Paris and Prague (Blog #1 Due March 22)

10:Personal Excursions
I have been anxiously waiting to post into my blog ever since I arrived in Europe!  I feel like I could go on and on about all of the excursions I have already done within the past 10 days, but I will try my best to keep it short and sweet.  Now that I am settled into my dorm, I have had time to reflect on the time I spent in Paris and Prague before meeting the UNK group.  On March 8^th, I arrived in Paris with my mother, brother, and sister in law.  We were super tired from the jet lag, but we decided to stay awake and explore the area around our hotel.  Since this was our first time in Europe, I think our excitement kept us going even though we were exhausted from traveling.  Our first stop was Notre Dame, which was absolutely breathtaking!  It is definitely one of those places where pictures just don’t do justice for how beautiful it really is.  The next day in Paris we visited the famous Louvre museum!  I was in awe at the crowds and crowds of tourists in the Louvre, but it was definitely worth the trip.  I also never thought that I would ever see the Mona Lisa in real life, but on this day that became a reality!  There were so many other stunning pieces of artwork in the Louvre, but I have to say that Mona Lisa was by far my favorite.  The last big excursion we went on in Paris was our trip to the Eiffel Tower on March 10th.  Although I have seen the Eiffel Tower a countless number of times in pictures, my jaw still dropped at that first glimpse I saw of it in real life.  It was one of those moments where I could not believe my eyes, and I must say it left me speechless.  After taking probably a hundred pictures outside of the Eiffel Tower, we got the chance to go all the way to the very top.  The views from the top of the Eiffel Tower were simply gorgeous, and I did not realize how big Paris was until I was all the way up there looking down at the city. 

The next morning we had an early flight to Prague, and I have to admit that I was very sad leaving Paris.  However, I was excited to be in the Czech Republic and continue to explore more of Europe!  Since we were in Prague, one of the first things we decided to do was go to a pub and try the world famous Czech Pivo (beer)!  We also stopped by the Astronomical Clock and walked around in the Old Town Square.  I could not believe the beautiful architecture in Prague.  It is truly indescribable, but if I had to describe it I would say it is something straight out of a gothic fairy tale.  We were once again tired from travel, so we called it a night and woke up early the next morning to explore more of Prague.  After miles of walking around the Old Town Square area that day, we were happy to relax on a dinner cruise boat along the river that night.  It was yet another spectacular excursion, and it was so fun to see the town of Prague lit up at night from the river.  The next couple of days consisted of more tours around Prague, including a tour of the Prague Castle, and some other big tourist spots.  On our tour of the Prague Castle I was continually amazed at all of the historical events that our guide told us about that had all happened in Prague.  I was also surprised to hear that the Prague Castle is the biggest castle in the world!  On top of the tour, we got to spend some time at the John Lennon wall and the church where the Infant Jesus of Prague is located.  They were both very interesting to see in person!  

March 15^th quickly arrived and I knew I had to say goodbye to my family and hello to my UNK group!  I was very fortunate to have spent all of this time with my family here in Europe, and it was so nice that they were able to drop me off at the airport and wish me luck on my adventure.  I am now settled into my dorm at Olomouc, as I mentioned before, and although everything is still in a trial-and-error stage, I am already having a blast.  I will be updating my blog as much as my free time will allow, but for now I’m Czech’n out!