Prague

We are off to Prague for the night! We are going to visit the cathedral by the castle and a five-story club! Woot!!! See you in Eleven Days! XOXO

Boat Party

So yesterday was the boat party... I got home at 5 am and ended up going to bed around 630 in the morning. It was great! I had one of the best times I have had since being in Europe! AMAZING!!!!! The reason I had a B.L.A.S.T. had a great deal to do with the fact that I helped to drink two 'boats.' A 'boat' is a liter of vodka and six red bulls. Yep. I helped with two. They were 550 czk, which is about $7.00 a person. We got our money worth. After the boat party, we went to the club. (TeePee Club) It was so0o0o0o much fun! I'm such a party animal!!! ;) I AM NOT LEAVING IN 12 DAYS!!!!!! Okay, I am....

Polls

I posted two polls on the side of my blog! Please take part! ;)
XOXO
Tiff

Whew!

I'm all caught up!!! Tonight I am going to the BOAT PARTY with the International Student Club! It should be a lot of fun! I'm sure that I will have lots of pics and stories from this one! ;) Tomorrow I'm supposed to graduate in the Haute.. I'm not going to be there.. haha* But I am going to be rocking my cap and gown! haha* Rach, Brandon, and Becky all have friends coming to visit this weekend so we are all going to explore Brno tomorrow! Then Sunday and Monday we are going to be back in Prague! There are some things I still want to see there.. Including a five-story club.. ;)

I have 13 days and counting until I see you all!! Until then, I am going to be celebrating my semeseter in style! ;)

See you s0o0o0o0o0o0n!!! XOXO from Brno!

Tiff

Vulgar... I think.....

There was someone at the football game who I am pretty sure WAS cursing though... The guy that was sitting/standing in front of us was very animated.. ((and, I would venture to say, intoxicated?)) haha* Anyways, we weren't sure what he was saying because he was speaking Czech, of course. He had three boys with him though. We would watch the man stand up and yell something to the players on the field, then we would look at the little boys in front of him to see what their reactions were. Based on their reactions, we could get a pretty good feel for what he was yelling... haha* I am getting very creative with the way that I understand what people are saying these days.... ;) I'm pretty much a professional!!

Ulrik Cursing at the Brno Football Game

So the football game (although it ended scoreless) had some close calls. That is the great thing about the fans here. They even clap when the kick was close. They are nice. "Nice Try" they say... Sometimes, the fans aren't so nice... When something doesn't go their way, they curse.. I think... ;) Ulrik would get mad at the game and start speaking Danish.. Of course we had to know what he was saying... I cannot imagine him saying anything bad. Ulrik is such a great person. And he proved me right... He would get angry, yell something in Danish, then proceed to tell us that he was telling the player to use better form or to pass the ball.. No cursing!!! HAHA* I LOVED IT!!! Thanks for being such a good guy, Ulrik! ;)

Ah, the dorms

I never had the desire to live in the dorms. I am a little pampered and prefer a HOUSE and not a little room in a large building that I share with a hundred strangers. Now that I have had this dorm experience, I love it!!! I have s0o0o many friends and s0o0o0 much fun here! Rach and I are on the main floor, so it is really easy for everyone to stop by. (Sometimes that is a bad thing)... There are some bad things... I miss my bed from back home... I miss my two closets... I miss my bookshelf full of shoes... and I miss my quiet time... Speaking of quiet time... Our neighbors were "not so quiet" the other night.... Rach decided to take it into her own hands... I was DYING LAUGHING!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did... I am not sure that our neighbors enjoyed it though.... teeheehee......

Animals

Those of you who know me well know that I have a love for animals. They are my weakness. I hope that I have LOTS AND LOTS of animals when I am older. My second family, the Richardsons, have had a few dogs in the past. My favorite is Belle. She is a Chihuahua/ Lab... haha* Okay, she is only a chihuahua but you wouldn; think so by looking at the adorable little thing. She loves me s0o0o0 much and I love her too! I hope that I can take her with me when I move to Indy this summer! Anyways, I got a little off topic.. This dog in the mountain town we went to reminded me of the reason I love animals s0o0o0o much..... Right.....

Making Music

When we were all done with the hike in the Fatra Mountains, we got to a grassy knoll.... I don't even know what that is or if I even spelled it right... Anyways, The Rachels and I got the sudden urge to prance around and sing "The Sound of Music." Wow... We slaughtered it.... haha* It was fun though!

SEEING BUS

So when we were hiking on the mountain in Slovakia this past weekend, we all got excited because someone yelled, "I SEE THE BUS!!" I ran up to see if they were right.. Czech out the video to 'see the bus....' punks....

Officially graduated!!!

Not sure if you have heard yet, but I graduated college.. ;) The official ceremony is tomorrow. This pic is one of the ones that was taken right after I got the official email from my professor telling me I was d.o.n.e..... WooHoooo!!!! I was feeling pretty sick, but I was talking to my boy and he convinced me to go out... So I did as I was told..... ;) I went to Club Remix and to Charlies Pub with some friends. It was a good night! ;) We took the three o'clock bus home.. And Rach and I ended up going to bed at 5 am... Ahhh... I love my life.....

Another Random Trip

Before the football game on Monday, a group of us went to lunch. Rachel, Becky and I were talking about our plans for Tuesday.. None of us had any! So we planned to go to Vienna, Austria the next day! That we did! We left at 1 pm Tuesday afternoon! We went to a BEAUTIFUL church in the middle of town (pretty standard). We also visited the palace. ((That's me in front of it)).... Afterwards, we visited the Leopald Art Museum. It was AMAZING!! It makes me want to spend lots of money I don't have on paintings! ;) I think I want to try my hand at painting.. Those babies were BEAUTIFUL!!! Another cool thing is that Rachel later found out her Grandpa (a musician) played at the Palace before! Wow! Vienna was BEAUTIFUL! The architecture is UNBEATABLE!!! The shopping was great too! Teeheehee! It was a great, spontaneous trip with Becky and Rachel! (We got back to Brno around 11 at night.)

But seriously....

Who won the football game!??!?!?!?!?!?

FOOTBALL!!!!

So to celebrate my last tax quiz, I went to the Brno Football game on Monday evening. It was a lot of fun! There were a lot more people there this game than last game. I am guessing that had a little bit to do with the warmer weather.. Apparently it was also some sort of tournament game. Pretty cool, huh? Oh wait.... It was an intense game.. The football game started off with a score of zero to zero... The game ended 90 minutes later with with a score of ... ZERO TO ZERO!! I thought for sure we were going into overtime, etc... Nope.... That was it... No one lost... No one won.. I still don't get it exactly... Who advanced in the tournament? ?!?!??!?!?!! We were trying to leave really fast to beat the crowd (unsuccessfully) and our group was weaving in and out of the bars between the stands. Yep.. We were going really fast, climbing up bars and stands... And my pants ripped... It was amazing.. I heard it and knew exactly what had happened.. I never get embarassed, but I was definitely blushing with this one. Luckily Becky was a great friend and gave me her jacket to cover it up... RIP, pants... ;(

Last Advanced Tax Quiz

Monday morning I turned in my LAST TAX QUIZ EVER!!! WOOT!!! I was super excited! Let's not talk about how I did on it, let's just focus on the important thing!!! I'M DONE WITH COLLEGE!!!!

Vlkolinec

After the Ice Caves, we went to an old village that is a UNESCO World Heritage village. It was a mountain town with 29 people and 45 cottages. So our group contained more people than the population of the WHOLE VILLIAGE! It was really neat to be able to go to that because I'm sure that I'm not the only one who would be scared to go to a little mountain town. Eekers. The greatest part was the way that we had to get to the villiage. Our bus wasn't allowed on the one-lane road, so we had to hike AGAIN to the villiage on the middle of the mountain/hill. Our guide told us this was the way that the villiagers got to town every day. I felt like a local......Until I got to the top of the hill and saw the real way the villiagers get around... Yep, they do hike up and down the hills to get to town... UNLESS THEY USE THEIR FREAKING CARS!!!!!!!!!! Sheesh! Talk about wanting to shoot yourself in the foot. I seriously thought I was on candid camera. There was DEFINITELY a parking lot at the entrance of the villiage... haha* The villiage did have a beautiful view! It was s0o0o0 pretty!! So, I guess it was worth the hike.... again....

Demanovska Ice Caves

On Sunday, we went to the famous Demanovska Ice Caves. While we were waiting for our tour to start, Brandon, Becky, Rachel, and Wadih got into a rock throwing fight across the creek. Luckily, I was there to tape it.... ((The video is on Becky's camera, but I will upload it later))... Anyhoo.... The caves were really pretty and we were all really tired after climbing through them the day after a LONG HIKE. Good stuff....

Cerveny klastor

After the hike, we drove to Cerveny klastor for a "romantic (wooden) raft trip (plte) in the river Vah." haha* That's what our itinerary said at least! ;) Since it was a romantic raft trip, I sat in the front by Rachel... I was hoping she would put the moves on me, but it never happened.. haha* Oh sheesh... I'm innappropriate.. Anyway, our tour guides were all dressed up. Two out of three of the 'captains' of our ship were named Jan (pronounced "Yan"). That is a pretty standard name here.... It was even cuter that they were father and son! ;) S00o0o0o0o proud! At one point in the romantic cruise, we saw two different castles.... One was much more preserved than the other, but it was cool to be in the middle of both of them, floating along the water.

Another note is that the tour was in Czech. The tour guides kept making jokes in Czech. To which, our tour guide would giggle, then translate. Then we would laugh. It happened over and over. It was so0o0o funny and delayed. I loved it!

Forgot!

Friday after the castle I went to lunch with Brandon, Becky, Rachel, and Wadih. I tried the national Slovak meal! ((I can't remember the name)) I suck... Anyways, it was essentially potato dumplings smothered in cheese with some bits of bacon. It was really good but it was very rich... Our tour guide told us there have been studies that said the meal helps to prevent cancer! How could I pass it up!?!?!? ;)

Fatra Mountain Hike

Wow Wow Wee!!!! So, the Fatra Mountain Hike was a lot more than ALL OF US expected! Even the tour guides! It was supposed to be about 5 K (3.1 miles) but ended up being about 4 or 5 miles.. It was pretty serious.. We ended up taking an hour longer than expected to finish the entire course. It was very intense and very hard, but very fun once we were done! ;) The picture of tired Nikki or the one of Brandon and Rachel flipping off the mountain pretty much sum up the experience. It was apparently a 'beginner's course' which was all kinds of WRONG WRONG WRONG! Beginning what? PROFESSIONALS!??!! At one point, there was a chain that we had to hold on to and climb between rocks using essentially arm strength only. That was the hardest part for me. I have NO upper body strength! ((But some killer calves from those stilettos!)) haha* Anyways, the mountains were BEAUTIFUL!!! I am really glad that I didn't wear a dress this time though! ;) I was actually dressed pretty appropriately.. Except for the fact that the guides told us to dress SUPER WARM so that we could be prepared for the 'snowy mountains.' Instead it was HOT HOT HOT! Hence the tank top I'm wearing.. The pic at the top is of the first few people of our group at the top of one of the stopping points. There were about six or seven of us (out of the thirty something people) who were leaders of the pack the entire time.. It was really a lot of fun! It was ALSO a VERY GOOD workout! ;) There are two videos that I uploaded: The first is of a time when Brandon and I were in the front of the pack. When we had a pretty good lead, we would stop so some of the others could catch up. We would try to find a lookout point because it was s0o0o pretty. This particular lookout point, I opted to stay put.... I had a bad feeling about the rock that we were about to climb... Turns out, I was right! The thing started collapsing as soon as Brandon started to climb down! Luckily I was there with a camera! haha* I screamed at one point, and worried that my group would freak out after hearing it.. One of the rocks landed right on my foot, which was great! ;) NOT!! The other video is of a point in the hike where I ask Brandon how he is doing.. He's good.. I felt like I was going to die! It was so intense and s0o0o uphill the whole time! ;) We did go downhill at the end... Wait... I should reiterate that it was certainly not a hill.. So, I will rephrase that.. We did go downMOUNTAIN at the end.. That was scarier for me than the climb up.... At one point I slid right down on my butt. It was pretty scary.... We we got down, we all chilled out on a grassy area before going to the bus.....The pic at the bottom is of me doing just that.... laying on the grass, with my knees propped up, looking at the mountains.. It was breathtaking... Literally.. ;)

Bonus!

On the way to the Vratna dolina valley (Fatra Mountain Hike) our bus stopped to ask directions.. yep... ASK DIRECTIONS.. ;) anyhoo, we stopped in this cute little mountain town and had some of the townsfolk offer to play some music for us. We all got off the bus and listened! It was s0o0o cute! I don't know whether they were 'good' or 'bad' but I can pretty much appreciate anyone who can play any kind of instrument because I can't!!! Rach had played before and she was impressed so I was too! haha*

The best part came when I realized that two guys (not part of our group) were hanging out enjoying the show too. That seems innocent.. BUT THEN I realized they were boozin hardcore!!! Czech out the pic! BAHAHHAHAHA* There's the Slovakia I know! ;) [Crap.. I just uploaded the pic and you can't really tell whether that is water or vodka... Trust me... It wasn't H2O......]

c00o0o0o0o0o00oL!!!!

So I added this cool new feature that you can see at the bottom left of my blog.. It is a news reel!! There are keywords that I put in like, Iraq, Religion, Czech Republic, Olympics, Etc... And the top three stories related to those shows up! Czech it out! Let me know if you can think of any good keywords I can add! I really like it!! See you in 13!! XOXO

Zilina

So we stayed in this crazy, po-dunk town on Friday night of the Slovak Mountain trip. To our tour guide's credit, the hostel was booked on a wim and purely because it was a good stopping point for the drive. There was a Tesco and an Irish pub. We went to both. In case I haven't filled you in, there are NO WALMARTS here! Yeah! Aren't they supposed to be taking the world by storm? Not in Europe! I have yet to see one!! hmmmmm... Tesco is the closest they have. And Tesco is everywhere. It is essentially a WalMart, but smaller.... ALWAYS CROWDED though, so it feels just like you are in the Haute, minus all the different language things... ;) Anyho0o0o0o0o... The Irish pub in Slovakia was pretty much a Texas Roadhouse with beer.... There was something I found interesting, though.... I went to the bathroom [for free] and saw this... What do you even think it means? Either way, we continued our journey bright and early Saturday morning.....

Trencin

After Piest'any, we drove to Trencin and visited the oldest Slovak castle. It was pretty cool. There was a great view of the city from the tower! The best part was all the portraits (paintings) of people all over the castle. Remember that royalty back in the day wanted to breed with other royalty. This resulted in cousins making out all the time. Which led to babies... And ugly ones. My favorite was this guy. Our guide pronounced him the ugliest guy in the castle! Wow! What a title! ;) I thought he was hot! It was a little amazing how cute Ulrik could look so much like that product of incest... ;)

Oh Yeah....again

I am able to blog right now BECAUSE I GRADUATED!!!!!!!!!!!! I finished (and successfully passed) my classes, and AM OFFICIALLY A COLLEGE GRADUATE!!!!!! Wo0o0oHo0o0o0o!!!!! This is a picture Becky took of me after I submitted my last assignment for college! Mark wanted me to take one just like I took of him when he was in the same situation last May! I wasn't going to celebrate because I felt like garbage, but Mark convinced me to go out FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD! Wow! He is such a peer-pressurer..... ;) We will get to that later... For now, let's continue with Slovakia!

Oh yeah

HAPPY MAY DAY to all the people I love in my life!!!!!! Seriously, what does this holiday even mean? haha*

Slovak Mountains

So the weekend of the 25th, we went to the Slovak Mountains. It was quite an adventure! First we stopped at a little city called Piest'any. It has the most well-known Slovak Heath Spa, Iceland. It was really beautiful. There were some beautiful gardens that the 'patients' walk through. We hung out for a while and saw the pretty flowers and people walking around in their spa robes.... It was very pretty....