The rest of the weekend and a third trip to Lehká Hlava

Yesterday, after getting back from Český Krumlov, I was able to relax for a couple of hours, and then I met Laura and her suitemate Destiny at Wenceslas Square. We took 2 trams to their dorm building in Praha 3. We, along with their other 3 suitemates, grabbed a quick bite to eat at a place around the corner. It was nice to hear Lady GaGa blasting (instead of Czech music...) and we ended up playing a little foosball! I'm pretty horrible, but we did tie!

Laura and I playing foosball

Today, I had lunch with Kim at the one and only Lehká Hlava. Can you tell by now how obsessed I am with this place? We were seated in the third room, and while it wasn't as grandiose as the previous 2 rooms I have been in, the fish tank was still pretty cool. Here are a couple of pictures from my lunch!

The 3rd room with salmon and orange walls and a fish tank

Eggplant quesadilla with guacamole, tomato salsa, sour cream and a small green salad

Hope you enjoyed reading about my weekend. Now, back to my massive amounts of reading...

Orientation Day 7, 9/5/10

Today I ate a lot of food.

I went to brunch at Lehká Hlava at 10:30 with Brianna and it was tasty, as always. This time we were seated in the night room. This picture doesn’t do it justice, so I’ll have to go back for another meal to take another picture! The ceiling had lights twinkling like stars and the table tops were crushed flowers under glass. Afterwards, I walked down Václavské náměstí where there is a bunch of shops. I bought a pretty scarf from H&M! In my defense, I don’t have a lot of clothes here, so I need scarves to make my outfits look a little different… so it doesn’t look like I’m wearing the same shirt every day…

A little blurry...

A smattering of Czech food that I really don’t know what they are

There's a Ben & Jerry's on Václavské náměstí!

H&M is awesome

We had the boat cruise with the NYU professors and staff at 2 so I had to go back to Machova to meet everyone who was going over at 1. We had the boat cruise from 2-4 and guess what, they served us more food! There was spinach lasagna, pesto pasta with tomato sauce, potato gratin, and a ton of bread, salad, and vegetables. It was sunny off and on, so the weather was pleasant.

The view from the boat. The castle is in the background.

The Charles Bridge

To the extreme right, is the 'Dancing House,' which looks like male and female dancers. This is a better picture: click. I'll have to go more up close at some point!

 On the way back to Machova after the boat came back into the harbor, we ran into (literally) a fashion show on Pařížská road! This was my first time seeing a fashion show in person, so that was really cool. It seemed like there were a few different designers showing there. You can’t tell from the picture, but the runway was fairly long, stretching out to the end of the street. I’ve decided that this street (right off of Old Town Square) is the 5th Ave of Prague. Literally. There are Dior, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci stores and the fashion show was the icing on the cake.

One of the models going down the runway

I had a couple of minutes to spare back at Machova before having to head back out again. Laura and her mom and brother were taking a train in to Prague from Budapest that afternoon, and they had invited me to go to dinner with them. I was expecting to get incredibly lost and confused trying to find the apartment building they’re staying in, but nicely enough it was really close to Old Town Square! In fact, the street is the same one that Bohemia Bagel is on (a lunch / internet café that is popular with the NYU crowd). I took them to Maitrea since it’s very close by (and my knowledge of the eateries isn’t too expansive right now). Afterwards, I hung out with Laura for about an hour then headed back to Machova by 10. (By the way, Laura is my friend from high school who is also studying abroad in Prague this semester with the School of Economics here.)

Meatless Kung Pao with vegan “chicken“ pieces, spring vegetables, peanuts, and rice

Tomorrow is the first day of classes so I’m sure I will have much to report on that! Speaking of, I need to check the schedule for which classes I have tomorrow… and where…

Orientation Day 3, 09/03: Delicious food, the gym, and groceries

So, this is my 2nd attempt at this blog entry. The first time all the content was accidentally deleted. Long story short.

 Yesterday I had my Czech class from about 10 to 12:30 (with a 15 minute break - this might sound odd that college students have a break in a class that's only 2 hours long, but believe me... we need it in this class!) Afterwards, I joined a classmate and her roommate (both of whom live in Osadni; Kim and Brianna) for lunch. A few fellow Machova-ers also came along. After a little search for the place, we arrived at Lehká Hlava in Borson 2, located in New Town (the NYU center is in Old Town - more explanation on the difference later as I still am not too sure on this!) Lehká Hlava restaurant website

The place was great! We had to wait a little bit for a table, as there were 6 of us, but it was definitely worth it. The menu has mainly Mediterranean influences with a few Mexican touches. I had the special which was a seaweed/mushroom soup and goulash. Along with water this came up to a grand total of 108 crowns. Not too shabby! The atmosphere is eclectic and funky. Our table was located in a mini room, which we had all to ourselves - door to close, and everything! Each room has a different theme - ours was the rainbow room. Needless to say, we are going back for the 1st Sunday of the month brunch (which is very conveniently this Sunday!) Anyway, after I finished my food, I asked the waiter (hesitantly). I haven't seen to many locals leaving eating places with doggie bags, so I wasn't sure if this was a cultural no-no. Well, the waiter obliged and brought me back a container with my food. The clincher? he also brought back an extra bill. Did I really just pay 12 crowns to take my leftovers home?! Interesting. Well, the total bill was 754 crowns for all 6 of us... so, nothing to complain about that.

Miso soup with seaweed and shitake mushrooms

Szeged goulash with tempeh, natural and jasmine rice, and lettuce

A table full of delicious food

The rainbow room!

Afterwards, we split up and I headed to explore the Machova neighborhood with a fellow Machova-er (Brandy). We took the metro 2 stops past Staremesti to Flora, where Alberts a grocery store is located. The store wasn't as big as Tesco (which is a giant) but it was still a good size. I bought a few things I wanted like strawberry yogurt, napkins, and yes... gladware containers! I held off on the milk since I'm not too sure yet on all of the words. Oh and by the way, you have to pay for your grocery bags at this place. What is with Prague and their containers and bags, I really don't know.

Then, we went to the gym, which is conveniently located right upstairs. NYU gives us special rates at the HIT Fitness Flora gym (40 crowns per visit). The gym wasn't as big as the ones back in the US, and not as hi-tech as Bucknell's, but I was definitely happy with it. It was a good size and plenty of cardio machines.

The metro system is incredibly simple compared to NYC's as it only has 3 lines. However, you'd be surprised at how long it took for me to figure out this sign...

Cardio section of the gym

I didn't feel creepy at all taking pictures here...

Frozen aisle of Albert's - a.k.a. the extent of my future attempts at cooking

And that way my day (yesterday).