Jake is here!

And not into any trouble, yet. We went to a hockey game tonite, Prague beat Liberic 2-1 in game 7 of the playoff semi-finals, so I get a few more weeks of hockey in Prague :)

The Palace of Versailles

So heres the plan. I can't get lots of pictures online all at once, so spring break will be described to you over the next few days, a little at a time.

The first place we stopped was the Palace of Versailles. This building served as the house of the Royal Family and the site of the French government from 1682 until 1789. More importantly, it was where the peace talks were held and the treaties signed that ended WWI. It is still used for special state functions today. Anyways, if you want to know more history, Wikipedia exsts for a reason. I'll tell you more when we get to the Normandy and WWII stuff. For now, I'll just share pretty pictures with you.

Oh, and the pics didnt come out good, but I brought snow with me to Versailles, not that you can tell looking at these pics. It was snowing pretty good for about 10 min while I was inside, meaning I have had snow in ever country I've been to so far.

From top to bottom:

1 & 2) Ouside the front of the palace

3) Stairway leading to the royal apartments

4) One of many cool statues

5) Hall of Mirrors, King Louis throne room, and location of signing of the Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI

6) Marie Antoinette's bedroom

7) Palace Chapel

8) Hallway leading to the Royal Opera

9) Entry room to the Queen's Bedroom

10) Back of Palace

11) Overlooking the ponds out the back

12) Fountain

13) Fountain with rainbow

14) Sitting area for artists to draw

Mont St. Michel

So, if y'all wanna see the castle where I just was at Monday night, suprisingly enough when I opened up CNN.com after getting home, they decided to do a piece on it: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/03/28/mont.st.michel/index.html

HA, I beat the rush that will now ensue!

Geneva INTERNATIONAL Airport

Well, Geneva is the first truly international airport I have been to. When you get off the plane, you have two doors to choose from. One takes you into France, and one takes you into Switzerland. I kid you not. Walk through the wrong door, and you're in the wrong country.

How do I know this? I manged to go back to France before making my way into Switzerland.

Anyways, the snow covered mountains look like fun, I'm gonna go play now.

PS - Switzerland is WAY cheaper than France.

Oh....

In my haste last night, I also forgot to mention that before Notre Dame, I did the Eiffel Tower.  If you go, walk to the second floor, and just get a ticket there to go to the top.  You'll save about half the price and half the time waiting in line.

This morning, I am headed to a castle town about 4 hours via train from Paris, to stay the night.  Hopefully spending the night in a castle will be fun!

Easter Sunday....

Well, this post is for Sarah and Grandma Novak.  You both may be suprised to hear what I did on Easter: attended mass given by the Cardinal at Notre Dame in Paris :)

(everyone else may be suprised to hear it as well)

It is an awesome church, even more beautiful with a service going on.  The thing that suprised me the most, however, was they invited all Christian believers, not just Catholics, to particpitate in communion.  That, and people that don't know when and when not to take pictures.  I'll admit, I snapped a few as the service was starting before anythign really happened, but leaning over people as the priest is blessing the communion bread to snap pictures is just downright rude.

That's all!

France....

Oh what a fun few days it has been.  As I type this, I sit staring out the window looking at Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.

We got in wednesday, and first visited the Palace of Versaille.  This was the chateau that Marie Antoinette and company built back when, and more importantly, the site of the Paris Peace talks that ended WWI.  It is a very beautiful chateau with immaculate gardens.  Following, we drove up to the Normandy coastline.  Normandy is a very beautiful place, it looks a lot like Michigan.  Lots of friendly people, as well.  We stayed at Hermanville s. Mer, right off the D-Day Sword Beach, at le Hotel du Canada.

Thursday we visited all the WWII landing beaches in Normandy.  It is much different that movies would have me believe, Omaha is the only one with big cliffs, to see the others and know how many people died, really put how big the battle was in perspective for me.  We stayed at Caen that night, the capital of Normandy, and seen the castle and chateau that was founded in the 10th century.

Friday we visited Cherbourg, and much to our suprise, so did the French President Sarkozy.  As we were eating lunch, his motorcade drove right by.  Following, we went to Mont St. Michel, an old abbey that was built into a fortress.  It is an awesome place, I'd love to go back there someday.

Today was wine tasting in Champagne, followed by a Normandy dinner consisting of pigs feet, tripe (cow intestines), calf brain and blood sausage.  It was yummy!  I finally figured out the secret to French food, as well.  Don't smell it.  Period.  Just plug your nose and eat it, it taste delicious, but smells like shit.  Other French specialties that I have tried include mussles (real yummy), steak tartate (raw steak topped with raw egg), and foie gras (tasted like cheese spread, real good on bread).  And, of course, the ever delicious French croissant.

Anyways, pics when I get back to Prague on Friday (or sometime after), and updates when I get the chance.  I'm heading to Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday, and am in Paris until then.

Au revoir!

Killing two birds with one stone.....

Well, my final trip is planned. I will be visiting Great Uncle Martin's grave in Nettuno, Italy, near Anzio and Rome.

Not only do I get to visit the American War Cemetary and Memorial, Anzio and Nettuno are also directly on the Mediterranean Sea, and I have a beachfront hotel :)

Speaking of Hockey.....

So, I was in Prague Old Town Hall yesterday for class. Walking around, I seen these people carrying posters of the NY Rangers and Tampa Bay and hockey sticks and jerseys. Imagine my suprise today, when I open up NHL.com and see this article: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=356485

The funnier thing? I just about wore my Huskies jersey, but ran out of time and couldn't find it before class.

HC Slavia Praha v. Trinec

Here's a cool shootout goal from the hockey game I went to the other night. In Czech Extraliga playoff games (their NHL), you play one 10 min 4-on-4 OT, and then go to shootout. Anyways, this was Trinec's first goal (they eventually won)

Just for Schuette

See, all you gotta do is ask, and you shall recieve. This is the motorcycle expo in Prague. I apologise for not having more pics of the bikes, but I was using Peter's camera to get Schuette his pics. Anyways, the first is me on my Harley Night Rod Special, the rest are Czech chicks on motorcycles. Enjoy!

(Oh, and Sarah, I love you, and you should be happy I'm looking at the girls and not the bikes, I have no chance at bringing home a girl, but there was a financing stand next to the bikes :) )

Modern Earl

Well, if the country band Modern Earl ever plays in America, go see them. I was kinda skeptical seeing a free country show in a bar in Prague, but it turned out to be real good. Good enough that I complimented them by saying that the only country show I've seen that has beat them out was Hank Williams Jr, which they agreed was a pretty good compliment.

Oh, the other cool thing was the bar was in an old military bunker!

Hmmm.....

Well, the goulash isn't turning out like goulash, more like beef stew. Oh well, still looks good.

Yes, I'm bored.

Just gotta thank Jared....

Cooking lesson #371 from college: if you don't have a suitable kitchen knife to prepare dinner, a sharp Buck knife will work just as well. So thanks to Jared's christmas gift, I can cook goulash now :)

Karlovy Vary

Prepare yourself for a shock! Jeff went to a spa town and got a massage! And, it was part of a class tour!

We went to Karlovy Vary (German/more popular name is Carlsbad) this weekend. It is a very famous spa town. Founded in the 14th century, it was pretty much the centre of European aristocratic treatment until the end of WWI. Pretty much anyone halfway famous in this time period went to the spas. Even today it remains popular due to it being the site of one of the most important film festivals in Europe.

In addition, it is also the site of of the Becherovka plant. It is a liquor, but a liquor that was designed for therapy. 20ml in the morning and evening is supposed to help you live longer, if you can get past the liquor tasting like Christmas in a bottle. Perhaps the coolest part is there is a 9km long transport pipe buried under Karlovy Vary that carries the liquor from one part of the plant to another. Apparently the Prime Minister of the Czech has been bugging the company to run a line off its transport pipe directly into his house, but they've declined thus far.

Anyways, the whole town reminds me of Mackinac Island, almost like a step back in time. Everything is old and fancy, most of the classical part of town is pedestrian only, or at least heavily restricted auto traffic, and there are still horse drawn carts.

Hmmm, guess every city I've visited has had horse drawn carts, and none for the same reason. Karlovy Vary uses horses for taxis for rich people, Krakow uses them as sightseeing for tourists, and Pristina uses them cause people are poor and actually need a horse drawn cart.

So in other news, I did find cheap tickets for spring break, I'm headed to Paris for a few days with Peter, hopefully to Normandy and one of the close wine regions, then I'm headed to Geneva for two days.

Unfortunately, after having this scheduled, the Czech krouna decided to jump a lot in value, so it will be the last trip for me that isn't planned and paid for through the school program. Hopefully the CZK doesn't get much stronger while I am here, the dollar has already lost about 20% to it since I arrived.

Karlovy Vary pics

From topish to bottomish:
1) St. Mary Magdalene's church
2) Alter in the crypt containing a tomb of God, so the local population wouldn't have to travel to Jerusalem
3) Human remains found during the expansion of the church now on display in the crypt, their complete bodies were not found so they were not reburied
4) The floor of the crypt of the church is one of the original roads running through Karlovy Vary.
5) Stone colonnade, outside. Inside are a few springs that you drink from to heal.
6) Inside the colonnade
7) Wood colonnade, same concept
8) A spring fountain in the wood colonnade
9) Grandhotel Pupp, used in the movies The Last Holiday and Casino Royale
10) Czechs are much smarter than Icelanders, in that they realize a lot more people will go to geysers if they are inside
11) Another spring fountain. All the different fountains have different mineral compositions in the water, doctors at the spas actually prescribe for people to walk to and drink from different fountains
12) TG Masaryk ave.
13) Cool looking store
14) Looking down the canal to Grandhotel Pupp
15) Looking the opposite direction