043. Dobrý den from Telč, Czech Republic*

From now until June 21st, I’ll be blogging about my time in Central Europe. I hope you enjoy my adventures. 

*Hello from Telč, Czech Republic! (Pronounced “telch”, fyi). I’m writing from a small historic town about two hours from Prague.

My room in Telč (with my friend John in the background)

Now you might be asking yourself, why is Krystal so far from home? Well, my dear friends, I’m completing a 6-credit History course abroad through the University of Toronto’s Summer Abroad program. They have a ton of courses all over the world and you can apply as a visiting student (super easy process), check it out if you think it’s something you’re interested in.

How the course works
For 5 weeks we(my classmates and I) will be travelling to the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Hungary while learning about the imperial cities of Vienna, Wrocław, Prague and Budapest. The first five days are spent in Telč, and then we transfer to our home base at Masaryk University (named after Czechoslovakia’s first President) in Brno, Czech Republic. Classes are from Monday-Wednesday for three hours in the morning and then we have the afternoons free (unless there’s a planned activity) and we travel to the different cities on the Thursday and come back on the Saturday/Sunday. There’s a lot of reading, but only two assignments (one short, one long(er)) and an exam, which is awesome for a full year course.

What I’ve been up to
My parents dropped me off at Toronto Pearson Airport and I got on my super short eight and a half our flight (sarcasm alert) on Austrian Airlines. (BTW: Austrian Airlines has those chunky TVs hanging from the ceiling where everyone watches the same movie (ca. 1992), which is not awesome for an eight+ hour flight, but I survived.) Landed in Vienna around 8:15am, and transferred to Telč by 1pm, got all settled in, and roamed the super, super small town. My favourite part of this place is the small Pizzeria Italia restaurant where I get to practice my Italian in Czech Republic (I know right?!) with the wonderful chef Angelo.  After being up for more than 24 hours, I was out like a light by 9pm.

Telč (all the buildings look different!)

Pizza from Pizzeria Italia. Thanks, Angelo!

I had my first lecture today, went back to the Pizzeria, realized that I did not take enough Czech Koruna (their currency) out of the bank, and learned a little survival Czech. Currently sitting in my room, being introduced to my roommate’s mix of Deadmau5, Steve Aoki and Skrillex (a deviation from my Florence and the Machine, Lights and Mumford and Sons) and trying to decide what to get for dinner tonight.

Na shledanou! (Goodbye!)