who needs napa valley?

Loyal readers,

Prague and I are getting along famously... I'm definitely a fan. Though it is definitely a different experience for me when people don't respond or warm up to politeness. I consider myself a fairly polite person, or so I've always been told. Here however, that seems to have little to no merit. Perhaps I just need to learn to be polite in the correct language... hmm. Well, Czech lessons begin in the morning, so let my education in central European charm begin!

Let's see... I've burned through nearly 10 rolls of film in less than 2 weeks.. expensive hobbies I have! Last week I visited a few small villages several hours outside of Prague, learned to make Czech ceramics- pretty glorious. I personally made a little laughing Buddha statue, but hey, to each their own!

We made stir-fry, pretty tasty stuff. Made the boys clean up- we'll see how long we can keep that up. And by the way, this whole having-a-pub-in-the-dorm-basement-thing is suuuuuuuper dangerous, I'm finding out. Especially when the bartender keeps bringing you beers you never asked for. Oy. AND they're cheap (and good!) on top of that- like I said, dangerous. My friends have attempted to hang out there first before going out a few times... Yeah, they never make it out.
I've started getting forceful with said bartender- no means no, dude!

This past weekend, our program took us out to the territory of Moravia, which is East of Prague. It was once its own country, but joined Bohemia and the Czech territory sometime back in the day to form one uber country! Famous for wine and catholic churches, both of which we saw and sampled plenty of. Especially dangerous is the "baby wine" which is new wine that is still fermenting. Therefore, it is very thick, very sweet, and VERY easy to drink. But if you drink too much, you'll hate yourself. Baby wine gives off lots of gas and air- which is why it ferments where the air can escape. Put it in a plastic bottle with the cap closed, and 30 minutes later you'll have a nice explosion of baby wine all over. The same thing can happen in your body- not pleasant.
We all were very careful with the baby wine.
Or at least, most of us..

Did alot of driving all over Moravia, and it reminded me somewhat of Tuscany; except perhaps a bit more communist.. Took lots of pictures, saw many small villages and sights, very eventful.

Stayed in the former capitol, Brno. Saw the famous Mendel museum; a whole hall filled with information about peas. I can honestly say, it was the most interesting pea museum I have ever seen, or ever plan to see. Truly riveting stuff.

Drove back to Prague, and here I am- recounting it for Lord knows who. It was a good trip, surprisingly relaxing, as I decided to be nice to my still-slightly aching knee and stay at the hotel and sleep rather than go out. Shocking, I know- but I have been known to make reasonable decisions on the rare occasion.

And now, I find myself gravititating toward my bed and/or pillow, so I bid you all adue, and will write again soon!

Cheers,

Erin