.pf2007

Happy new year, everybody!!!

Let the year 2007 be a better one than the one we're leaving behind. May it be full of joy and peace for everyone, everywhere...

.first snow!

.ladies and gentlemen, we're proud to present you this season's first snow! We've waited a long time, however the wait is finally over :). It all began this morning. I woke up at half past eleven ;) (a little party with friends from high school on previous night...) and first glance from the window revealed some white areas around the house. White beauty, such important part of the winter for me, is still falling from the sky with unending intensity and the world is more and more silky and smooth :). Hopefully it'll stay like until the end of my stay at home. My wish of skiing is getting more realistic contours ;). So what to say at the end? Probably just "Let it snow, let it snow!"...

Let the winter be as nice as it should be and have fun in white fairytale world!

.christmas

.the time has come. The time for the most favourite of the holidays in practically whole world. The time for Christmas...
These days should be devoted to the peace, family gatherings and happiness. Yet last years have brought a little bit different view on this holiday. Commerce is everywhere, super sales for super gifts, etc. I do not really understand this because the gift is not the real purpose of meeting somebody. Gift can emphasize your love, care but not the quantity or price is what matters the most! It's a shame many people of today cannot see that...
So let us, at least for today, share a bit of love, attention and joy! With all the people who deserve it as a symbol of our thanks for their all year round care.

I wish you all the merriest Christmas filled with warmth of people's hearts!

.icy refreshment

.as I'm a hockey fan, today's match between HC Kosice and HC Nitra was an ideal way how to spend an evening... This game was quite important because it solved the mystery about who will celebrate Christmas as a league's leader. I won't conceal the result from you any longer because it's great :). After the win 7:3, we are still on the first place... HC Kosice forever!!! ;)

The hockey action was beautiful. Really fast game with a lot of shots, great goalie (on our side) and amazing goals (in their net). It has reminded me of old times, when our hockey club was each year fighting in finals. Kosice are well known for combinational hockey and today's goals were like from the great book of hockey :). I've enjoyed my time, thank you guys! Maybe the gold medals are again realistic this season, I'll keep my fingers crossed...

.sadness

Dry tears

Rolling down the face
Eyes not glowing
The flame has died
Lips one tight line
The time is wrong for smile
Heart beating slower
As if to cry…

.exodus, part II

.after a few days in Prague came a time for the final part of journey home (669km, Prague - Kosice with short intermission in Kezmarok). The time of departure was set to midday. Weather was not very pleasing but this is the thing we cannot influence... So far the car was not showing any new mechanical problems. But this was to change ;). We (me and Igor) were leaving the city in a small drizzle, temperatures slightly above zero, yet happy for being every minute closer and closer to our homes...
First problems (luckily also the only ones) appeared only after few kilometers on a highway. Eventhough the anti-freeze tank is full, the liquid was not sprayed on the windscreen (something has probably blocked the hose :( ), thus lowering the quality of work of wipers... Roads were dirty and wet and so wipers were used a lot. With this handicap I had to stop few times just to wipe the windscreen clean (it's even more distracting in the night with all the light from the cars driving in opposite direction). This made whole journey a lot more entertaining, we were luckily not involved in any accidents (while this was a really bad day on Slovak roads, 7 deaths, we passed along the worst accident, it wasn't a nice look :(... ).
This time I tried the north way across Slovakia (because of the needed stop in Kezmarok, Igor's destination). I have to say, it's much worse than south way. Lots of roadworks, traffic, etc. Last part was quite enjoyable (Poprad - Kosice, 115km), but that's mainly because I knew it and Kosice were really near ;). So finally I'm home!

I have to admit that this road trip had also it's beauties. There was an inversion in border region and frozen mist created amazing pictures in the landscape (this is the reason for the photo ;) )...

.friends, friends, friends

.this day was special. Special because I've met many friends, friends I've not seen for a long time. Friends I was used to see almost every day...

It all started a week ago with some icq messages. I knew I was coming to Prague and this was a great opportunity for a small meeting :). We've chosen date, time and place (nevertheless, as always not everybody made it there in time ;) ). We've met at some restaurant-pub called Prague-Munich (it was a coincidence but quite nice, in accordance to my stay in Germany and return to Prague ;) ).
Anyway, our crew consisted of a total number of 11 people! Good mood and good Czech beer (big difference, not like German low quality stuff ;) ) helped the atmosphere a lot :). We chatted about many different things (upcoming Christmas, work experiences and of course my opinions on Germany, Erasmus, etc.). I'd brought some Belgian pralines, hopefully everybody liked them. At the end of this eventful and entertaining evening came some minor problems with the paying of bill (according to the waiter our consumption was higher than we thought...). But this could have hardly ruined the positivity of our little meeting :).

.exodus, part I

.thus, the judgement day finally came. Trip back home was planned for today (at least it's first part, Saarbrucken - Prague, 670km). After some boring lectures and quite enjoyable lunch at mensa we boarded Clio and left campus.

Luckily, the weather is still very unusual and pleasant, roads were dry and relatively empty. I have to confess, I've feared a bit that some unexpected mechanical car problems will appear... But nothing like this happened and at 2100 CET we arrived into well known Prague :).

The only things worth to mention were many kilometres of roadworks in Germany (and incapability of German drivers to drive fast through narrowed road sections), quite amusing affection of Czech truck drivers to by-pass slower trucks with the same or lower speed (so the highway is blocked and slowed for 5 minutes...) and 'funny' customs officer on German-Czech borders. Our appearance was probably quite suspicious because we had to stop the engine, get out of the car, show every gadget from our pockets, etc. He was looking for drugs and other stuff... This is the first time something like this happened to me.

Nevertheless, Prague, be aware that we're back! :)

.car (adrenaline) adventure

.this couldn't have come at a worse time... On Sunday evening my car broke down. Suddenly the petrol started to leak from some hidden hole in the fuel system. I've noticed it by quick dropping of the fuel indicator and by a strong petrol smell inside the car (air-condition was turned on). I had to park in one village close to the campus. One glance below the car showed, that it had been worse than I'd ever imagine (petrol was trickling really quickly from the front part of the vehicle). Of course on Sunday no service shop was open. We are planning to drive back to Prague on Thursday afternoon, so the timing was really worse than bad :(...
Adventure continued on Monday, I've found Renault service close to my parking place, yet the question was how to get there (no fuel left meant I needed to find someone with car to pull me there). After some tries finally one friend (Honza, big thanks for helping me!) had answered my call and promised to come as quickly as possible. He was there some time after midday. Bad luck was still not loosing it's grip on me, i've discovered, that the pulling rope was left back home in Kosice :(. And so a small ride around city was needed to find a place where they were not only selling such things, but actually also had one to sell... After some time we were lucky and have bought the rope. Not that we had big experience with pulling vehicles and so the drive was not as smooth as it could have been ;). Nevertheless it was successful! Anyway, it had to be a funny sight: Czech car with cracked windscreen and missing wiper was in quite extensive rain pulling Slovak car without petrol :). Mission was accomplished, the car was in professional care and the problem was quickly discovered (crack in the fuel system tubing). As the flawed part was not on stock, it was due to arrive today...
Finally my short story is over, it has a happy end (a little bit sour, because prices for repairment work are so high in this country - spare part 50€, work 80€...). So far is Clio working without problems, testing drive was successful. Hopefully no other problems will occur and we'll be able to spend Christmas back home...

P.S.: the car photo is only illustrative ;)

.homesick

.maybe it's because of the weather, maybe because of the star constellation... Or maybe I've been on one place for too long. Anyway I'm feeling a bit homesick right now. Nothing pleases me anymore, nothing brings a smile to my face. I need a change, i need to go home! It's not very far away, we're going to Prague (and then home) next Thursday. I cannot wait to see people, I've not seen for almost three months now. I cannot wait to see my hometown, my family.

I'm counting the days left...

.atmosphere of Christmas

.the morning has welcomed us with a pleasant and warm weather. As we already have December and temperatures are still around 12!!! degrees, this was a great possibility to walk a bit into the city centre and the castle. There the concentration of people was greater than usual this week . All this due to the Old Christmas market, a very traditional event.

Lots of stalls everywhere, tons of people, all streets totally collapsing with the 'human traffic' :). People of all ages were enjoying the atmosphere, the small ones wanting the candies and other sweet stuff, the grown ones drinking alcoholic drinks of mysterious names ;). We tried it ourselves and tasted "Lumumba", a cacao drink with rum and cream, an interesting combination ;). Then suddenly the rain came and it was not fun anymore. A quick run for the bus saved our souls and we could relax in the warmth of our dormitory rooms and quietly enjoy the bought presents (hopefully they will conjure a smile on the faces of the loved ones...).

.meet Metz

.another intrusion into French territory was successful! Today's destination was a small but historically important town of Metz (123,776 inhabitants, founded in Celtic times). Situated not far away from Saarbrucken (78km), it is an ideal place to go after lunch ;). And so after some tasty pasta mixed with Monty Python show off we went. Fortunately, the weather was quite good and warm for this time of the year. Dry roads, blue sky and shining sun accompanied us on the way.

The city welcomed us with huge crowds of people, quite in contrast with what we have seen here in Saarbrucken (and Metz are even smaller...). Probably every living person able to walk was there :). Thousands of people shared narrow old town streets with buses and cars (lack of accidents was really surprising, everything was moving in some harmony). City is nice, cathedrals, old fortification and unstoppable all around buzz. We took some photos, walked around major sights and satisfied with the trip returned without hesitation back to our temporary home in the capital of Saarland.

More photos available here.

.sportsmen party

.yesterday brought a chance for something new and never seen before, downtown some super cool party was taking place...
Because this week was quite too boring, we didn't hesitate and organized a (very) little group of people to come with us (after some minor problems we lost two full time members of the crew and finally went down there only reaching the number 3: me, Janka and Igor). Also to be more precise, i drove my car because the possibilities of getting back from the city to the campus during the night are poor, practically zero like.
After reaching the Atomic club and seeing long queue at the front doors we slightly changed our strategy and went for a coffee to the close by Brasserie. Again the chat was most unusual and interesting, this time about philippine fighting style and Santa Claus riding a bike ;). It was already 0.30 am, precisely the time to rush for the Atomic once more. But nevertheless we found some time to ride the nearby carousel and took some excellent pictures :).
So finally we got into this famous club (to be honest, pretty average club in Prague context). Lots of people, loud music (some most recent super hits, for example everything from Nelly Furtado...), nowhere to dance and expensive drinks, that was the atmosphere of the night. After some troubles we found a free(!!!) table and settled down there. Mood was still great, very unexpectedly I was the one to make others laugh :). After some time our ranks were joined by Mihaela, who was expectedly also at this party ;). So enjoying the music (not everybody :) ), watching some competitions (as usual some drinking, singing contests, etc.) and dancing a bit the time went by really quickly. Some of us started to be more or less tired and so around 3.00 am we decided to leave and try to get as much of sleep as possible (this was not very successful in my case, tutorials in the morning and problems with falling asleep left me with only 3 hours of uneasy sleep).

I'm really tired and sleepy writing this so excuse any mistakes ;)...

.cake and friends

.today we had a small birthday party, for the closest friends only :).

Entry fee was a good mood and something to eat ;). Everyone tried his best and so boys (Igor, Stefan and Honza) brought some 'almost homemade' plum-pie, i did some spinach risotto with curry pork. But the most delicious part of the menu was still to come: beautiful cake by Janka, take a look at the photo and you'll believe me. It was really gorgeous (a little bit still waiting in the fridge)! Big thanks to the chief cook ;).
After enjoying this culinary start of the evening and degusting mexican wine started a chat about everything, full of fun and interesting information. Mixed with the music in the background, time went by really quickly. We discussed many topics, ranging from russian ballet, new possibilities for sightseeing around here (the weather is starting to be very bad and so we need to find some indoor sights), famous czechoslovak movie "Dědictví aneb Kurvahošigutentag" with brilliant Bolek Polívka to social problems in the contemporary Germany ;)... Anyway, being with the friends the topic is not that important, what's important is the relaxing effect and positive energy all around. See you next year!

.being 24

.the time is flying by as we live our everyday lives... Isn't it strange that we are the worst in witnessing the changes in our personality, tastes, appearance, etc.? Because we are with us each moment of our lives. It's quite the opposite with the people we see only from time to time. During every meeting you can hear things like: "oh, you've changed so much", "you look much older, much more serious". Yeah, we know many secrets and details about ourselves, yet we're not able to see the coarse changes in our thinking, gestures, mind...
This day (the birthday) should be special for everybody, or not? I don't know, I'm really 24 now but has something changed for me? I doubt it, still the same problems, same joys, sadness mixed with delight. Human soul is complicated and it evolves without noticing the "important dates" in the calendar...
Maybe it's better this way. Let us leave the soul problems for now and celebrate a bit, folks, cheers!!! :)

.christmas is coming!

.here it is again, still one month to go, yet all shops already have Christmas decorations and advertise myriads of commodities to buy and make your holidays even merrier than the last time...

Yesterday was an opening for Saarbrucken's official christmas market (only the weather was not very good, it rained all day). So I waited until today, knowing that there has to be sun somewhere in the sky ;). My pleads were fulfilled and at least before the midday clouds were shattered. That was a great opportunity to take a look at the atmosphere of the Santa Claus in the centre of the city.
The market is small but quite nice, full of stalls with mulled wine, ginger bread and beautiful ornaments. It was nice and inspiring. I was accompanied by Janka and we've not forgotten to take a break for some nice italian cappuccino and tiramisu (as a reward for a good squash game :), we had in the morning)...

.night drive

.this is a very quiet and boring week (as opposed to the last one), practically nothing to do. Out of this boredom we decided to do some night "need for speed like" race Saarbrucken - Luxembourg - Saarbrucken. Everything was exactly like in the game: high traffic, wet roads, some road works, except that I couldn't choose a car :(, not even tune it a bit ;)...

And now a little bit more serious version for this announcement. I was asked by a friend to drive his girlfriend (she was visiting him here in Saarbrucken) to Luxembourg, because there she could catch a direct bus to Prague. I had nothing to do, so i agreed. Another 200km done successfully :). So far I've driven 3400km! this semester (it's very close to the whole amount of not Saarbrucken kilometers).
And of course being there we didn't hesitate and tanked as much gas as possible (it's cheapest in Duchy of Luxembourg)...

.sport & cooking

.this was a beautiful Saturday. In fact I desperately needed something like this, some relax, because last week was very stressful, full of school assignments and horrible weather...
First of all, we went to play a squash with my good friend Janka. It was great, playing squash after such a long time and with such a nice girl :). I'm definitely looking forward to our next matches. After one hour of tough competition, feeling pleasantly tired, it was time to continue with our list of plans.
Because the squash wasn't exhausting enough, we decided to do something completely different, this time some cooking. We did a 'farmer's fondue', which is in fact a fondue (sauce from cheese, cream, onions, bacon, etc.), served inside of the loaf of bread. How to describe it in other words? Delicious :)! Of course, as always others were also invited, to help us with eating...
And that's still not all. Janka decided to bake us a cake. A real cake, in this city, where everybody eats only puddings and similar stuff! It was great, in fact still is, accompanying me on the table, as I'm writing this :).

.she's 17!

.yeah, it's true. 17 years ago happened something very important. Thing, act of revolt that meant beginning of the end of one era, era of socialism in Slovakia (at those days still Czechoslovakia)... I'm talking about the so called "Velvet revolution", revolution that opened the doors for democracy (and borders to western Europe and other parts of the world).

We were too young to be a part of this process, still having simple childish problems. Too young to be aware of the importance of things going on around us. Thank God, our parents grasped at this chance of redefining the "freedom". Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, ringing with keys, firm in intention to change the system... They helped the country (as seen on current economic growth, membership in major organisations etc.), helping also themselves and us at the same time (new possibilities of travel, study abroad etc.).

This day is a national holiday in Slovakia, so celebrate with us! Because democracy is almost mature now...

More info on wikipedia.

.(funny?) Heimfest

.yesterday's night belonged to a traditional party of this dormitory called Heimfest. Students from every floor have their selling stall with different types of drinks and food and the money earned from this gig helps in buying new stuff for common kitchens, etc. This sounds like a good idea and at the beginning it also looked like one...
It started as always a little bit (an hour) later than planned. You could have seen many colourfull stands and various offers, ranging from tacos and tequila, tortillas and champagne to some more common as beer, hot dogs or mulled wine. As time went by still more and more people were coming, everybody was chatting, dancing and having fun. It was good because last few days were stressful (some deadlines for submissions of exercises from school), we relaxed quite nicely.
Of course as this was not just a common party (like the one taking place every Wednesday), it was also longer, louder and more crowded. After the midnight someone went to bed, someone has just arrived... But as everybody knows, alcohol is alcohol and some people had definitely more than they needed. It started with some violence and quarrels and ended with a fire alarm (because some idiots have used the fire extinguisher and clouds of dust triggered the fire sensors). So after police came there were some explanatory talks (was this necessary?)... Every noise finally died around 5 a.m..

.beer + chocolate = belgium

.after 3 days and more than 900km is our trip to Belgium over. We're back in Saarbrucken, tired but full of new exciting experience ;). But let me start from the absolute beginning.

It all started many weeks ago, when we decided to pay a visit to our friend, co-student from Prague, who is now studying (Erasmus of course) in Hasselt, Belgium. He invited us to come to see him as well as this interesting and very expensive european country (petrol costs 1.272 euro/liter, for example in Luxembourg you can get the same for 1.005 - that is what I call a big difference...). The final date agreed upon was this weekend.
With the hope of relatively good weather and packed with good mood we arrived to Hasselt. After the meeting with Michal and hearing some of his bizarre recollections of previous night (some nice party ended with him beaten and his bicycle hanged on the traffic sign somewhere in the city ;) ) we went to local Carrefour to shop for needed supplies (you know, the liquid and other stuff...). First thing you'll notice in the grocery shop in Belgium is HUGE number of brands and types of beer. The second sight will uncover some never seen before amounts of alcohol in belgian beer (ranging from 8 to 12%!!!, in Slovakia the normal beer has 4%). So we tasted a few pints and talked about life, etc. :)
After seeing the really nasty and bad weather on Saturday morning we decided to leave our plans of visiting Amsterdam unfulfilled and visit Antwerpen instead. This was a superb decision. Not only is this city much closer but the rain stopped after leaving Hasselt and even some sun broke through the clouds. Finding a parking place relatively easily we started our exploration of the old merchant town and harbour. City (800,000 inhabitants) of long maritime and merchant history, typical architecture (like the guild houses on the picture), tradition of diamond processing and the biggest jewish community in Europe has a lot to offer for tourists. Plenty of sightseeing beauties as well as hundreds of nice little pubs and luxurious restaurants. Everyone can spend here a nice day or two... We had a relatively good weather with periods of sun and clouds accompanied by cold wind (but you can't expect better at this time of the year, can you?). After a long and exhausting tour around the city's centre we relaxed for a while in the oldest pub they have here :). Some homemade beer was drank and with this we returned back to our home for a weekend in Hasselt.
For Sunday we planned trip to a Bruxelles, the heart of European Union because we as good Europeans wanted to see where our taxes are going to ;). Again it rained in eastern Belgium, but the capital was lit with sun (good for us). Bruxelles is quite a big city (1,019,000), with absolutely confusing traffic sign system (we're unable to find our way back from the centre for some time...). Until today I thought the worst traffic signs are in Hungary (no offense meant) but this is my new favourite :). Maybe starting our tourist route directly on the central square was not such a good idea. After seeing those beauties the remaining parts (except for grandious cathedral, on the pic) were not very inviting nor interesting. Lots of churches in desolate conditions, many gay bars, some modern banks... Of course we didn't see everything, our time was running out quickly, but from what I've seen, it's not at all as beautiful as it's neighbour Antwerpen. Yes, there is one more thing worth of mentioning, we've found here cheaper famous belgian chocolate ;) (500g are awaiting it's chance to prove it's quality on my shelf right now).
And that's probably it. I'm pretty tired (after many hours of driving) as I'm writing this. But hopefully it was worth the pain and you've enjoyed my little story... Good bye Belgium!

In case you want to see some more photos, visit this link.

.a piece of Romania

.yet another day which meant yet another party :). But this is also the meaning of Erasmus life, right?
Today our friend from Romania (Mihaela) was celebrating here Namesday (the day your name is in calendar, for those whose cultures disallowed the pleasure of another day of celebration). As usual our great kitchen was chosen as a place for this event. And so we ate some romanian specialty (something like our potato salad but with chicken), drank some wine and talked a lot. The huge exchange of cultural information took place, now we know much more about some important romanian current affairs (Vlad Drakul and Ceaucescu's palace as an example ;) ). Believe me the chat was really great, like always when you meet nice people :).
Afterwards we went to Heimbar where the traditional wednesday party was going on, only today the music choice was not very lucky and nobody was dancing... After some more chat and laughter my tiredness finally took over and signalized that the day is over for me. Good night and see you next time!

.comments wanted!

.it may seem as an unimportant thing but for every author reader's comments, critics, ideas, etc. are an useful feedback from which he can improve (or totally give up, if they are too negative ;)) his style of writing, write more about interesting stuff and so on. This blog is a window into my life but it's here also for you to share my experiences. So let us make it better together. All there is needed are some comments, folks ;)...

.slovak 'pirohy' & us jazz

.i've got a great feeling because knowledge about slovak cuisine was successfully spread among people from all over the world today :). You don't believe me? Well, that's your very own problem, you should have been here with us... To be more specific, as far as my memory is not bad yet, 'spisske pirohy' tasted friends from Slovakia (they also helped me a lot with cooking, so BIG THANKS in that direction), Czech Republic (of course), Pakistan, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, Romania and China. Nice bunch of people, right? And they even liked it, what makes me really happy (because every cook, be it apprentice or master, is proud and happy seeing that guests like his food :P)...
So let me tell you what lies behind this huge culinary success. I've just had enough of this monotone german food (mensa throughout week with their schnitzel and pasta during weekends...). So I decided to prepare something special and typical for Slovakia. As 'halusky' were made two weeks ago, this time I chose 'pirohy'. Recipe is not a complicated one, yet the lack of major ingredients is not very good ('bryndza' can't be bought around here, so I faked it combining feta cheese, processed cheese and milk...). After some effort dough was prepared and with a huge help of friends some hundred pieces of 'piroh' were stuffed and formed. Few minutes in boiling water and it can be served (whole preparation took us some 3 hours). Although time doesn't matter if you see that everybody liked it :)...
But this was not the only big thing today. This week has here in Saarbrucken started a jazz festival. Some of the gigs take place in university's aula and with a little bit of luck I won a free ticket for today's concert (jazz bands Parallaxe and Oregon). As always on this school, not everything was working (heating malfunctioned today, so we were sitting there like in the refrigerator) but nothing could spoil my good mood and hunger for some nice music full of emotions. And really, I got what I wanted, both bands were perfect, different styles of jazz, but at the same time beautiful performances and lots of positive energy ;). Yeah, this was a fantastic day! I wish all of them were like this...

.kitchen fun

.what a strange day it was... Balancing between hunger, knowledge and fun ;). Exotic ingredients created an interesting mix. Sounds ridiculous? Then you're welcome to read more.
First there was a morning and believe me, this was a synonym of VERY COLD. With some heroic effort we got to lecture room and "enjoyed" 4 hours of absolutely devastatingly boring lectures. Worth to mention is a fact that I was very hungry (and as you probably know, hunger and concentration do not cooperate very well...).
After this dreadful experience we finally tasted some superb as always food from our beloved mensa (it's incredible but Germans can eat schnitzel with chips every day + as a dessert you can choose between pudding and, surprisingly enough, more pudding). Today was probably some national holiday because we got some indian curry meat with rice (and pudding, of course ;) ). But it served its purpose and pain of hunger was extinct.
What lied ahead was also very promising, russian conversation class. I've dreamed for a long time about attending a thing like this but never got a chance. And it's quite useful, mainly if your language skills are deteriorated after 12 years of not using it... It proved to be great, I did some progress with speaking russian :), hopefully after a semester I'll be able to speak fluently enough again, because it's embarrassing not to be able to have a normal conversation with friends (I can understand pretty everything but active vocabulary is so bad :( ).
Unfortunately hunger announced it's presence once again. So I went straight into the kitchen to cook something quick and nutritious :). However, crowds of people there took me by surprise. Some great cleaning was going on. And so I walked without intention into such an interesting process. It took some time and plenty of fun but afterwards the duty was successfully done. And nevertheless, some new relations were established as this was a good opportunity to say more than hello to some people I already knew a little. And contacts are important, bro ;).

.melancholy

.it looks like we have waved our "Good bye!" to the warm and sunny times. Starting from today temperature dropped by some 10 degrees, which means it's freezing during the nights... These news are accompanied by strong winds and rains :'(. I don't know what does it mean to you, but for me it always brings melancholy. Only for a few days (body and mind need to settle to these new conditions probably) but always...
Maybe it's symbolic that it appeared exactly on the 1st of November. The day which means nostalgia for many (at least christian) cultures. The day when we're burning candles and remembering people who are not anymore among living, among us (hopefully not only on this day but today it's more visible...). So let us pay a little respect and dedicate a few thoughts to those who cared about us...

...Thank you

.wildpark & autumn

.after one week full of medicaments and sore throat I went for a walk to a nearby mini-zoo. It's on the other side of the main road as the university is. Quite nicely situated in the mids of a forest park, it's a peaceful place for relaxing walks among old trees and wild animals... It's really a small zoo, but has some interesting types of animals like buffaloes, deers, ponies and wild goats. Nevertheless we took some photos and enjoyed our time spent in the autumn nature full of colors :). The weather was awesome, sunny and extraordinary warm for this time of the year. So who knows, maybe for the last time this year...

.confirmed: Mozart is dead!

.this should have been one of the few chances for a "cultural" gig. But it was not...
This evening we had a very special Erasmus welcome party, which means a lot of boring speeches from every important person from university and every village nearby. Thankfully, it wasn't the only point of this festivity. Some nice champagne toasts followed, which we accepted with joy ;). I need to remark that more informed students have come only after this part began. After a few repetitions of this process we were quite well prepared for what was awaiting. Or at least we thought, we are prepared. Because it's not easy to prepare yourself for disasters like this ;).
A few minutes before 20.00 we we're summoned to the aula hall (absolutely not fitting for concerts or drama production). Very modern building, almost ready as some manufacture hall. But OK, that was not a problem. First doubts came after receiving brochure of the upcoming musical production with full texts (in german of course). And then it began, musical about Mozart's life in french, wow... Not only we could not understand a word (was anyone expecting that we speak this language?), but also the actors could barely sing (except for some, my apologies to them)! Yeah, it was really interesting, 2.30 hours of pure joy ;). I'm glad it's over.
The problem is, they don't have a normal opera house nor classical music hall in this city (oh, how i miss good old Rudolfinum)...

.sarreguemines

.we've been to France!
Yeah, not for a long time, not too far from the university, but what counts is another foreign land ;). It took a long and hard brainstorming, but at the end the great idea to use today's nice sunny weather and expand our knowledge of european countries came to our minds. Only a few minutes after this superb decision we we're heading towards the border in the special tramway 1. In some 20 minutes we're finally there. The new world showed it's secrets...
On the other hand, it was not so different than Saarbrucken. For example, the problem with shops. Yeah, you're right, they are closed also here on Sunday. Absolutely ridiculous in eastern Europe, but absolutely normal here. So are dreams about buying some super delicious french cheese and wine stayed the way they were, only a dreams :(. Maybe next time.
Anyway, architecture is nice, town is quite and peaceful. And sun was really beautiful, optimistic :).

And of course some more photos.

.luxembourg

.finally we did some longer journey and left this country for almost 10 hours :)
Our destination was small, yet famous and prosperous, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It's capital, Luxembourg city (76,420) is only 82km from Saarbrucken, so after only an hour of fast speedway drive we've entered the old parts of the town. And after another 30 minutes we've successfully found some parking place (the chaos of traffic signs was huge...). So, close to midday, after eating some 1euro cheeseburger (and ending the threat of dying from hunger ;) ) we began an ascend into the center of the city (it's on a hill, bind with the other parts by numerous bridges). Around it lies ravine with beautiful natural parks, favorite place of relax for the inhabitants of the capital. After some time, the weather decided to be nice to us and the sun shined for the rest of the day. We spent some 4 hours among the old walls and superb views, traversing almost every street. It was worth it, definitely. As a result we have nice photos and exquisite memories. What we found as very unexpected, was an absolute absence of tourists in the streets and that the all shops were close (it's the same in Germany on Sunday?!).
But our day was not over yet, another stop was a small provincial town of Echternach (some 30km NE from capital, 4,507 inhabitants). Small in size, but not in turmoil. Exactly this day the apple festival was taking place here. Thousands of people everywhere, all shops open, it was like awakening from the capital's illusion :). As always we did some sightseeing, took some photos and tasted the fresh apple juice (soooo refreshing in the hot day like this :) ).
And then it was the time to go back, we took the shortest road along the vineyards (that was a beautiful sight ;) ). That's it for today, folks.

More photos available here.

.saarbrucken, city

.today we went on a small exploration journey Campus -> Saarbrucken (to explain, the city lies some 3km from the campus, which is surrounded by forest). Nature is gorgeous here, all the smells and views of coming autumn, wow. And this forest park is great for all the kinds of outdoor sport activities (running, mountain bike, etc.). After some troubles with finding our direction and few annoyed looks (saying "why does I have to walk there?") we entered suburbs of the capital of Saarland. Cute little houses, lots of green areas... I like it :).

Saarbrucken is not a big city (population of 179,000), yet it has it's beauties. It was an important capital of the frontier region between France and Germany. City center is nice and french influence is visible on every corner. Picturesque narrow streets mixed with grandiose sights over city's cathedrals. Many cafes and restaurants give you an opportunity to relax a while. Not to mention the shops with handmade chocolate and pralines (Belgium is definitely not far away ;) ). And of course as in each important historical city, also here you can find a castle, watching over the city from the other side of a river Saar (which a natural border between Germany and France for many kilometers).

Saarbrucken's public transport is not as cool as that in Prague but it still has one unique characteristic. It's the only place (from my experience), where you can find lines ending in another country :) - for example tramway (called Saarbahn), which terminates in french city of Sarreguemines (we are planning a trip there). Or you can go by bus 11 to Forbach, also on french territory...

More photos from Saarbrucken, university and surroundings available here.

.saarbrucken, arrival

.that's it, I'm here, my Erasmus experience finally begins :)
It was a long and exhausting drive from Kosice, SVK to Saarbrucken, GER (approximately 1400km) but we've done it (with a nice little break in Prague, CZE ;).
From the first sight, University campus is nice, from the second, some minor problems appear ;). For example I would never expect such a bureaucracy... Tons of paperwork, every paper done in another building (of course on the opposite side of campus, i love Germany ;)... ). But, it's over now and I can write this short post. Because the school begins only in about a week, we have big plans (trips to France, Luxembourg, etc.), so stay tuned!