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.