Just another day on the Airplane (Flight story to Barcelona)

In the Vesce family, there is never a dull moment on airplanes. It is almost as if we are doomed with the high chance of being sandwiched between two people with seat belt extenders a.k.a. Marty's (I don't know why the Spanish call them Marty's, but I can speculate). Let me tell you what I do know... as soon as the stewardess laid her eyes on the two rhino's I was sandwiched between, I over heard her say to the other stewardess, "Necesitamos un Marty en un pasillo dos" (We are gonna need a Marty in row 2)

Long story short, I was able to defy science and become the width of piece of paper for two hours of my life.  Thank god I didn't eat anything before the flight!

When we were in a visible distance of Barcelona,  I was amazed by how excited the whole plane got. Though I was not able to move from my seat induced catatonic state, I was able to move my eyes and neck a little bit :).  One older women in the row in front of me was stoically looking out the window and gave herself the old "father, son, holy spirit" and then exclaimed in a slow amazed voice, "dios mio."  The lady in the front row across from me fogged up her window with hot breath and excitement. The fat man in my row looked like he was salivating while looking at the scenery, but it could've been the clouds' resemblance to marshmallows.  Meanwhile im reaching for the oxygen masks in the ceiling just to get a decent breath in.

Lovers All Over Prague

I would just like to take a moment to discuss this daily phenomenon that I have been witnessing here in Prague. People in Prague kiss and makeout just about everywhere, in restaurants, on the tram, while waiting for the subway, on the subway,  while they are getting off the subway, on the escalator getting out of the subway.... you get the point, you name the public space and I can guarantee there are people making out there.

The best one I witnessed so far was when I was walking down the cobble stone sidewalk toward Old Town Square (Prague's city center). A middle aged couple was walking about 25 feet ahead of me each carrying bags of groceries. Out of the blue and without saying one word to eachother, the couple stops, look at eachother, drop their groceries and start passionately making out against a store front window.  I was so amazed I nearly rolled an ankle on a can of soup and slipped on a banana.

The Beers And The Brats Will Never Taste The Same!

Oktoberfest was in-tents... get it?

I just got back from Munich and let me tell you that Oktoberfest is one of the craziest parties I have ever experienced. After a five minute walking tour of Munich (on the way to festival)  it was time to cut loose and enjoy some of the finest beer known to man. On friday morning at 6am we waited on line until 9 to get a table in the the world renown Hofbrau Haus.  This tent has the reputation of being the rowdiest... if someone happened to get the spontaneous urge to dance on the table, it is completely acceptable.

But there is no way to describe the energy that empowers you when you enter the tent. The sight of 40,000 Germans in Lederhosen singing with deep voices is truely an experience within itself. The tent is filled with chants from heyyyy, heyyy baby, I want to know...... to  OLEY OLEY OLEY OLEY.. I lost my voice within the first hour.

Some side observations about Oktoberfest that people may not know....

1) Outside the tents....the atmosphere is very tacky and carnival like all decked out with rides and fair games.  I found this to be an odd combination considering all the drinking involved. Its not everyday that you drink  7 liters of beer and then say, "hey charlie, lets take a stab at the dizzy tea cup ride" it just doesn't add up.

2) The Germans are by far the biggest drinkers I have ever seen... which you may already know. However, as a result they are also the most drunk people in the festival. After observing the German stumbling motions around the festival, it seems that they are very top heavy.  I was almost rammed a few times. They are massive people and as we know its pure physics that mass times acceleration gives them alot force.  With this forcethey pick up, what I like to call, stumbling speed and do not hesitate to stumble head first into people with their head down.








MVI 0437 from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.


MVI 0438 from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.


MVI 0456 from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Bombs over Dresden

Last week we visited Dresden, Germany and if you thought Pearl Harbor got hit hard, think again. Dresden is a small town in southeast Germany with a rich historical background.  It is known for being destroyed during WWII due to the suspicion of Nazi activity. The city was fully restored after the war. Many of the buildings re-used the original bricks and building materials, which was very cool to see.

This is a good link about the bombing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II

Dresden is also home to one of the Volks Wagen factories. It is revolutionary in the design because the factory is made of glass and open, hence their car making process is visible to the public.  We had the opportunity to see a tour, but ironically no pictures were allowed of the car making process inside.

Dresden: August, 1949

The darker stones are originals taken from the rubble

Original stones

The first Audi (VW and Audi have the same creator)

Accordion Player in Dresden from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.



Dresden from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.
Notice the building has original bricks (the dirtier ones)

Funny Man Statue from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Watch the guy on the right as he knocks over the change bucket. The man statue does not flinch!!!!!!!!!

Czech Language classes

I have successfully completed the intensive two week Czech language course. Pardon my french, but holy shit it is a tough language,  especially when our teacher barely speaks english.  Our professor Klara who lightly resembled the character "Katinka Inka Begovena Nah Nah" from Zoolander,  dressed in all black and spoke to us in a slow monotone voice that made everyone including the nats want to jump out the window.

But all in all, we learned the key basics for speaking to people in stores and restaurants.

"Katinka Inka Begovena Nah Nah"

Dogs in Prague

I am amazed by how socialized the dogs in Prague are. They follow their owners around and not one has a leash, its pretty funny to see. Also there was one person that even left their dog outside the super market. He just waited and wagged his tail.

Below is a video of some Dalmatians in a Pub. 

Dogs in Czech from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Beer Factory

This is one of the coolest bars I have come across.. each table has their own personal tap. However it is definitely a one time kind of place for a couple of different reasons:

1. It is the bermuda triangle of tourist traps and very expensive
2. There is a tv that says which table is leading in regard to the amount of beer consumed ( I guess this could be a good thing depending on your outlook)  

After we were in the lead for a while we were all over the dance floor





This is a video of us playing a dance game where we have to dance around a bottle with out knocking it over.. 

Beer Factory from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Wait...the church is made of bones?

"Kutná Hora is an ancient town with preserved medieval and Baroque houses and dominated by a monumental Gothic structure of St. Barbara Cathedral whose construction began in 1388. Kutná Hora was originally a mining town, silver was mined there and the famous Czech coins (groš) were minted there. In the Middle Ages Kutná Hora used to stand just behind the royal City of Prague and it was called the jewel and the treasury of the country." 

On the 4th of September we went to the small silver mining town of Kutná Hora, we had the opportunity to see the world renown Cathedral that is decorated in bones (See pictures below). It was definitely a little eery being surrounded with skeletons from the Baroque era, but I was pretty amazed by how well the bones were preserved.  

We also went on a silver mine tour, which was favorite part of the excursion. We went underground and walked through the old silver mines, the paths were carved out of rock and we VERY narrow. In many cases the width of our bodies did not fit on the path. (See below) 

Going into the Mines from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Our get-up

Mike in the Caves

We made it out!!!

Embracing the Cultural Differences

I just wanted to take a second to discuss this guys jeans....



You gotta love a guy who has the onions to pull off a pair of self made acid wash jeans. This guy is one step away from being in the movie The Birdcage.

Your comments please.. best caption wins my respect!

Great communists think alike

On our tour we passed Fidel Castro's restaurant, which is located in old town.   It is one of four in the world. Prague was the center of communism and it is definitely not a coincidence that Castro's regime decided to open a restaurant in old town.

This is a cool link about this restaurant La Bodeguita del Medio

Fidel Castro's Restaurant from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Prague Tour

For the program orientation we were given a tour around Prague. It was amazing to see how old the architecture was. We walked around old town (the center of Prague) with our two program leaders Daniela and Lucie.  Check out the videos and photos below.

Globalization at its finest from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

Welcome to Prague! from Bill Vesce on Vimeo.

First couple of experiences in Prague

After we spent a couple of minutes looking around the apartment, Mike and I dropped our bags and went to the closest restaurant to get a bite to eat. Our eating schedules were off and even though it was daytime, our bodies told us we should be sleeping.

Now our block and surrounding area has the most pubs per capita in the whole entire world.  You would think a typical first meal would be at an authentic Czech pub... nope not us, we decided to play it safe and go the american route... PIZZA. 

When we walked into the pizza place people were staring at us like we broke a window.  The whole restaurant got silent.  While the pizza place was called Einstein's Pizza, we were definitely not geniuses in the "cultural differences" department 

We stupidly waited in the middle of the door way for a hostess to seat us, where in Prague every restaurant is self seating. Also the majority of the restaurants and stores do not have self closing doors, so every time you walk into a place it is expected that you close the door behind you... we did not do this. We were so accustomed having almost every door close behind us.  To put the icing on the cake,  we were the posterboys for various different american clothing companies.  

Mike, who is from Minnesota, walked in with a purple and gold Minnesota viking hats with flashy writing, a Minnesota wild T-shirt, looser jeans ( as compared to europeans) and sneakers.  I was wearing my Chicago cubs baseball hat and an Abercrombie and fitch shirt and casual shorts.

Ahoj z Praha!

Finally! I have made it to Prague safe and sound! Pictures, videos and updates to come shortly.  I will be writing some entries to get everyone up to date on what I have done so far.