Praha - day two

Good morning world!


So, I had another lovely day in Prague yesterday ... the two big events were 1) loss of power, and 2) the start of my school orientation. So ... I blatantly refused advice from my electrical engineer girlfriend, who has also traveled extensively in Europe, to NOT plug in my hairdryer to the converter she gave me. Nice one Ami! I foolishly thought that I could use it for about 10 seconds to melt my hair wax ... yeah, no. Within about one second sparks flew and then darkness came. Again - nice one Ami! And not just my flat either, but the whole unit of four flats where I live. Awesome!


So, I got my trusty flashlight (aka smartphone) and located the circuit breaker and flipped them several times -  to no avail. So, not having a phone yet nor internet (as the router requires power) ... I determined to go visit my landlord before school orientation. Luckily, I was just about headed out the door for the day when this happened ... and my two neighbors were already gone for the day.


I made it to the school area, and the CEA (the other Study Abroad program who are handling my housing) offices and actually ran into George (the coordinator) coming out his door. Thank you HP! I told him what happened, and gently reminded him I had no phone yet (actually - that HE was supposed to give me one) nor internet when he demanded "why didn't you call me immediately, or email me?" So ... he said he's take care of it ... AND ... gave me a phone. Yeah! I just needed to buy a sim card and some minutes.


From there I went to school for orientation. I got to meet the three other CCIS (the Study Abroad program through which I am here) peeps ... Alejandro, David and  Travis. David is from Indiana, Travis is from Jersey, and Alejandro from Miami - and a way cool laid-back nice-guy cutie who I hit it off with (but NOT in that way people!) ... not so much with David and Travis. Oh well.


Here is the main entrance to my school ...

The school, Anglo-American University (www.aauni.edu), is housed in two palaces - both old convents of the historic Knights of Malta ... note the shield and cross above the doors. These Knights, along with the Knights Templar, were the most powerful Christian organization in the 12th century. They originally began as an order of Benedictine monks who cared for the pilgrims pilgrimaging to the Holy Land (they are also known as the Knights Hospitaller). Cool, huh?!?!?

The church attached to the convent.

A far shot of the convent's church, along with a cute square and statue in the foreground.

So, my orientation started with a meeting with the Student Affairs team (Jana, Aneta and Mischka) ... all very nice. We got our paperwork, class schedules, and a handy book for ex-pats living in Prague. From there we went on a tour of the campus with Mischka ... nice campus, but small. The library is particularly fabulous, housing over 19k books written in English and having a simply exquisite carved wooden beamed ceiling - and housed practically under the Charles Bridge.

From the tour, Mischka took us to purchase our public transit pass - which would include a picture of us (yeah ... instant souvenir!). And since the ticket window closed for break (30 mins) at soon at we walked up to it, we went to get espresso - which was cool as we got to chat with her about the city. Apparently this Saturday night all museums are free ... woo hoo!

Here is a pic of my metro (subway), tram (above ground), and bus pass.

After that I walked back home, stopping at the Como Restaurant (a Greek one I had scoped out the day before) to see when they closed ... 12m - wow, cool! So, I went home to shower and refresh myself and head back out for a night on the town. However, when I arrived there was no power in MY flat ... all others had been restored except mine. Nice. And, since the router was plugged into my flat for the whole unit - my neighbor Jade was not happy. "I can't live without internet," she said exasperated. I agreed! So, we called George and then the emergency line when no one answered. The CEA Director, Susana, came over and flipped the circuit breakers some more, even the main one (which I didn't know the location of earlier or I could have fixed the situation myself) - again, to no avail for my flat. Just before we three ladies were about to give up - Jade suggested flipping the breakers for the last flat (#4) in case they had gotten crossed with mine (#1) ... and low and behold - power! Nice!!!

So, all is good ... except that I seem to have fried the outlet that I plugged the hairdryer into ... uh oh. Let's hope it's not too big of a deal. AND ... to make matters worse, the washer in the unit is on the same power circle as that outlet - so that isn't working either. Uhhhh ... I guess it's the laundromat for now!

Whew - it's exhausting just writing about it! So, I refreshed and went to a fabulous dinner at the Como Restaurant (www.comorestaurant.cz), sat on the outside porch and listened to a trio of sax, drums and acoustic guitar - I was in heaven! I had goat cheese in philo pastry and spinach salad drizzled with balsamic glaze, Greek salad and a pink bull (red bull with fruit juices and pieces of fruit) ... yummy! I ordered the passion fruit tiramisu, thinking it would be fruity and not traditional - but it was, so I could only eat the top part that wasn't soaked in liqueur.

From there I took the metro (who's a big girl then!?!) to the other side of the river so that I could see the Charles River lit at night. WELL ... it wasn't lit last night, dammit! I'll try again on a weekend night. Here are some pics of the things I saw along the way home ... Prague is HOPPING at night. I didn't leave the restaurant until 10:30p and people were roaming the streets until 12m when I got home. I forgot that everything goes later here in Europe.

Yup - that IS a bidet ... at the Como, and NO - I didn't try it!

OK, so this is NOT the Charles Bridge - rather it is the Manesuv Bridge, two bridges to the north of Charles.

Jana Palacha ... on the eastern side (my side) of the Bridge of Legions.

The famous Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square ... don't worry, I'll get a better pic in the daylight.

Ummm ... excuse me Walt, but I think I found the inspiration for your famous logo!

And that is IT ladies and gentlemen ... for now anyway. Gotta run ... gonna try to make the 12n meeting, and then maybe to Ikea to get some stuff to make my flat more homey and livable. A quiet day as I have a 5 hour tour of the city tomorrow (school orientation part II) and then another 5 hour tour of a castle on Saturday (school orientation part III). Have a great day everyone!!


Here is a link to the day's photos on my Picasa page ... Ami's 2nd Day in Praha

Lady Jud - Blogger