Excursion to the University Brewery!

The location of the second excursion for Prague students was a bit closer to home. Actually, they walk by it every day. Students spent the afternoon learning a brewery situated right here on the university campus. The brewery is a teaching and resource tool for students at the Czech University of Life Sciences. Prior to the tour, both Czech and American students sampled the beer and traditional Czech hors d'oeuvres. The social was a good time for the American students to spend time outside of class with their Czech friends!

Exciting Weekend Adventures

Students in Prague enjoyed exciting weekend trips to destinations all over Europe! Following a half day of class on Thursday, students from the Prague trip traveled by plane, train, and bus to a variety of locations including Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam. From the sound of the stories, it seemed to be an exciting excursion for all!

Students in Vienna enjoyed the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace, a sprawling estate on the edge of Vienna. They were pleased to find out that Vienna's love for gelato matched their own! A student that visited Berlin simply said, "It rocked!" Highlights of the trip included the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, and Reichstag building. Stay posted for more exciting adventures!

Megan and Erin enjoying gelato in Vienna!

Excursion to Budweiser Budvar Brewery (Budějovický Budvar), České Budějovice, and Český Krumlov

Ana and Hanza, our Czech coordinators, planned a whole day of events around the South Bohemia region in the Czech Republic. The first stop was a WWII monument recognizing the last battle of the war in the Czech Republic on May 11, 1945. From there we traveled on to see a small neighboring town and church, then moved down the road to the famous Budweiser Budvar brewery.

Budweiser is one of Czech's most popular beers, and has been brewed solely at the same location since the 1800s. We got a great tour around the brewery, and got to see each of the many processes in making beer. The bottling room, full of large machines moving empty, full and recycled bottles to the different stations for washing, filling and packaging, was especially interesting. After the tour, the brewery restaurant served us a great lunch of potato soup, salad, wiener schnitzel and crepes for dessert.

Ceske Budejovice and it's Cerna Vez, or Black Tower, was our next stop. We climbed its 225 steps to reach the top of this great tower overlooking the city.

We then visited the stunning town of Ceske Krumlov, and its Castle Chateau. The rain didn't stop us from having a good time walking through the cobblestone streets to the base of the huge castle. Once inside, we were taken on a tour that described the castle's history starting back in the 1300s! After our tour in the castle, and a few stops along the way for photo taking, we headed to dinner and then back to the campus.

So far, all has been great here in the Czech Republic!

Orientation to the City of Prague

Monday, May 17, 2010:

Today, we got a tour of the campus, and went into the city center. While on the tour in downtown Prague we saw most of the city's most beautiful sites. Today was full of pictures, "Czech out" our shutterfly website for more of the amazing adventure. Prague 2010 Shutterfly Pictures

(Students, Mark, Matt, and Eric)






(Students gazing at the beautiful Prague Castle and Cathedral)










(The entire group of American and Czech Students with Prague Castle behind)





(All the guys standing in front of the John Lennon Wall)

We have arrived to Prague!

Ahoj!

The group has made it safely to Prague, and we are all very excited to be here! We have had an eventful few days learning the campus, public transportation routes, and the whereabouts in downtown Praha. The Czech students and coordinators have done a great job of making the group feel at home here in the Czech Republic.

Our welcome dinner was a hit, we were served delicious chicken and steak, sandwiches, salad, french fries and cake. Not to mention the great pivo (beer in Czech) and Becherovka (a very famous Czech liqueor). It was a great night to get to know each other more, as well as to get to know the Czech students.

(Student Managers, Sean Odneal and Mike Swigunski with Anna Vichova, a Czech Counterpart)