travelling

a huge part of the study abroad experience is travelling - not just around the czech republic, but around europe. as part of our tuition, nyu pays for several trips around the area. we signed up for these trips on friday, and i am happy to report that i'll be going on all my first-choice trips.

next friday we'll be going to kutna hora, a town in the czech republic, where there is a church furnished entirely out of human bones. we are only spending one day there, but i'm really psyched about it. i've heard crazy things about this church. but more on that when i get back - with the requisite gruesome pictures.

the following weekend i'll be travelling to western bohemia (sidenote: the czech republic is separated into two region, bohemia and moravia. they used to be two separate kingdoms before they were united into "the czech lands) for three days. i believe the place we're going is a spa town where the rich and famous go to rejuvinate. should be a blast.

at the end of march the plan is to go to cesky krumlov, another czech city. i haven't heard that much about the area, but i'm excited nonetheless.

we're also going to terezin, a former nazi transit camp an hour or so outside prague. despite the fact that it's going to be a sobering experience, i am still looking forward to seeing a part that history. when i was younger i had a bizarre holocaust/ww ii fascination, so trips like these are right up my alley (so to speak).

all these trips are nyu-sponsored, but we're also planning on travelling on our own. our first trip is currently in the works: budapest on february 9-11. right now we're figuring out who exactly is interested (it looks like it's going to be a pretty big group, which could either be really fun or really miserable. we'll see) and trying to find a cheap-yet-classy hostel. and by "classy" i mean "not sketchy."

i'm also thinking about planning a trip to vienna for my birthday weekend. we'll see how that goes.