. We started our third day by touring the
Budvar beer factory. I had been looking forward to this tour since day one of
the trip. My dad loves Budweiser, and this is where I finally got him a
souvenir. We toured the factory and saw each step of the process from beginning
to end. The best part of the tour was the free samples we got. Our tour guide
filled us glasses straight from the tank, and boy was it good. Next we loaded
the bus and headed for our final stop, Cesky Krumlov.
First we checked into our hostel. In our previous towns we
had stayed in nice hotels, but not here. Cesky Krumlov is more of a tourist
town, therefore it had hostels. After we checked in and got settled we were
free to do as we please. Our first adventure was to climb up the hill in order
to get a view over the city. This is one of the things my group of friends
always wants to do in each city we visit. We hiked up and got some great views
looking down onto the city. After our hike we made our way back down to the
town and had dinner near the city center.
 |
Us boys at the top of the hike
|
Our final day in Cesky Krumlov was by far the best. This
whole trip the group has been waiting to go rafting. We were scared we wouldn’t
be able to go because the weather wasn’t cooperating. Thank goodness it finally
did. Soon enough we hopped in our rafts and started to make our way down the
river. The next four hours were a blast. We ended up heaving beautiful weather
and had an amazing time with each other. There was lots of laughing, stories,
and memorable experiences during this trip. Eventually we made our way out of
the river and all headed for a group dinner. This was so delicious and a great
way to end the trip. We were all at the same table and again shared lots of
laughs and enjoyed each other’s company. We continued to have fun by going to
one of the clubs in town. There we danced the night away and made our way back
to the hostel that night.
 |
Rafting was a BLAST |
This trip was been one that I won’t ever forget. It’s sad to
think that this was our last week together as a group and we’ll eventually all
be going our separate ways. I’m grateful that our last week was spent in the
Czech Republic. This is mainly because the Czech Republic is so cheap and is
easy on my wallet. It was also great to tour around the rest of the country and
get a better feel for the country I have been living in for the past two and a
half months. Our Bohemia trip was the perfect final trip together.
It’s now time to do my own thing. I have 16 days left in
Europe and still so much to see. I will spend my last two weeks traveling to
Belgium, Greece, and Italy. I’m ecstatic to visit Brussels, Athens, Santorini,
Crete, and Bergamo. It’s now time to hop on a few planes and make my way to the
beach and soak up some sun.