Ahh, it’s been a little over a week since my 1st blog post, not going to fall behind on these before classes even start!!

So we are I guess, half way through orientation week, here is a quick synopsis of my 1st week in Prague!

I will be doing this post in 2 parts, mainly because I found myself writing way too much, and then this way i wont feel so behind with my posts 🙂

Sat 25

I began my journey to the Czech Republic, starting with a nearly 7 hour flight to Lisbon, Portugal from Newark, New Jersey. 

This would be my 1st international flight ALONE, however, I was able to get incontact with another ESCES student taking the exact same flights as me! We met at the gate, and quickly became friends! It soon became to board, though SAD we didn’t share an issle, we wished each other a good flight and went on our way!

 All in all, a pretty easy flight, nothing much to report other than TAP Portugal has a pretty decent in-flight dinner, and a good collection of movies to choose from to help the time go by quicker, (I highly recommend the movie “ Yesterday”)

Sun 26

We land in Lisbon, we have an hour to go through customs and find out gate, fortunately this is our only layover. We heard horror stories from other students we spoke to in the Lisbon customs line about missed flights, multiple layovers, cancelled and rescheduled flights, you name it!

The Lisbon to Prague flight was a little less than 2 hours, I slept from the time we were in the sky, until it was time to descend. 

We disembark, head towards the luggage carousel (the trolleys are free!), and search for customs, in doing so, we accidentally end up outside. I guess there is no check point between arriving european flights? 

Unbenounced to us, we arrange for a car to pick us up, using the ever popular, American car service…. Fuber. Apparently it’s illegal here, oops. 

Two things, he picked us up at the departing flights area, how do you pick up a passenger on a departing flight,  and then have a problem with us having luggage, as he picked us up from an international airport. Needless to say he was having the time of his life, trying to explain to two american college students, why he really doesn’t want luggage in the passenger seats.

My new friend and I spent the afternoon unpacking and napping, around 5, we walked around our new neighborhood in search of a cute place to have dinner, we came upon Malý Buddha, an asian fusion restaurant about a 5 minute walk from the dorms. 

It has a real spooky interior, it feels kind of cavernous and seance-y in all the best ways. 

Mon 27

Having arrived earlier than most of the other students, I didn’t have a roommate until Monday morning, and to my surprise, it was another girl from my home university. 

I really didn’t do much other than sleep and unpack, until it was time for the Meet and Greet at a local café. 

After my 1st Czech meal, Goulash and dumplings with a pint of Pilsner, a group and I wander towards the tram stop, we ride the number 22 tram, 5 stops to Malostranské náměstí and meander the dark streets, until we wind up on Charles Bridge. 

I instantly recognize the bridge’s many statues and tall tower, by this time, it was around 7:30, the bridge wasn’t as crowded as it would be around noon, and the views were spectacular. The lamps created shadows and highlights on each stone statue, and the city lights reflecting off the water created a bright glow around the bridge.