Saturday in Prague

Sunday in Prague

It was a gloomy and rainy day out, but moods were at an all time high as we were able to sleep in again today and we knew that the Prague Castle was gonna be a wonderful site to see. I slept in until about 12 and then decided to go to KFC with Jared and Brandon. We saw Grant and Hailey there so we all ate together. We then headed back to the hotel cause we were to leave for the castle at 1:15.
        We then departed for castle and after taking the subway and waiting for the tram for 20 minutes, we arrived at around 2. Petr, our tour guide, was supposed to meet us out front of the castle, but we could not find him and took advantage of that by taking a whole bunch of pictures. We eventuall saw him and made our way inside the castle. First, we went inside the Church of the Virgin Mary which was first built in the year 870 making it the oldest church in Prague. We saw wonderful apses, naves, and stained glass paintings of the virgin mary and the nativity scene. There were also tombs for the members of the Premyslid Dynasty. People used to believe that stepping over the graves of one of these people would cure a toothache. Grant joked saying that these people must be the original tooth fairies.

        The church of St. George was next and it was nothing near magnificent as the Church of the Virgin Mary. It was almost empty of everything so we did not stay very long. The torture chambers were next and they were very interesting. We tried to guess what they did with certain contraptions, but I don't think we ever figured them out. We saw cages, chains with spikes, hand chains over a fire and a long spinning board. None of which sound very pleasant had you been tortured on them.

       That was as far as we got in terms of viewing the castle so we walked back to the subway. Once back to the hotel I watched soccer and took a nap waiting for us to depart for our free dinner. Dinner was very bittersweet because we knew that it was our last dinner and that we were going home soon. We took another group photo after dinner as if we already didnt have enough and then we were on our way. Once back at the hotel that night, I packed and watched some more soccer. We decided to pull an all nighter so that we could sleep better on the plane. (This strategy didn't work out too well). So we went and got food at around midnight. I got a very spicy Doner Kabab which was excellent. Then we waited in our rooms until our dreadful 2:30 departure time to the airport.

Conner Dodge

There's No Place Like Home....

Wow, two weeks really goes by fast when you're having fun. It seems like only yesterday, our grou was meeting for the first time to set plans for our trip. Now, we have parted ways for the last time. I really enjoyed my time with everyone. I honestly believe we couldn't have had a better group of pople. We all stuck together and were still making jokes and laughing during our last flight. So, what to do now?

After being greeted by the loving customs department in Minneapolis, we were allowed to venture out on our own. The first thing I did was use a public bathroom....without paying! Everywhere we went in Europe, even the train station that we paid to go into, charged you to use a "public" restroom. I never thought something as small as that would mean so much to me. It was so nice to walk throught the airport and understand what people were saying around me. Next item on the list, some American food!

When returning home, my mother had cooked a large dinner. Her famous meatloaf and mashed potatoes were the warm smell I was welcomed home by. I dashed to the kitchen and stuffed my face. It was so nice to be able to sit at the kitchen table and eat dinner with my family. I could say whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I loved not having to walk back to the hotel after I ate, but sit down and share stories of the trip and catch up on news from home. After dinner, I sat on the porch and listened to nothing. I live out in the country and it was so nice to be able to listen to nature and enjoy peace and quiet. The next thing I can't wait to do is to sit out on the deck and watch the stars. Last night, we had a storm blow through so it cut my peace and quiet time short.

After dinner, I fell asleep. I was practically in a coma. It was the best sleep I have ever gotten. I fell asleep around 9 and didn't wake up intil after 10:30 this morning. I could continue to sleep but I figured I better get up or I would regret it when trying to fall asleep tonight. Today was filled with homemade food, laundry, and catching up on homework.

It is so nice to be able to leave my house and drive my car when I want and not have to wait for public transportation. It's also amazing not to worry about your driver reversing on the interstate! It was sad to see the trip end but I am so thankful I took the opportunity to go. I met amazing people, made great friends, and created memories that will last a life time. Until next time, Eurocats. (Remember Teri, reunion soon!)

Our trip home started at 3am in the lobby of the hotel. We got our breakfast boxes and loaded the bus. It was sad saying bye to Petr. We had a good time with him in the Czech Republic. At the airport in Prague they called you to check your bags in by flight which was different from how we do it in the United States. I breezed through security and got to our gate an hour and a half before the flight. I wanted to make sure that I slept well on the long flight so I went and grabbed and red bull and a vanilla muffin which tasted like white cake. We departed from Prague at 6:25am and landed in Amsterdam at 7:55am. We all went off to get some food before the nine hour flight and about twenty minutes after we all went our own ways, we realized that we needed all twenty-two of us to go through security at our gate. I managed to grab some chips and a sandwich while I rushed to the gate. The security at the gate in Amsterdam was different from how we do it in the United States. We had to go in groups of four to have our passports checked and they asked us questions. They were making sure that we weren’t bringing anything back for anyone else. Then we had to go through security all over again and get pated down just to go sit at our gate. We boarded our flight on time at 10:20am and headed to Minneapolis! On the flight I watched the movie Taken and watched a couple episodes of Two and a Half Men. I managed to get some sleep on the flight and we arrived in Minneapolis before we knew it! Once we landed in Minneapolis we had to go and clear customs. I stood in line to hold our spot and when the rest of the group joined, everyone in line was not happy. We had to pick our bags up and take them to a different location for them to make the connecting flight and then go through security again. We got to our gate with about 45 minutes until boarding time. We went to a little market in the airport and got a snack for the flight. We boarded our flight and left at about 3:10pm. We landed in Kansas City at about 4:45pm and I rushed off the plane to the baggage claim to see my mom! I had a three hour drive back to Omaha ahead of me. We got my bags and then hopped in the car and headed that way. I talked with my mom for about a half hour before I fell asleep for the rest of the drive home. When I got home to my apartment I was greeted by my dog and boyfriend! We had dinner and I went on and on about our trip. I managed to keep myself awake until about 11pm so that I could try and get back on my normal sleeping pattern.  Overall we had an easy travel day and managed to not get stuck by any delays!