Lydia Smith

Today is May Day in Czechia, which means that most people have the day off. A joint Labor Day and celebration of the soon-to-be summer season means that folks have the chance to flock to nature. Tack on the fact that May 1 is the Day of Love, and you will soon find yourself surrounded…

It is very nearly May in Prague, which means that tourist season is upon us. If you don’t want to get trampled on the Charles Bridge or ripped off by the ridiculously high food prices, careful planning is required.  The rates even went up 50 kč at Dogbar! Chaos is upon us, and I find…

I am now on my 64th page of the document where I am keeping all these entries. Shall I turn it into a book? Food for thought.  The past two weeks have been stretching me quite thin, like taffy on a… taffy stretcher. I woke up the day after returning home from Karlovy Vary with…

The final AIFS trip I signed up for was a one-nighter to Karlovy Vary, also known as Carlsbad, a spa town located in the far west of Czechia along the German border. Officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2021, the town’s hot springs have been an attraction since the mid 1300s, when…

Well, reader, I have rekindled that excitement that I had the first few weeks I was here. I have successfully overcome the midterm slump and am now transitioning into “bus, club, another club, another club” mode. What this means, of course, is that I have decided that sleep is for the weak. I can sleep…

The last of my three-weekend-long traveling spree was a program-organized trip to Kraków. It was a group of about 25 from across multiple organizations – which I signed up for via AIFS – that included American and international ECES students. The excursion included a trip to Auschwitz I and II, which I will attempt to…

It’s the time of the semester when I’m super busy and I have little energy to deconstruct events of my life into feelings. I’m not sure if other parents are still diligently reading or if they’ve gotten into a routine of their kids being across the pond, so it’s hard to define my audience beyond…

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that Haley and I were planning our first self-organized trip? Alas, we did it. Miraculously, the trains were on time, the hostel was organized, and we managed to get through it without any major hiccups. In fact, the trip was one of the best travel experiences I’ve…

Now that I’m getting to the point in the semester where I’ve developed a routine, I figure that I should start to do specialized entries. I’m sure you’ve all loved to hear the play-by-play of my daily emotional rollercoasters, but if it’s getting old to me, it’s most definitely on its way to being out…

Wine About It At 7:30 on Saturday morning, we loaded ourselves onto a bright yellow bus and started off on our first overnight trip outside of Prague. The kingdom of Bohemia had been kind to us, but it was time to see another part of the country. The part of the country we’d been told…