My Favorite New Pictures

Finally Home

Once Aga arrived in Prague we didn't have much access to computers so I haven't been able to update anything until now. Now we're both safe and sound here in Long Beach and now I have all the time in the world to blog. As some people know I took over 12,000 pictures during my trip and have finally organized them and sorted out my favorite ones. I will be uploading them onto my photo album and sorting them with titles of where they were or their significance. Thank you all for your support and help with this trip. It was an experience that I'm sure will influence me for the rest of my life.

No More Mail

Just to let everyone know - if you send me any mail from now on I won't be able to receive it because it takes 6 days to arrive and I'll be outa here before then. You can always email and/or leave comments though.

New Pictures

Check out the new pictures from Amsterdam. The rest are in the main Gallery.

One week left

Well, we have one more week of school before (almost) everyone goes back home and Aga and I travel to Croatia. Our final farewell dinner is tomorrow night when we will hopefully be able to get our first group picture. Rachel and I have come to the conclusion that Prague finally feels like home now. We aren't overwhelmed when we travel downtown and look up at the national monuments and buildings, but we're still excited to go our and find new things. Today a group of us is going wine tasting and tonight we're having a toga party at the bar in the basement of the dorms.

Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend most of the group went away and traveled to far distant lands. I stayed here in town and explored with a small group. We went to the mall in the outskirts of town. It's basically the same thing as the Block in Orange except that they have a pretty crazy food court, and way better desserts at their ice cream shops. Today I hiked to the top of the hill near the castle and saw an incredible view. I'll post some pictures in a few days. Oh and I'm cutting my hair again. It won't look as bad in a few days.

Geoff's Prague Look

So seeing so many different hair styles and tattoos that people have over here I got inspired and decided to try a few for myself.

Sorry Mom and Dad.
Aga, I hope you like it.

Berlin and after

This past weekend we traveled to Berlin by train and stayed at downtown at a nice hotel from Friday night to Monday morning.  Ray (my roommate) told me that Berlin is where he wants to move once he graduates from the program.  I can understand why.  It has an incredible public transit system, very similar to Prague's, but a tad older.  There is so much history ingrained in that city that if you walk down any street you can see something found in a history book.  I took a bike tour with a small group and we basically saw every major historical landmark within a 3 mile radius including the Berlin wall, Parliament, the oldest cathedral in Berlin, the national museum, Humboldt University which is where the biggest book burning in Nazi history took place, the last standing sniper tower of the Berlin wall, the Jewish memorial and so many more.  To sum it up it was the most incredible history lesson I've ever experienced.  We partied at a local salsa club and Matias (our teacher) showed us his dancing moves. Thanks for checking in.  More updates soon. Oh and it's been raining a lot.

Pictures

Here we are at the Charles Bridge.

First School Day

We made it safe and sound at the Prague airport and arrived at our dorm an hour later. Its a nice place. 6 story building with a garden in the back. The students going to school here are having finals for the next 2 weeks so our group is a little dispersed and spread out among the floors. When the students finish their semester everyone in our group will be moved onto 2 floors.
I haven't been able to load any pictures up yet, just google Prague and you'll see how beautiful and exciting this city is. I've been exploring a lot with a ton of different groups. There aren't any clicks of people here which is nice. I'm comfortable speaking and spending time with anyone from the class.
We have class 3 hours a day and spend the rest of the time (so far) learning about the city. The only complaint that I have about the place is that you have to buy water everywhere you eat (no tap) and it's 2x as expensive as beer. My feet are feeling great thanks to the Keens that my parents bought me. Last night I bought some buttermilk by accident instead of regular milk and had a little surprise this morning when I started eating my granola. I'm going to take a siesta in a minute. I'll get the pictures up as soon as I can. Love and miss you all.

- Geoff

Last Full Day Here

It's incredible how much stuff I've found to do to prepare for this trip. Some people have been working full time up to the day before we leave and are managing just fine. Not me. I've had 2 weeks off. I've been antsy for a few days and a little concerned because I still really don't know much about Prague. Jumping in headfirst knowing that it's really really deep, that's me. I'm soooo excited. : )

Itinerary of Events

Here is a basic breakdown of my trip.

My trip with the Design Group

Friday June 8th - Leave from LAX for Prague
Saturday June 9th - Arrive in Prague
Friday June 22nd - Leave for Berlin, Germany by train
Monday June 25th - Return to Prague by train
Friday July 6th - Leave for Amsterdam, Holland by plane
Monday July 9th - Return to Prague by plane
Friday July 13th - Last day of class

My trip with Aga

Sunday July 15th - Aga arrives in Prague
Tuesday July 17th - Leave for Osijek, Croatia by train
Monday July 23rd - Fly from Split, Croatia to Krakow, Poland
Tuesday July 24th - Travel from Krakow to Warsaw, Poland by train
Saturday July 28th - Return to Prague by plane, then return to LAX

Before my trip

This is it. I'm leaving for Europe and on my own for 2 months. With a little help from my 40 classmates and 4 teachers I'm sure this trip is going to be incredible (not to mention all of the support and advise I've received from my family leading up to now).