Oh legs...how thy do hurt

By Morgen

Why is there no effn' elevators in this damn city? Stairs, stairs everywhere. Our legs are in a state of pure agony. We took the tram today, to find our new apartment. By tram it's not too far away from where we are now. It's in an older building, which means that there is no elevator. The apartment is on the top floor of a four-story building, and the stairs are winding and narrow. I have no idea how we're going to get our luggage up there. Courtney and I opted to take on two other boarders (fellow classmates), which decreases our rent. Their names are Andrew and Yenna. Andrew is from Ohio, and Yenna is from Slovakia. They met in New Zealand, and have been dating for two years. They're really nice, and Andrew is extraordinarily sarcastic; I don't think I can handle that...

Later, we decided to walk to the building our class will be in. It's about a fifteen minute walk over the Charles Bridge and into the Old Town, and of course we got lost. We were exhausted by the time we found it, and then were not happy to find that the class is located on the top floor of a five-story building. That meant about ten flights of narrow stairs. I was pretty much in tears by the time I reached the top, and my calves were screaming at me. I was glad to find though, that our class is very small; only seven people are enrolled (six Americans and one Slovak). I think it'll go pretty well. Class starts at 9:00 a.m. every morning and ends at 8:30 every night. Lots of work, but I think we're up for the challenge.

After we left the school, we decided to kill time by wandering around back the way we came. We stumbled upon the original Pilsner Urquell restaurant. We sat at the bar and had an appetizer and good old-fashioned Czech beer. It was delicious! Around eight, we headed towards the cool astronomical clock in this huge square and met up with the girls I met on the plane from Frankfurt. We took a ghost walk around Prague. Our tour guide, Camilla, was very animated and lots of fun. The only part I wasn't too thrilled about was around almost every corner, someone in a mask would jump out and scare the shit out of us. I wisened up pretty quickly--I walked up front with Camilla and saw him coming every time except the last one when he creeped up behind us. All in all it was pretty cheesy, but entertaining. We're meeting up with the girls on Saturday morning for the Easter markets, which is kind of like Folklife festival meets Farmer's Market. It should be pretty fun. Also, we get to meet our other classmates for a beer later in the afternoon. I'm not sure if I'll be able to walk at all by that point. Courtney may have to push me in a wheelchair.

I guess I shouldn't complain; all this walking is good for me, and I'll be in such good shape.

Sigh...