All articles by paigeO

My plane landed in Rochester, NY two days ago, where I was welcomed with snow and bitter cold air. Everyone kept telling me, “welcome home!” and I would try to muster up an excited response back. Not that I’m not excited to be home, it’s just that I know it will be different. Trust me,
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Na Shledanou, Praha

I can’t believe today is the day I’m leaving Prague after four months. It went by so quickly it feels like a blur. Saying goodbye to all my friends was hard, but saying goodbye to the city was harder. I know I’ll be able to visit everyone at their various colleges next semester, and some I’ll
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‘Tis the Season

I’ll admit, not being home for the holidays is a bit weird. It was hard to see everyone’s pictures on Facebook about going home for Thanksgiving Break and seeing their friends and family, knowing you’ll have a 3 hour class the morning of Thanksgiving. But the ECES office went out of their way to organize
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More Weekend Adventures: Amsterdam, Interlaken, and Vienna

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of weekends in Amsterdam, Interlaken, and Vienna, and life in Prague. It was tiring and a little chaotic at times, but it was also more fun than I can imagine. Plus, the whole point of studying abroad is to travel as much as possible, right? I’ll start
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Weekend Adventures: Budapest and Krakow

Since the last time I wrote, I have been traveling every weekend. It’s a bit exhausting, but it’s so fun to experience new places, people, food, and sights and I wouldn’t change anything. Budapest was a beautiful city, and not too crowded. My friends and I decided to go caving on Saturday morning which was
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Culture in Prague

One of the best things about this city are the student discounts. Anywhere you go you just have to show your student ID and you will almost always get a discount. Most museums and galleries cost around 50-80 czk (about $3-4), which is great when you’re like me and have a huge list of all
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Adventures around the Czech Republic

The Czech countryside is one of my favorite parts about this country. As soon as you get 15 minutes outside of the city it’s rolling hills, farms, woods, and small villages and it’s so cute. The first weekend in October I went on the ECES led  hiking trip in Bohemian Paradise, Český ráj. There was a
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Karlstejn Castle & Oktoberfest Adventures

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
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First Impressions

Ahoj! I’ve been in Prague for two weeks already and it has been absolutely amazing. Every time I leave my room I find new streets and different buildings each unique and beautiful. The first few days we had orientation where we were shown the city and given some useful tips for the semester and then
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One Day More

In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane over the Atlantic Ocean en route to Prague, and it still feels like I’m in a dream and that I’ll actually wake up tomorrow and be back at New Paltz. I can’t believe how lucky I am to get to experience a semester in
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