Beer, Goulash, and a hint of Torture

Where to begin? This ECH study tour was just as much fun as the last and filled with lots of new experiences. After our seemingly unending bus ride we arrived in Prague and were greeted with weather colder than in Denmark! But this was fine and we had tons of places to explore. The city was bustling and there was lots of Czech food to eat and beer to drink. We saw a variety of things ranging from the Prague castle to the Charles Bridge all the way to the Kafka museum and the Mucha museum. We hung around the old square and got to see the clock chime with a decorative skeleton that nods his head at you (to remind you that death is, in fact, coming for everyone.) For one night in Prague we even had a dinner cruise up the Vltava River. It seems that a tradition of dinner cruises may be forming in the ECH trip planning.

A controversial Czech artist, David Černý, (recently famous for his work “Entropa” set up at the EU headquarters in Brussels) has a few pieces around Prague that we saw. Some of the more interesting ones involve giant babies affixed to the TV tower and a fountain of 2 men peeing on to shape of the Czech Republic. For our last “cultural event” in Prague we actually got to meet Černý, get a slideshow of a lot of his work and see the warehouse where he houses and constructs some of his art.

Next up was a trip to Kunta Hura to see a beautiful old Gothic cathedral and the Ossuary Chapel. It was so crazy to see all the bone chandeliers and decorations covering the walls. Definitely a unique visit that I won’t forget.

Our next sleeping location was in Český Krumlov, a smaller town in Southern Bohemia. While we were rather tired on our arrival a few of my friends and I wandered around the town and found ourselves at the castle with a great view of the lit up area below. We wouldn’t have gotten to see if it wasn’t for our night wanderings so I’m glad we did this even if meant sacrificing some time in bed.

The next day we visited a very small and remote town named Holašovice, which has a population of about 140 people and is decorated in “Southern Bohemina Folk Baroque.” For lunch we went to the city of České Budějovice to have more traditional Czech food and go to the Budweiser Budvar Brewery. We had a tour of the inner brewery workings and got to taste a sample of unfiltered beer. Not exactly the most typical of school field trips but always a lot of fun. That evening some of our group ended up celebrating our last night together (not including the bus ride back) in a dungeon-like bar that played a lot of Queen after realizing we were Americans. It was pretty ridiculous but all-in-all a good time.

The day of our departure we visited the Egon Schiele museum (which was opened early especially for our group) and had some free time to explore. We also bought some groceries for the ride home in which I spent about $2.50 to buy snacks that would have cost me about $13+ here in Denmark. Alas, clearly I picked the pricey abroad program.

This trip was different then my first ECH one but I learned a lot and got to get a taste of bunch of different places in the Czech Republic and I’m so happy that it turned out to be so much fun (even if it involved two 15-hour bus rides).



Creepy tower baby....