12.17.2008
12.14.2008
12.09.2008
12.07.2008
AN update of sorts
It has been quite some time since I wrote in this thing so I figured, after spending 2 hours hand washing my fucking laundry I would do something else productive. I will start off with Thanksgiving.
Holiday in Bohemia
Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in the Czech Republic, but my study abroad program hooked us up with a 40 dollar a plate dinner. It was at the nicest hotel in the city. It was my first official Thanksgiving as a Vegetarian and it was delicious. After that, a few of us Expats met up with others from our program and headed to this bar called Blind Eye. They make the best whiskey sour in Eastern Europe. I spent a lot of money and did not get back to my flat until extremely early in the morning. About a week later, the official opening of the Christmas markets happened. It was really cool, they serve mulled wine and hot mead. It was full of Czechs everywhere, I don't think I have ever said Ahoj! more in my entire life. I was going to get a tattoo somewhere between these weeks but I slept through my appointment. The Christmas Markets are so cool because they offer all kinds of shit thats usually handmade in front of you, unless its a cheesy magnet. It was like a mob scene trying to get out of there, so we just made haste. The week following was a week long party for mostly everyone I hang out with. Raged hard. I went out to a Squat House which was awesome, its called the Squat Milada and some awesome Czech punk bands played. Most importantly is last night I saw Fucked Up. It was so awesome...they played everything I wanted to hear except Blaze of Glory. Good dudes, backed hard. I am seeing Ceremony and Never Healed on Tuesday. I missed Trap Them down in Brno because I did not want to miss Fucked Up.
Recently I designed a tshirt for this band called Reptar, from upstate New York.
(Sleeve print)
Holiday in Bohemia
Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in the Czech Republic, but my study abroad program hooked us up with a 40 dollar a plate dinner. It was at the nicest hotel in the city. It was my first official Thanksgiving as a Vegetarian and it was delicious. After that, a few of us Expats met up with others from our program and headed to this bar called Blind Eye. They make the best whiskey sour in Eastern Europe. I spent a lot of money and did not get back to my flat until extremely early in the morning. About a week later, the official opening of the Christmas markets happened. It was really cool, they serve mulled wine and hot mead. It was full of Czechs everywhere, I don't think I have ever said Ahoj! more in my entire life. I was going to get a tattoo somewhere between these weeks but I slept through my appointment. The Christmas Markets are so cool because they offer all kinds of shit thats usually handmade in front of you, unless its a cheesy magnet. It was like a mob scene trying to get out of there, so we just made haste. The week following was a week long party for mostly everyone I hang out with. Raged hard. I went out to a Squat House which was awesome, its called the Squat Milada and some awesome Czech punk bands played. Most importantly is last night I saw Fucked Up. It was so awesome...they played everything I wanted to hear except Blaze of Glory. Good dudes, backed hard. I am seeing Ceremony and Never Healed on Tuesday. I missed Trap Them down in Brno because I did not want to miss Fucked Up.
Recently I designed a tshirt for this band called Reptar, from upstate New York.
(Sleeve print)
(Sleeve print)
Those dudes are going on tour, if you happen to see them support me and support them! Here are some pictures I took a few days ago...I normally don't do that first heres a picture from my Spanish christmas experience.
Rage.
Rage.
11.23.2008
Krakow!
So I haven't updated this with my most recent travels.
First off it is snowing like its December in Massachusetts here, last night we got almost 5 or 6 inches in about 25 minutes. I need new shoes. My study abroad group includes a weekend in Krakow, Poland and then an off trip to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). The trip started off with what seemed like a 12 hour bus ride, which is strange because it only took us 15 hours to get to Zagreb, Croatia. We stopped at a few gas stations along the way, which meant it was beer buying time.
Krakow, Poland
We finally made it to Krakow at 8 PM or so, one of the guys in our program named 'Z' walked us through the city center. Scratch, my roommate Tim, and Tanner and I all ate dinner at this traditional Polish resturant. Being a vegetarian, everything was basically pork so I opted for the mushroom soup, which I thought had meat in it. With much deliberation, the waiter finally told me there was no meat in the soup. After we ate dinner, us four met up with Will, Justin, Ben and my suitemate Kevin. We headed to one pub, had a few beers and watched soccer. There was a 15 year old kid buying beers here. We met these old Norwegian dudes who kept naming off really awful American pop-rock bands from the 80's. We then left the first pub and tried to find another one, we did not find just any old pub, but we found a Polish karkoke bar. It was like a scene of an awful movie. We walked in and everyone was looking at us, we proceeded to buy beers and stayed for a few hours. We ended up singing Bohemian Rhapsody, and basically sang I Believe I Can Fly with a Polish girl. We left, and then headed to a bar/club named Prozac which is like the distant cousin to the Cross Club here in Prague. We stayed for a while and met a lot of cool people. Ryan and I met a Polish girl named Anna, who just randomly sat down next to us. Shes from a village outside of Poland and was telling us all kinds of things in Polish. For example, "Ahoj" means Dick. Also, she told me how to say "fuck" and "Nice, Wanna fuck?" It was quite the culturual experience. We left Prozac and proceeded to try and find our hotel but first we wanted more beer. On the way to a non-stop we ran into our long lost friend Will. He was with a bunch of drunk Polskis and was quite a funny time. Ryan was buying a Gyro, when we saw some of the only people we talk to from our program. They warned us not to go into this bar or club or whatever so we didn't, at the same time we met a bunch of Polish guys that kept calling us American brothers or something. We soon left and found that non-stop, and called it a night.
The view from our Hotel.
Polsky Art.
First off it is snowing like its December in Massachusetts here, last night we got almost 5 or 6 inches in about 25 minutes. I need new shoes. My study abroad group includes a weekend in Krakow, Poland and then an off trip to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). The trip started off with what seemed like a 12 hour bus ride, which is strange because it only took us 15 hours to get to Zagreb, Croatia. We stopped at a few gas stations along the way, which meant it was beer buying time.
Krakow, Poland
We finally made it to Krakow at 8 PM or so, one of the guys in our program named 'Z' walked us through the city center. Scratch, my roommate Tim, and Tanner and I all ate dinner at this traditional Polish resturant. Being a vegetarian, everything was basically pork so I opted for the mushroom soup, which I thought had meat in it. With much deliberation, the waiter finally told me there was no meat in the soup. After we ate dinner, us four met up with Will, Justin, Ben and my suitemate Kevin. We headed to one pub, had a few beers and watched soccer. There was a 15 year old kid buying beers here. We met these old Norwegian dudes who kept naming off really awful American pop-rock bands from the 80's. We then left the first pub and tried to find another one, we did not find just any old pub, but we found a Polish karkoke bar. It was like a scene of an awful movie. We walked in and everyone was looking at us, we proceeded to buy beers and stayed for a few hours. We ended up singing Bohemian Rhapsody, and basically sang I Believe I Can Fly with a Polish girl. We left, and then headed to a bar/club named Prozac which is like the distant cousin to the Cross Club here in Prague. We stayed for a while and met a lot of cool people. Ryan and I met a Polish girl named Anna, who just randomly sat down next to us. Shes from a village outside of Poland and was telling us all kinds of things in Polish. For example, "Ahoj" means Dick. Also, she told me how to say "fuck" and "Nice, Wanna fuck?" It was quite the culturual experience. We left Prozac and proceeded to try and find our hotel but first we wanted more beer. On the way to a non-stop we ran into our long lost friend Will. He was with a bunch of drunk Polskis and was quite a funny time. Ryan was buying a Gyro, when we saw some of the only people we talk to from our program. They warned us not to go into this bar or club or whatever so we didn't, at the same time we met a bunch of Polish guys that kept calling us American brothers or something. We soon left and found that non-stop, and called it a night.
The view from our Hotel.
Polsky Art.Krakow, Poland (Day II)
The second day I woke up around 11. Ryan and I shared a room in our hotel and we were both pissed off because we missed the first walking tour. So we decided to head out by ourselves, and the first priroity just like anyone who is hung over was cigarettes and food. We ended up getting Gyros, which are fair inferior to the Gyros in Budapest. While getting food, we saw Marketa (who runs my program), Jana (she works in the office, and can kick your ass) and Z. They gave us awkward looks like the knew we just woke up. We walked all around the city center and ran into some interesting shit.
We ended up meeting up with the second group at the castle in Krakow, it was perfect because we were looking for Will to see if he was still alive from the night before. We ended up swapping stories with other people in AIFS and Jana, because shes awesome.
The second day I woke up around 11. Ryan and I shared a room in our hotel and we were both pissed off because we missed the first walking tour. So we decided to head out by ourselves, and the first priroity just like anyone who is hung over was cigarettes and food. We ended up getting Gyros, which are fair inferior to the Gyros in Budapest. While getting food, we saw Marketa (who runs my program), Jana (she works in the office, and can kick your ass) and Z. They gave us awkward looks like the knew we just woke up. We walked all around the city center and ran into some interesting shit.
We ended up meeting up with the second group at the castle in Krakow, it was perfect because we were looking for Will to see if he was still alive from the night before. We ended up swapping stories with other people in AIFS and Jana, because shes awesome.
After the end of the of the second tour, we headed to a Georgian restaurant. Some of the nicest people and best food I have ever eaten. Will, Tim, Scratch and I discussed plans for the evening and decided that it would be best to stay in because of Auschwitz in the morning. We went to a non-stop and stocked up on beer and other stuff. Went back to the hotel and played card games until around 9 PM. We decided to go back to the non-stop so I could purchase some Polish vodka. (This is what Poland is known for, at least one of them) and more beers. We went back to the hotel room and had intense political debates after way to many beers. Typical frat party status. After a lot of that Polish vodka made out of honey, Will and I decided it would be good to visit one more pub before we left Krakow. There is video evidence of this next, and the best part of our trip in Krakow. Will was taking a swig of the vodka, looked to his left, and then face planted right on the ground. I never thought I would see something that funny in my entire life. I walked out of the room and when I came back Will is standing in the windowsill of our hotel room. Now the best part of this that our window is adjacent to a very busy square in Krakow. He was very sure there was a stepping-stone ledge to stand on and there was not. So, I pulled him out of the window because he was being dumb. We ended up going to one pub and I met a lot of Polish people while Will went off dancing. I left around what seemed 1 AM, but it was actually 4 AM.
Auschwitz I / II
Scratch and I ended up checking out of our hotel at about 7:30, we got food and then headed towards the bus. Auschwitz is about 25 minutes outside of Krakow and we arrived to the first camp soon after we left the hotel. I really do not feel like getting into all the details so I will post some pictures from it. It was the most surreal experience of my entire life.
Auschwitz I / II
Scratch and I ended up checking out of our hotel at about 7:30, we got food and then headed towards the bus. Auschwitz is about 25 minutes outside of Krakow and we arrived to the first camp soon after we left the hotel. I really do not feel like getting into all the details so I will post some pictures from it. It was the most surreal experience of my entire life.
And that was my hesky polski vikend.
-Jim
-Jim
11.18.2008
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