Welcome to Prague, Czech Republic

Prague, the capital of Czech Republic and home to 1.3 million people, is a prominent and beautiful historic city in the European Union, nicknamed the Golden City. Prague was founded in the Romanesque period and greatly flourished during both the Gothic and Renaissance eras. Not only was Prague the capital of the Czech state, but also of the Holy Roman Empire as it was seat to two Emperors in history. Before Czechoslovakia was split into Czech Republic and Slovakia, Prague was also its capital. Prague is the sixth most visited city in Europe, behind Paris, Rome, Madrid, Berlin and London. Prague has many amazing sites to visit such as the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petrin Hill. 

Lennon Wall

Gothic Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

First night in Prague!

We arrived in Prague after a 30 hours bus ride from Kiev! So long, so tiring, so worth it. Were in Prauge for about 2 days in total, and it was not enough. There was so much to do and see and experience, I definitely wish we could have had more time there. One night we went on a boat tour of Prague and got to see the city all lit up which was beautiful. From the boat we could see the numerous churches, castles and buildings from all eras contained in the history of Prague, and it was amazing! 

Another day we had a tour of Prague where Nonika and I visited a monastery which was filled with amazing architecture. Then we walked down to Charles Bridge where they say if you walk across the bridge from Old Town Square towards Prague Castle and touch the falling priest on the statue of ST. John of Nepomuk (the 8th statue on the right), you will have good luck, ensure your return to Prague, and your wish will come true! They love making wishes here in Prague! Later that night we went to a Medieval Castle which has been around for 100s of years, and the family still lives on its third floor! After the tour of the castle we wen to a Medieval dinner and show. It was one of the funnest things we did! The people who work there were dressed in traditional medieval clothing and were in character all night. There were pretty much no rules, as they said that's how it was in medieval times. They put on numerous shows, such as sword fights, and had dancing and music all night. One guy carried around a HUGE python with him all night and was letting people hold it... I was terrified, but I did it. 

Medieval show, best guy there!

Good old Medieval fight.

Priceless ;)

Scariest moment of my life.

He took out my hair and stole my elastics, how dare he!

Boat tour of Prague :)

Getting ready to make a wish on Charles Bridge!

This guy asked Nonika if he could keep me.... we said no haha

Welcome to Vienna, Austria

Vienna is truly a beautiful city! Unfortunately we only got about 6 hours to spend there which is not nearly enough!! But in that short time we were able to see a lot of amazing buildings, cool architecture and met a wonderful professor who showed us many sites and taught us a lot about Vienna. 

The remarkably beautiful, Vienna 

Vienna is the capital of Austria, located near the borders of Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, and home to about 1.7 million people. Vienna is known around the world as the City of Music, because of its world renowned opera and musical heritage, as well as the City of Dreams, as it is home to the world's first psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud. When translated from its roots, Vienna means bright or fair. In 2005 it tied for first place with Vancouver, Canada as the world's most livable city, and in 2012 it ranked second. During the Quality of Living survey taken from 2009-2012 Vienna ranked first place, again. After visiting the city it is easy to understand why. Vienna is captivating. The prices are fair, the people are friendly, the history is remarkable, and the innovations taking place continue to grow. 

The BEST part of the day was when we were standing by a fountain taking pictures, striking poses, when an older man walked up and asked us if we knew what the fountain was called. We all shook our heads and he told us it was called Providentia Fountain and that Mother Teresa had wanted it destroyed because it was too expressive, but it was instead buried for over 100 years until an excavation crew dug it up where it now sits in central Vienna. One of the women on the fountain has her breast exposed and he told us it is considered the perfect size and medical doctors use it today still when women get implants. He was a very funny, intelligent man, and he told us that he was a medical doctor and a professor at the Vienna University, and that he loves his students and thinks of them as his children. He said our parents must be very proud to have such beautiful, well-mannered daughters who had a passion for learning because it was so important. 

He then asked us if we had some more time and when we said yes he proceeded to give us a tour of many magnificent 'sensations' in Vienna for the next 45 minutes. He was enthusiastic and loved that we were so interested. He even got a security guard in St. Stephen's Cathedral to let us into an enclosed area for 5 minutes where he showed us an old banister that had frogs carved on its railing. He told us that the legend says if women cannot get pregnant they would come here and walk down the staircase with their hand on the frogs, and they would become pregnant! He also took us to visit an old church with an imperial crypt where the Austrian Royal Habsburg Family was buried. Outside the church there was an old Brachent Linen Store where Marie Antoinette would buy a new dress everyday, imported from Milan, Spain. 

Frogs carved onto the staircase - Austrian sign of Fertility

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Meeting this man, Pablo Niccole, was the best experience while in Vienna, maybe the whole Europe trip! He was such a kind man and loved teaching us about the history of Vienna. We definitely had luck on our side that afternoon! Vienna is beautiful, interesting, and a city where you could spend days without getting tired of it. I can't wait to go back one day!

Professor Pablo Niccole :)

So happy Miss Kyla joined our tour group again!

I don't see why Mother Teresa would destroy him.

We love each other.

Ми почасти подобається це місце

What a crazy busy weekend we had! Friday was packed full of running from required hospital exams, TB x-rays, orphanage visits, English school visits and meetings with the University! It was so busy we didn't have time to eat all day.. which is becoming a common occurrence with us! Saturday was a great day, and we had so much fun, despite the fact that it snowed so hard all day. It was so pretty out with all of the snow and wasn't even very cold, which was a nice change. We first met with Nastia, one of our guides here Kiev, and she took us to the History of Kiev Museum. It was great to get to learn a lot about the history of the city and the wars that took place here, so we can understand the magnificent city in which we are living. 

Typical gun from the wars here in Kiev

After the museum we had a Christmas party/concert to go to. Here in Ukraine, they go by the Orthodox calendar so Christmas is not celebrated on December 25th, but is rather celebrated in the New Year on January 7th. It's like we got to experience the Christmas spirit all over again! The party had lots of dancing, musical instruments, and singing. Every song had to do with Christmas until one 10 year old girl started to sing and it was a song in English. We were excited to hear an English Christmas song until we realized that it was Christina Aguilera's hit song Beautiful haha. It was hilarious for us because it was so random and everyone else assumed that the song had to do with Christmas! 

We had a great night later on because one of the girls helping us out while we are here came over to our apartment with one of her friends and we cooked and hung out together. We just cooked something simple - pizza and potatoes and salad. She has promised to come over and teach us how to cook vareniki (perogies), borscht (beet based soup), and holubutsi (cabbage rolls). The more people we meet the more excited we are about being here in Ukraine and on this study abroad. 

Cooking dinner with the girls!

When people say the sidewalks and roads here are icy, they are not lying!! So far the score is ice 5 and us girls 0. It's really getting the best of us! The local people are always running to our aid... especially when we take a huge spill (Nonika... haha)! The people are awesome and so friendly for the most part. Lots of them speak English and love talking to us so that they can practice. We had the opportunity to go to an International Ward for church today, and as I was outside in the hall I started talking to a man who was wanting to practice his English. So we started talking and he even promised to teach us to play the guitar and other instruments while we are here some nights at the church as he is a music teacher at the University. We are getting very well acquainted with the local busses and metros, pretty soon we might even be able to do it without getting lost! It takes at least an hour to get from one place in a city to another and each bus or metro costs about 2 grivna, which is cheap - only 25 cents! The exchange rate is 1 dollar to 8.08 grivna, and food here is dirt cheap! 

This has been an eventful weekend and we cannot wait to start our program tomorrow - at 6am! Talk to you all soon! 

Graffiti walls!

I just love the look of this cathedral with all the snow, so pretty!

Beautiful Temple!

Kyla, Me, Nonika, and Nastia - such a sweet girl!

You could say it was a little snowy today.. 

First Day, New Love

Today was my first real day in Kiev, and the 9 hour time change is killing me! My body doesn't want to sleep when it should, so I ended up getting up at 4am and talking with my mom on the phone and skyping with a friend. It's awesome to be able to stay connected to people at home even though I am half way across the world, and I feel very blessed to have such amazing people in my life! Today I started out by going to orientation with the girls and our coordinators here in The Ukraine. Our coordinators, Anna, Oleg, and Kirrill, are amazing to work with and such great people. We went over our rules and how to stay safe, etc etc. got our schedules for the upcoming week, and went over some activities we wanted to do here like snowboarding, museums, the ballet and opera, and whatever else we decide! It was overhwhelming to say the least, but I am so so so excited for it all to begin! After orientation we had a walking tour of the city around the main square. When people say it is cold here, they really mean it! -25 and wind does not make for a nice stroll around the city, but it was so fun and the city has some amazing architecture and sites to see! The coolest buildings in my opinion are the onion domes that are throughout the city. Onion domes are the old buildings, mainly cathedrals, which have spiral gold rooftops and intricate designs. 

Orthodox golden Onion domes of St. Michael's Cathedral

Another site that was interesting was The Golden Gates of Kiev which is a major landmark of Kiev and a historic gateway in the ancient city fortress. After our tour we were taken to a Ukranian restaurant and introduced to typical Ukranian food - I was clueless as to what anything was! But I ended up with good food despite the fact I didn't know what I was ordering! We all ate borscht, a staple soup in most Central and Eastern European countries, and Vareniki, basically a dumpling filled with meat or potato, very similar to a pierogi. 

Borscht and Vareniki

I had a great day learning about the city of Kiev and even managed to learn a few words:

Pryvit - hello

Na na (pronounced pa pa) - goodbye 

Diakuiu - thank you

I can already see the charm of Kiev and the history it has to offer. I am so excited and blessed to have this opportunity to study abroad, nothing could beat this!

Chilly day in Kiev, but so so pretty! 

St. Sofia's Cathedral - breathtaking!

The girls - Kyla, Sarah, Me, Nonika