Jon and Lynsey's Blog

No worries, we didn't fall off the face of the earth, just keeping ourselves busy. The past week was a good week. Last week Tuesday we had a little exchange student party at a local club. Good times and we even ran in to a girl that studied at UWW last fall. Kinda crazy. It was funny hearing her talk about The Downstairs and Pumpers and Mitchells. We still hadn't started class or heard anymore on our internship until we had an interview Thursday with a software company called Moravia-IT or something like that. Who knows what we'll be doing but it looks like we both got the position and start this upcoming Monday (The 30th). I'm so excited! Yah right. Friday we had a couple hours of class, which was a joke, and then Friday night the Spanish students through a Sangria party at the pub across from the dorms. Sangria is strong and after only two glasses I could tell I had been drinking. We woke up Saturday morning and a group of about 50 of us went just outside of Brno to a large park area and took a tour of some beautiful caves. We even got to take an underground boat tour of the underground river and lakes in the caves. We walked around for the better part of the morning and early afternoon. It was absolutely beautiful out and with the leaves changing, made it even nicer. We came back Saturday afternoon and got ready for our 3 day journey to Salzburg, Austria starting Sunday.

Sunday morning Lynsey and I were up at 0300 (wow, is that early) to catch the bus and our 0515 train to Salzburg. I was tired that's for sure. We got to Salzburg around 1230, found our hostel, checked in, dropped our bags and set out to enjoy the perfect October day exploring Salzburg. Trusting Lynseys navigation skills, she led us up a nice size hill in the middle of town only to find the way she was going wasn't the way down. We hiked around through the park atop the hill for a bit before descending in to the city. It is a very nice city and the river running through the middle was so clear and green tinted it was amazing. Every other river in Europe is gross looking but not this one. We had some typical Austrian food for dinner and headed back to our room only to crash before 8pm. Yah, thats how tired we both were.

We were up bright and early Monday morning to take a guided tour to Hitlers Eagle's Nest. Hitler's Eagles Nest It is actually just over the border in to Germany and the Bavarian Alps. The views from atop were awesome. If you've ever seen Band of Brothers you'll know what I'm talking about. Just to be standing in the same room as Hitler did some 60 years ago is pretty cool. Check out the pics for the 360 degree views. After the tour was over and we were on our way back to Salzburg, the driver dropped the two of us at the base of another mountain, Mt. Untersberg. We took the cable car all the way to the top, some 1776 meters, for some more amazing views. From there we climbed to the next peak and spent a few hours relaxing and taking in the beautiful mountains. When you can seat atop a mountain of that size at the end of October in a t-shirt, ya know it's a nice day out. We headed back down on one of the last cable cars and took a bus back in to town. We explored some more, grabbed some grub from the grocery store, had some sandwiches in the room, watched a little TV and were in bed pretty early again. The three girls staying in the room with us all came in at different times and had no respect for us sleeping so our night of sleep sucked!

We awoke at 0600 Tuesday morning to catch a train further in to the Alps to take a tour of the worlds largest Ice Caves. Ice CavesFrom the train station, we caught a shuttle that dropped us off half way up the mountain. From there it was a 20 min walk to the cable car that took us up a little further. From there it was another 20 minute walk to the entrance of the caves. The whole time, it was sprinkling pretty good on us, so we were wet and a little chilled by the time we got to the caves. It was us and two other people for the first tour of the morning so that was nice. The caves are at or below freezing all year long so it was a little chilly in there. We got actual lanterns to us for light in the cave and to light up the 700+ stairs we had to climb to get to the top and then the 700+ back to the bottom. We only saw about 1km of the 42km's worth of caves and it was pretty cool. Unlike anything I had ever seen before. Once we were done with the tour, we ventured back down the hill in a nice, steady rain, passing exhausted visitors on their way up, all the way down the mountain. Once back down at "normal" level, we caught the train back to Salzburg and then jumped on an earlier train back to Brno. We got back to our room about 2100 last night, unpacked, cleaned up, watched some Lost and crashed. Its another beautiful day in Brno so who knows what we'll do today!

We miss ya'll back home and appreciate all those who have been reading the blog and keeping up on our journeys. Who knows, we might head somewhere this week for a couple days just to keep us busy. If anybody wants to come visit, it's really cheap over here and we have extra beds in our room for ya to crash on! Hope to hear from ya'll soon. Until next time, ciao!

Well, we are back safe and sound from Rome just in the nick of time too. There was a huge subway crash this morning, killing at least 1 and injuring a bunch more. We were right where that happened too. Yikes! Where do I begin? I guess we'll start with day 1 and work to today.

Thursday morning we were up with the sun and headed to Bratislava to spend some time in the city and catch our plane to Milan. The city center is nice and we enjoyed ourselves. For those of you who haven't seen the movie Hostel, watch of it and think of us We made it to the airport pretty easily, boarded and were on our way to Milan. We had a short time in Milan before catching our flight to Rome. Landed in Rome at 2245 at the airport in the middle of nowhere! Bought a bus ticket to the main train station and it didn't leave until 2345. Took almost an hour to get to the train station, we got off with no idea where our hotel was. Wandered around a bit desperately trying to find it, finally found it at 0100, checked in and crashed. Friday morning we were up at 0700, showered, ate breakfast, got our bearings, made a POA, and set out to meet up with my Aunt Sandy and her best friend Mary, our whole reason for coming to Rome. We walked around past the colosseum, through the Forum and to the Pantheon to meet up with them at 1200. 1203 they saw us, we toured the Pantheon together and set out to get them some food after there long journey over here. It was amazing seeing them and actually meeting up with them in a city as large as Rome. The four of us had some pizza for lunch, walked around for a couple more hours. We got our tickets for the Canonization Sunday (the reason all of us were there) threw our coin in to Trevi fountain and had some dinner. They were whopped so they called it a night while Lynsey and I walked around a bit more. We finally retired to our room around 2100 after getting some groceries to snack on.

Saturday morning we were up at 0600 to get a good jump on the day. By 0700 we were ready, feed and on our to St. Peter's and the Vatican. We arrived around 0800 only to see a couple thousand of our closest friends already there waiting for something. St. Peter's was closed until 1300 so to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel we went. Our tour book told us to arrive early to avoid the crowds but not today. There was already a line atleast 500 m's long that seemed to go on forever behind us once we got in line. A couple hours later, we were finally inside. I know both my dad and Lynsey's dad would have loved the line and all the people But once inside we went straight to the sistine chapel along with everyone else. It was absolutely beautiful inside. Everything was painted. There were drapes painted down the walls that looked so life like it was crazy. The amount of time and effort put in to it was well worth it thats for sure. We took a lot of pictures inside, well actually Lynsey did, that don't even come close to showing just how beautiful it is. We spent a couple hours inside and ventured back outside to check the line to St. Peters. Yeap, just like the line to the Vatican, a couple thousand deep. No thanks! Ate a little lunch and ventured for some more exploring. We honestly walked the entire city Saturday from 0700 to 2030 when we got back to our room. We saw it all. Toured the Colosseum and Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus and a bunch of other beautiful sights. We showered, packed our bags and crashed at 2200 only to be up again at 0500.

Sunday was the whole reason we were in Rome. Mother Theodore Guerin, founder of both Sandy and Mary's college, Mary of the Woods in 1840. Check out the link for more info and pictures of event. ( http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/15/pope.saints.ap/index.html ) Lynsey and I got up at 0500 to get our stuff ready and be out the door before 0600. Sandy and Mary were staying in a different hotel with the tour group they came over with so we were planning on meeting them in front of the Vatican before the event. Lynsey and I checked out, stored our bags at the train station and caught a bus to the Vatican. We arrived at 0645 to find a line already pretty long. Lynsey jumped in line and I went to meet them at our rally point. We didn't meet up. The gates opened at 0800 and everyone rushed in. We managed to get great seats in the second row of the second grouping. After awhile I set out to find them. I found them and we made our plan to meet up after the event. The event was amazing. So many people and we were only 30 feet from the Pope when he entered. Thanks to everyone pushing and shoving, I couldn't get a great picture. Mother Guerin and 3 others were canonizied (made Saints) during the event. The entire square in front of St. Peter's was full and people were standing outside as well. The whole event lasted almost 3 hours with the Pope waving goodbye to all of us. Quite a sight. The 4 of us meet up and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening together. We had lunch and it honestly took an hour + for us to get our food. It was a joke but all we could do was laugh about it. When you're with good company, time doesn't matter. We saw a few more sights, got our bags and caught a cab back to the hotel, but not before Mary and Sandy got McDonalds. They were both craving regular food and McDonald's was gonna have to do! HAHA. We spent the night on the floor of there hotel room. Shit location but nice hotel. Right outside there hotel was a junk yard, a trailer park and a looney bin. NICE! Even had a metal gate to pull down over the sliding glass door on the 7th floor!! The floor felt great after another very long day.

Monday we were up at 0400 to catch a taxi to the airport. Got there, checked in, boarded and got to Milan with no problems at all. This is where the long day starts. So, as stated before, we were thinking about heading to Salzburg, Austria for a few days because we have nothing to do here. Well, we were waiting for word from a lady back in Brno about rescheduling an appt she made for us that day. We finally got word that she rescheduled it for Thursday so we boarded a bus to Milan train station to head to Salzburg. Yah, great idea. Next train left at 1730 (it was 1300) and arrived in Salzburg at 0410 the next morning. 11 hours on a train that should normally only take 6, yah right! We got back on the same bus we just got off and headed back to the airport, just in time to check in for our 16500 flight back to Bratislava. The security line was a mile long so we ate, and then jumped in. After almost an hour in line and having to take every thing out of our bags, we were finally through. 1700 came around we still didn't have a plane or anyword on our flight. Yah, it was delayed until 1845! Great, we are gonna miss the only bus back to Brno now. HAHA! We finally leave as the sun was setting which was beautiful and got to Bratislave around 1815. Got right on the bus to the train station and waited around until 2234 for a train to Brno. Got on, slept the majority of the way and got back to Brno around 1215. Caught a cab and were in bed by 0100. LONG DAY!

Overall, the trip was amazing. I'm so glad we got the oppurtunity to see Mary and Sandy in Rome as well as the canonization. It was a once in a lifetime event that's for sure. Thank you Mary and Sandy for getting us tickets and everything. And Grandpa Hall, thank you for the letter and everything else as well. It really means a lot. Rome is a huge city with so much history and so many people it can get overwhelming. Take a couple days and venture around Rome with a map and enjoy the thousands of years of history that surrounds you on every corner. I'm glad I got to share it with Lynsey as well as Mary and Sandy. Check out some of the pictures Lynsey choose to post. We took a lot so these are just a few. Stay tuned for more from our exciting world. I'll let ya'll know about our internship and classes when we found out more! Until next time, CIAO!!

Well folks, we are up and moving here on a beautiful Thursday morning in Brno! So this is what 0700 looks like. Haven't been up much before 0830 lately due to the lack of a set class schedule yet! We are headed out to Rome for the next 4-5 days with a possible extended vacation up to Salzburg, Austria for a couple days and an excursion to Prague to meet up with a buddy from work. Should be a great week or so here in Europe enjoying the 70 degree days we've been having. Sucks to all those who are seeing the white stuff already!! Check in like you've been doing, ya just never know when we might add some pics and info on our exciting life over here! Haha, it's a great life and I can see why Ty didn't want to leave and can't wait to come back. Until next time, Ciao!!

Jon and Lynsey

Well, we finally tried Absinth last night and I can tell you it is terrible! If you know me and shots, it didn't go down to smoothly. Needless to say, it can mess you up in a hurry if you have a couple. The English guy, Henry had 4 in one night and 8 in two days! I can see why he felt like S--T the entire next day! We spent last night playing pool and having a few beers in the pub downstairs. Good times! Before we made dinner, we climbed the hill behind our dorm which offers a panoramic view of Brno and the surrounding area. We had a beer, watched the sunset and enjoyed the picture perfect evening. We spent the entire day catching up on all of our stuff, diong laundry and taking it easy. It was great.

Saturday we took it easy as well. It was pretty quiet around here and everyone was moving a little slow after a late one on Friday. We ran some errands in the morning, got both our computers up and running on the internet after buying a router/switch from a closed store at 1930 Friday evening! Yes, I know, I'm good! Saturday afternoon, while listening to the Badgers roll over, we figured since we had nothing to do until we left for Rome Thursday, we'd take a short little trip somewhere. I got excited to go see Salzburg, Austria (home of Mozart and The Sound of Music) and Hitlers Eagle's Nest. So we were all ready to book a room when we figured that it would be bad of us to be gone while everyone was working to figure out what we were going to do for our internship. So we cancelled the trip and went to bed disappointed

Friday evening we moved in to our old room, actually Lynseys roommate moved in to the other half of the suite and I moved in with Lynsey. We arranged our room that afternoon, made dinner and headed out with a small group so they could eat dinner and then head to the clubs. After our fearless leader, Filip, lead us on a wild goose chase looking for a restaurant he ate at one night but needless to say, we couldn't find it. They had dinner, we had dessert, went to the Absolut Bar and a few other clubs but they are all to smokey, hot and stinky to stay in for to long. So we left around 0030 and headed back home. Cleaned up and went to bed.

So today, Monday, we have nothing to do once again. They still have nothing figured out as far as our internship goes so we can't do that. So, we are going to putz around here, get my hair cut, hopefully get our student cards, and then maybe head to the lake this afternoon with a small group to go hang out. It is a rough life we live over here. How's class for everyone back? Homecoming week and it has to be exam week as well. Good luck on all the exams!! Take care and check out the new pics from the past couple days. Some good ones in there of the Absinth! Until next time, Ciao!!

Jon and Lynsey

We had our first day of class Wednesday. We met with the Dean and some of the other faculty to get our class schedules and books for less than an hour then class was done with for Jon and I until today. We were only signed up for one course on the Czech culture and economy but we decided to sign up for another class called Applied Informatics. It seems like it should be very informative, its all about computers and data entry. We are suppose to have a lecture from 9:00 to 11:00 and then a lab from 11:00 to 1:00 every Friday but we were only there for less than an hour today and the class is completely canceled next week. Our Czech culture class seems like it should be a lot of fun too. We only have lecture every other week and then the other weeks we go visit historical sites of the Czech or the traditional Czech life style. Pretty rough schedule here as you can tell. We are done with class for the next two weeks! We will still have our intership (hopefully) but we have to talk with the Dean on Monday to see what we are doing, we'll keep you posted on that.

As far as the last few days go, Wednesday after class we didn't do too much, ran some errands and I went and got my first pair of European shoes! YAY!!!! Wednesday night a lot of the Erasmus students went out. Wednesday nights in Brno are like our Thursday nights in Whitewater, everyone goes out. Jon and I stayed out for a few hours then headed back to the dorms. Their bars over here are extremely smokey and not well ventilated. Most of them are in basements where there are no windows and EVERYONE is smoking so its hard to stay out for hours on end because you start to get a sore throat and can't breathe because of all the smoke. Thursday was another free day. We've had so many free days lately we don't know what to do with ourselves! We heard that there was a zoo not too far from our dorm so we decided to check it out. It was a lot different than our American zoo's that forsure. The entire thing was on the side of a huge hill, we got our exercise in for the day! The animal cages would definately not fly in the US. You could put your arm right through some of the cages of some of the animals and in some cases their was only some shrubbery with a small electric fence as a barrier. Over all it was pretty cool to see the difference between an American Zoo and the ones here. There wasn't anyone at the entrance so we got in for free, another plus to the day.

Oh on another note, we think we finally got the whole room situation figured out...we think! We have only visited the accommodation office every day since we've been here, NO JOKE! Their whole system of trying to get people housing is really messed up. Jon and I aren't even listed in the dorms residence list but we are in the main data base. My roommate on the other hand is listed in the dorms as a resident in a different room and not in the main system under a different person may I add. Its really messed up especially when you can barely communicate with them, but we think we finally got everything figured out. Other than that not too much else is new. We were thinking about taking off for a few days and possibly visiting Prague since we don't have anything to do this weekend still haven't made any finalized plans yet. Hope all is well back home. We miss everyone!

Lynsey and Jon

Yes it's true, we finally got the pics posted from the trip and a few from around Brno. If you know me, there were a lot more pics taken then we posted but I think Ax would get a little upset if I posted them all! Sorry it's been a few days since we last posted but we've been busy living the dream over here. We'll give you a little recap of what we've been up to the past week or so so you don't feel to left out. Where do I begin?? Last Wednesday Lynsey and I went out for the first time with the group to the Absolut Bar here in town. They serve some 700+ different drinks so we have some work in front of us inorder to drink them all! It was a good time and I found a bottle of 146 proof Captain Morgan that I was told I can only buy in Austria. Guess where I'm going. Now those would definetly be "Brown Mumblers"! Thursday was a national holiday around the Czech but we still had language course. It wasn't to bad I guess. Friday we finished up our last day of the language course, skipped the afternoon so we could get our internet working and get some stuff done. The whole group went out for dinner at a local restaurant. It was a midevil themed place and they actual had guys in armor with swords and axes battling right around the tables. Pretty cool. Our food was good and the beer was cold so it was a good night. We called it an early one so we could be up bright and early for our day full of planned activites. Saturday morning the whole group boarded two buses and we headed for a town known as the wine center of the Czech Republic. We toured the town and the towns underground tunnel system that is one of the largest in all of Europe. It was pretty cool hearing the history that dated all the way back to the 14th century! That's pretty old. We then went to a wine cellar carved in to the sandstone. A guy from 1934-1968 carved and painted the walls of the cellar with numerous pictures and settings. The actual date of the cavern is unknown but is suspected to date back to the 17 or 1800's. We had a few samples of wine, boarded the bus and headed back towards Brno with a pit stop in a small town for a beer or a ice cream cone. Once back in Brno, we took over a room in a huge restaurant for dinner, wine sampling, real Movarian music and later on, dancing! We sampled four wines with a full explanation on all of them and then were given two good size pitchers of wine to go with our meal. Lynsey and I drank a very good portion of the wine for our table and then drank a few more cocktails and introduced a few Europeans to "Jager Bombs"! It was a great evening and lots of dancing. Thank goodness the Turkish girls knew how to get home after we all boarded the wrong bus and headed the wrong direction. Lynsey was hilarous as the wine and Jager bombs started to take affect. Waking up Sunday morning for our 1030 meeting for more sightseeing around Brno was extremely difficult. Lynsey had a hangover all day. HAHA! We walked around Brno as a group. We saw the castle, the main Cathedral (St Peter and Paul Cathedral), a few more interesting sights and then headed back to the dorms. A nap was well needed! We laid low Sunday night and got a good night sleep. Monday we were up at a decent hour seeing as we had nothing to do since our first meeting for school isn't until tomorrow (Wednesday) and even then, it's just a meeting and classes don't start until Thursday. We headed in to town to do some exploring and some shopping for supplies. We hit up the local Ikea and grocery store (which is actually like our Wal-Marts) putzed around some more and then came back to eat some dinner at the Menza (cafeteria) and finish watching a movie. Today, we got the rest of our supplies, Lynsey cleaned the room while I tested out our new toaster oven/stove top dealy we bought for our room. Now I can cook in style!! We are trying to figure out a way we can get a room together and have the Belgium guys, I currently live with one of them, in to the room adjoing Lynseys but it's tougher then we thought. I guess we'll just have to see what happens. As I'm sitting here typing this, the strong smell of Mary Jane is blowing in through the window. I wonder if the guys who had the huka party at the end of the hallway last week could be behind the smell?? Everybody in the group is pretty cool like I said before. Everyone is very easy going and easy to get along with. There have been plenty of drunken nights for all of them so far and we are only a week or so in to the school year. Should be a good one that's for sure. Stay posted and be sure to check out all the pics. There are a couple of folders including a folder of all the Fjord pics in the Norway, Sweden trip folder. Stay posted for more updates and until then, take care!