It has been a really long time since I wrote anything. Sorry about that. There have been a few activities happening here in the time between my posts. First of all, we had April Fools Day, which was crazy day at school. That meant that people dressed up from various decades (50s, 60s, 70s and 80s). I went through the clothes I have here and found something that worked. It was a lot of fun. A few teachers dressed up and a number of students.
I also had my birthday, I am now the ripe old age of 26. I know it is really not that old, however, I no longer qualify for many youth discounts. For instance, multi-country train passes have one price for under 26 and another price for 26 and older. That was a nice discount to have. Oh well, I guess it is a part of growing up. April was a busy month of birthdays here in Mikulas. Two Slovak teachers had birthdays this month as well as the other two lecturers here. One of the lecturers, Carol, had her birthday the same weekend as mine. We ended up having a combined birthday dinner to celebrate. We invited some friends over to my apartment for a Mexican dinner. I made tacos and Carol made fajitas. It was a fun time had by all.
Easter also fell in this month. My parents decided to come and visit over Easter. They arrived the Tuesday before Easter. They had a little tour of the town that night and came to school with me the next. We had a church service for school so my parents were able to experience what church is like in Slovakia. There were two styles they experienced; the student service and Holy Communion after the service. In Slovakia Holy Communion typically has a separate mini service after the regular church service. This happens once a month, in Mikulas it falls on the first Sunday of the month. Easter break for schools in Slovakia was Thursday-Sunday, the 9th-14th.
Thursday morning my parents and I woke up bright and early to catch a train to Praha (Prague). There was a group of lecturers going there for Easter as well and we were able to meet up with them. Thursday evening we walked around the city some and had dinner together, a nice evening to get settled into the city for a few days. On Friday we went to the town Plzen which is home to Pilsner beer. The seven of us took a tour of the brewery which was interesting. At the end of the tour they gave us a sample of their beer, unfiltered. I was not a huge fan of the unfiltered beer, but the rest seemed to enjoy it. After the tour we checked out the gift shop and enjoyed some food and beer at the restaurant on site.
Saturday was a tour day for my parents and myself. We decided to do a walking tour of the city. It was supposed to be a six hour tour, but ended up being a seven hour tour. We had to wait for a boat and that set us behind. The group was fun and friendly, the tour guide was nice and knowledgeable and so it ended up being a great time. After the tour my parents and I decided to go to the Communist museum. The four other lecturers ended up coming to the museum 10 minutes or so after we got there. It was a nice surprise that we were able to see each other again and wish each other a Happy Easter before my parents and I left for our next destination....Budapest.
For those who do not know, Budapest is made up of two cities- Buda and pest. I really enjoyed my time in Budapest. My parents and my hotel was in an area called Hero's square. There are a number of museums there, and as we found out a few embassies as well. Walking around the city was really nice. We took a hop-on hop-off bus tour around the city. For anyone who is not familiar with what this is, I will explain. You buy a ticket that is good for 24 hours and you can hop-on and hop-off any of the tour buses as many times as you would like within the 24 hour period, when the buses are running of course. The tour guide is automated so there are a variety of languages to choose from. My parents and I all agreed this was a great way t have a tour of the city, the only draw back was not being able to ask the guide questions. Well, I guess we could have asked questions, but then we would be talking to a box. I will get to go back to Budapest in June with a friend who has a work project there. I am really looking forward to that.
After a quick stop back in Mikulas my parents and I headed West. We stayed in Bratislava but had a day in Vienna and took an overnight trip to Salzburg. In Vienna we took a tour that went to the Schonbrun palace. The last royal family member to use this as a summer palace was Maria Theresa. She was also the longest ruler of her family, 40 years. The palace was neat and we were able to look around the garden a little too. We also spent some time looking around the city of Vienna. We discovered that a race for the cure, Breast cancer, was happening the day we were there. We found this out when we walked by one of the water tables. There was a huge ribbon balloon outside of the Hapsburg palace and even some of the S-bahns were supporting the cause. There was a little festival happening outside the city hall that we checked out. There were a number of booths set up and everything from two men building a mini cabin to log tug-o-war with axes.
After arriving in Salzburg and finding our way to the hotel we decided to see what tours were available. We decided to take the Sound of Music tour. This took us around the city some, but also outside of Salzburg. On the tour you hear some of the behind the scenes stories as well as some of the major sites of the movie. We were able to see the gazebo from the movie, but could not go inside. A couple years ago an older lady decided to reenact the 16 going on 17 dance number. When she leaped from the bench at the entrance to the other bench she missed and fell breaking her hip. Now the gazebo is locked so no more leaping and singing. Even though we had a short time in Salzburg we were able to see parts of the city. We went to the museum at the birth house of Mozart. It was very interesting, there is a museum in a house he lived in as an adult across the river too. Salzburg is a city that I would really recommend. I wish we had had more than 24 hours there. Hopefully I can go back sometime in the future.
The last city we toured around was Bratislava. I know the city a little, but not super well. We were able to find where we wanted to go without any major problems though. We took a little car tour around the city the first afternoon there. That turned out to be a good idea because it started raining during the tour, so we were nice and dry in the car while learning about the city. My parents were amazed at the varying degrees of security at embassies depending on the country. Some have no visible security outside while one or two have visible security. The various between the two is surprising.
After two weeks visiting me my parents had to leave to get back to the US. It was nice to have them visit and to be able to see some great places. I hope you enjoyed reading about them and enjoy some of the pictures too.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6697123&l=53a5d30de6&id=682430592
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=247823&id=682430592&l=5083c79016
The house builders.
Some ladies showing their skills.
I also had my birthday, I am now the ripe old age of 26. I know it is really not that old, however, I no longer qualify for many youth discounts. For instance, multi-country train passes have one price for under 26 and another price for 26 and older. That was a nice discount to have. Oh well, I guess it is a part of growing up. April was a busy month of birthdays here in Mikulas. Two Slovak teachers had birthdays this month as well as the other two lecturers here. One of the lecturers, Carol, had her birthday the same weekend as mine. We ended up having a combined birthday dinner to celebrate. We invited some friends over to my apartment for a Mexican dinner. I made tacos and Carol made fajitas. It was a fun time had by all.
Easter also fell in this month. My parents decided to come and visit over Easter. They arrived the Tuesday before Easter. They had a little tour of the town that night and came to school with me the next. We had a church service for school so my parents were able to experience what church is like in Slovakia. There were two styles they experienced; the student service and Holy Communion after the service. In Slovakia Holy Communion typically has a separate mini service after the regular church service. This happens once a month, in Mikulas it falls on the first Sunday of the month. Easter break for schools in Slovakia was Thursday-Sunday, the 9th-14th.
Thursday morning my parents and I woke up bright and early to catch a train to Praha (Prague). There was a group of lecturers going there for Easter as well and we were able to meet up with them. Thursday evening we walked around the city some and had dinner together, a nice evening to get settled into the city for a few days. On Friday we went to the town Plzen which is home to Pilsner beer. The seven of us took a tour of the brewery which was interesting. At the end of the tour they gave us a sample of their beer, unfiltered. I was not a huge fan of the unfiltered beer, but the rest seemed to enjoy it. After the tour we checked out the gift shop and enjoyed some food and beer at the restaurant on site.
Saturday was a tour day for my parents and myself. We decided to do a walking tour of the city. It was supposed to be a six hour tour, but ended up being a seven hour tour. We had to wait for a boat and that set us behind. The group was fun and friendly, the tour guide was nice and knowledgeable and so it ended up being a great time. After the tour my parents and I decided to go to the Communist museum. The four other lecturers ended up coming to the museum 10 minutes or so after we got there. It was a nice surprise that we were able to see each other again and wish each other a Happy Easter before my parents and I left for our next destination....Budapest.
For those who do not know, Budapest is made up of two cities- Buda and pest. I really enjoyed my time in Budapest. My parents and my hotel was in an area called Hero's square. There are a number of museums there, and as we found out a few embassies as well. Walking around the city was really nice. We took a hop-on hop-off bus tour around the city. For anyone who is not familiar with what this is, I will explain. You buy a ticket that is good for 24 hours and you can hop-on and hop-off any of the tour buses as many times as you would like within the 24 hour period, when the buses are running of course. The tour guide is automated so there are a variety of languages to choose from. My parents and I all agreed this was a great way t have a tour of the city, the only draw back was not being able to ask the guide questions. Well, I guess we could have asked questions, but then we would be talking to a box. I will get to go back to Budapest in June with a friend who has a work project there. I am really looking forward to that.
After a quick stop back in Mikulas my parents and I headed West. We stayed in Bratislava but had a day in Vienna and took an overnight trip to Salzburg. In Vienna we took a tour that went to the Schonbrun palace. The last royal family member to use this as a summer palace was Maria Theresa. She was also the longest ruler of her family, 40 years. The palace was neat and we were able to look around the garden a little too. We also spent some time looking around the city of Vienna. We discovered that a race for the cure, Breast cancer, was happening the day we were there. We found this out when we walked by one of the water tables. There was a huge ribbon balloon outside of the Hapsburg palace and even some of the S-bahns were supporting the cause. There was a little festival happening outside the city hall that we checked out. There were a number of booths set up and everything from two men building a mini cabin to log tug-o-war with axes.
After arriving in Salzburg and finding our way to the hotel we decided to see what tours were available. We decided to take the Sound of Music tour. This took us around the city some, but also outside of Salzburg. On the tour you hear some of the behind the scenes stories as well as some of the major sites of the movie. We were able to see the gazebo from the movie, but could not go inside. A couple years ago an older lady decided to reenact the 16 going on 17 dance number. When she leaped from the bench at the entrance to the other bench she missed and fell breaking her hip. Now the gazebo is locked so no more leaping and singing. Even though we had a short time in Salzburg we were able to see parts of the city. We went to the museum at the birth house of Mozart. It was very interesting, there is a museum in a house he lived in as an adult across the river too. Salzburg is a city that I would really recommend. I wish we had had more than 24 hours there. Hopefully I can go back sometime in the future.
The last city we toured around was Bratislava. I know the city a little, but not super well. We were able to find where we wanted to go without any major problems though. We took a little car tour around the city the first afternoon there. That turned out to be a good idea because it started raining during the tour, so we were nice and dry in the car while learning about the city. My parents were amazed at the varying degrees of security at embassies depending on the country. Some have no visible security outside while one or two have visible security. The various between the two is surprising.
After two weeks visiting me my parents had to leave to get back to the US. It was nice to have them visit and to be able to see some great places. I hope you enjoyed reading about them and enjoy some of the pictures too.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6697123&l=53a5d30de6&id=682430592
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=247823&id=682430592&l=5083c79016
The house builders.
Some ladies showing their skills.
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