Czech Top 10!!!

1. Although the build-up to it sucked...it was really nice to get a single room with a TV and phone when I stayed in Plzen. I loved just chilling in my panties, watching a Tara Reid movie in Czech, and talking to Mom & Dad.
2. The exchange rate from Canadian to Czech Krowns. It was 1$ to 22 Krowns. So I would go to the bank machine and get out 1000 Krowns and it would only be 50$. How amazing is that! And so fun because you feel so rich for a while!
3. So because the exchange was so good, when I went to a bar and got a beer for 15 krowns, it was actually LESS than a dollar. How can you compete with that! And the beer is SO good! Pilsner and the REAL Budwiser...all freeshly brewed right here in the Czech.
4. Along with the cheap beer was really cheap food. I ate out every night because I could do so for just over 6$ and yet get a huge meal, with a beer, salade, main, and at least one side. And the food is GREAT!
5. Getting a free keg of this delicious beer when I checked into my hostel in Cesky Krumlov! A whole huge keg for only around 20 people. I must say that there were a lot of hung over people the day after that night!
6. The last night I was in Cesky Krumlov I went out to dinner with 4 other people I met in the hostel. We went to this mideval restaurant where they cook everything over and open flame. Their house specialty is garlic soup in a bread bowl. Incredible. It basically just some veggie stock with garlic and some herbs, in a bread bowl (a la Tim Hortens chilli), with mass amounts of melted cheese. You just can't beat it!
7. The first appearance of snow. Actually...I can't decide if the actually sight of the snow was my favourite part of this, or the reactions from all the people (read:Aussies) that had never seen snow before. I was awoken by screams of glee and wonder, only to be followed quickly by screams of terror at how cold it was. I loved it...the woosies!
8. The fact that I made a bit of a change in my travelling and took some buses for a few days. I didn't love the buses, but it did make me really happy that I had invested in my Eurail Pass (thanks again Grandma!!!). I would have died if I had had to spend the whole 3 months on buses...no matter how fast and reliable they are.
9. Running into someone I knew from Burlington. I know....how random...but apparently its quite a common thing to happen, to run into someone you vaguely know from your past. Mine was Casey Altorf (spelling?). The story is that he is the older brother of a guy that I went to HS with named Carl. And if that's not random enough, in OAC (that's Grade 13 for all you non-Ontarians), on the day that we were getting our student card pictures taken, Carl and I were standing in line together and decided that it would be really funny to switch names, because our grad pictures would be in the year book, not these ones. So we did, and for a whole year I was Carl Altorf and he was Amanda Gulka. And then I run into his brother at a hostel in Cesky Krumlov. How small the world is!
10. The Czech people. Although my first night in the Czech was difficult, it was made more than bearable by all the helpful people that I met that pointed me in the right direction or offered me their help. And this has continued all the way through. Most of the people I have encountered have been older, and speak no word of english, but that doesn't stop them from talking to you. And its not uncommon to ask someone for some help, only to be told they don't speak english, but then have them run off and return a few minutes later with a 'translator'. So incredibly helpful and friendly.