Two weeks ago a group of girls from the program booked a bike tour to go to the Karlstejn Castle just outside of the castle. It was a 35 kilometer ride (about 21-22 miles) to the castle and the route went along two different rivers, countryside, gardens, and small towns. It was a beautiful ride and the weather was perfect. Once we got to the town we discovered there was a wine festival going on. Everyone was dressed in Medival clothing and there were different food and art vendors lining the path to the castle. After stopping for lunch, our guide took us up to the castle, where we walked around outside (it was too crowded to go in because of the festival), and then we walked to the train station to come back to Prague. It was such a fun way to see more of the Czech countryside.

Last week was my first week of real classes. I’m taking a history class, two art history classes, and a photography course. So far the professors seem to be nice, the workload is manageable, and there is a nice mix of American and foreign students. My film class has students from France, Spain, Croatia, Ireland, Iceland, and Finland just to name a few.

This past weekend I went to Oktoberfest in Munich with five other girls from the program and it was so much fun! We were camping at a site about half an hour away from downtown Munich which was actually a very cool experience, aside from how cold it got each night. We met people from Australia, Ireland, Germany, Britain, and so many other places at the campsite alone. The festival itself was a lot bigger than I was expecting and it was filled with people (the majority of whom were wearing Lederhosen). We ate pretzels and bratwursts, rode roller coasters, drank beer, and just walked around taking it all in. We also walked around downtown Munich a bit on Friday night and Saturday afternoon and it was so beautiful! It was definitely something I recommend everyone get experience at least once in their life!

Inside Hofbräu

View of the City Hall from St. Peter’s Tower

Bird’s eye view of Oktoberfest from the ferris wheel

Karlstejn Castle

Ready for our ride!