"Are you Czech?"

Despite my lingering cold, today was absolutely fantastic. After two weeks of 5 days a week, 6 hours a day, intensive Czech classes, yesterday we finally finished. While the classes were entirely exhausting, I'm so glad we took them. One thing I will continue to love about this country is how much the Czech people appreciate any attempt to speak their language. With a simple "Dobrý den", you immediately break down a huge barrier and are greeted with smiles and friendliness. Being able to go to the Lékárna (Czech pharmacy), where they speak absolutely no English, and tell them that I had a cough and needed medicine for it, was extremely rewarding.

Today Ata and I explored Malá Strana (The Lesser Town). We started off wandering around near the castle, and stumbled upon a wine festival. Of course, despite it being 12:30 pm, we stopped by and tried some wine. Absolutely delicious! Above is a photo of Ata enjoying her wine and the beautiful view!


After some more aimless wandering, we found our bearings.  We stopped into a Starbucks (yes, so American, I know). After ordering, the cashier (who was, by the way, the first good looking Czech man I have seen in this country) said to Ata "Are you Czech?". Upon hearing her say no, I'm from America, he looked back with shock and said "Wow! I thought you were Czech!" So exciting to see what just two weeks of class will do!

After Starbucks, we crossed the street to check out the pictures this man was sketching on the sidewalk. I'd been looking for one of these vendors for the past 3 weeks, as I was hoping to get a picture for my brother. Yet until today, all I had seen was vendors selling these drawings, but none of them were actually drawing them. We talked to him for awhile, and once again, our abilities with the Czech language were complimented. He couldn't believe how much progress we had made in just 2 weeks! His drawings were absolutely beautiful, and buying one was so much more exciting having spoken to him, even for the short time that we did.

Then we went to the John Lennon Peace Wall. I'd be looking forward to going here, and it completely lived up to my expectations. I got to sign the wall; if you zoomed in on the first heart in "Choose", you'd see "Sam Kubek Was Here". I've left my mark on Prague!

We then met up with Mara, Kelly, Paul, and Jim to go to the Eiffel Tower. Yes, you heard me correctly; they have one here too. The walk was entirely uphill and I legitimately was crying through my knee pains, but when we got to the top, it was entirely worth it. From there you climb up the actual tower, and the view was utterly breathtaking. As we climb partway down the path back to the city, we stopped at the Mirror Maze. As you can see, it led to some pretty ridiculous pictures.

Dinner tonight was superb--Ata and I cooked some grilled cheese, and a spinach salad with blue cheese, chicken, walnuts, cranberries, and balsamic vinegrette. A perfect way to end the evening! Getting ready to go out now, so I'm gonna jet. Loving this city more and more every day!