A lot of my time has been dedicated to getting ready for Christmas. In one giant 5-hour shopping spree, I knocked out gift-buying for my entire 5-person host family. They have treated me super well, so I made sure to get them relevant and fun gifts. I know Christmas is more about giving than receiving, but I'm curious what German presents are in store for me! That same shopping trip I also got my teenage host brother an extra gift, as he, much like my younger host brother and my host mom, also has a December birthday. I headed to a Hollister store to make that purchase, since Hollister tries to emulate the California lifestyle. They even had videos of Huntington Beach, California playing inside the store. Seeing a beach that was just a 25 minute drive from home sweet home in Lake Forest was fun, but I was not in much of a beach-y mood since it was 40 degrees outside.
I also got into the holiday spirit by going to yet another Christmas market in Berlin, this time with Greek friends. Pictures to come, eventually! And on Sunday, December 14, some of my fellow participants here in Berlin and I were invited to a holiday party put on by a German alumnus of our program. He was nice enough to invite us into his home and celebrate the third advent with his friends and colleagues, which gave us a great opportunity to meet and use our now-considerable German skills on some locals.
I do have some bad news. My young, extraordinarily promising handball career has been, as of now, cut short. Until now, remember, I had been taking handball courses through my university. But, effective immediately, all of my handball sessions are canceled because Freie Universität's sport hall is being used as a shelter for some of the thousands of refugees currently pouring into Germany each year from countries like Serbia, Syria, Eritrea, and Afghanistan. The refugee problem is a huge and contentious issue in Germany right now, particularly because Germany is obligated (due to EU policies) to provide these refugees with support, and most refugees specifically come to Germany rather than less economically prosperous countries like Italy or Greece. This, of course, makes it close to impossible for Germany to adequately house all of the refugees, so sometimes extreme measures have to be taken. One such measure, as we can see, is taking over public universities' gym facilities to use as shelter facilities. Oh, well. Hopefully I find another club or class to which I can bring my handball talents.
And finally, just like American universities, Freie Universität is on winter break. That means lots of time to travel! I will be traveling to both Munich and Vilnius in the next 2 weeks, and I can hardly wait. I also just hitched a ride with my American friend Tony's host family to Prague for three days. Yes, I just went to Prague again. But the ride, hotel, and breakfast were free thanks to Tony's generous host family, and Prague is a very cheap city, so I had to go! I had an awesome time and saw plenty of new things. So even more photos from Prague are coming up.
But back to the rest of the photos from our trip in mid-November. We dedicated our last morning there to exploring Prague's castle, which was built in the 9th century and rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. Today, it's the seat of the President of the Czech Republic and is the historical and political center of both the city and state. The castle sits high on a hill above Prague and is the largest ancient castle in the WORLD. Once we saw how big the castle's campus is, we were hardly surprised that it holds such a title.
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| Looking back on the city as we climbed up to the castle |
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| Heading up the long hill, by foot |
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| Once you make it all the way up to the castle, you're rewarded with this view |
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| Gates to the castle |
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| As you can see, the castle is really a big complex of several different buildings, including a palace and the St. Vitus Cathedral |
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| St. George's Basilica is another church in the castle complex, and is even older than St. Vitus, having been built in 1344 (but only completed around 1900) |
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| The Golden Lane is a street that dates to the 15th century and comprises of 11 historic houses which artisans, alchemists, goldsmiths, and soldiers used to call home. Like with many old buildings from that era, what really struck me was how small the houses, rooms, and doorways were |
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| No castle experience would be complete without a torture chamber |
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| The back side of the Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral, built in the 1300s |
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| St. George's Basilica is a striking red |
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| The ornate interior of St. Vitus |
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| A huge mosaic adorns the south side of cathedral |
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| Vladislav Hall was the setting for acts of state and coronations from 1509 to 1836. Technically, no photography was allowed, but what the Czechs don't understand is that I have a blog to update |
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| The castle's guards change every hour |
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| Awesome, sunlight! |
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| Time to head back into the city and back home |
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| This cylindrical snack is a trdelnik, a sweet Slovak pastry available all over the place in Prague |
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| Every street in Prague's city center is lively and pretty |
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| We then crossed the Charles Bridge, which was built in 1357. It was the only way to cross the Vltava River until 1841 |
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| Everywhere you look in Prague, there are countless spires reaching for the clouds. St. Vitus Cathedral is up on the hill to the right |
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| Looking back at the castle |
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| Old Town Prague in the background |
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| The Charles Bridge's towers serve as a gate to the Old Town |
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| Back on the old town square for a last few pictures. Here, inside the 18th-century Church of St. Nicolas |
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| Prague's famous astronomical clock was installed in 1410, which makes it the 3rd-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest functional one. The skeleton sculpture represents death |
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| Another look at the Church of Our Lady before Tyn |
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| To reach the church, you have to go through the house that stands before it (the house was there before the church was built) |
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| The actual entrance to the church |
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| One last look at the old town square and Old Town Hall. I didn't know I would be returning just over a month later with Tony! |
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| Taking the subway, direction "home" |
That's it for pictures from our big November trip to Prague, finally. Next up, finally some holiday-themed pictures from one of Germany's famous markets!