June Abroad 2011:Czeching Out of Prague… and Barcelona Bound

It’s so hard to believe it’s already Wednesday and here we are on our way to Barcelona!

Prague was absolutely fantastic and I was so sad to have to leave. Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square, the Astronomical clock and everything else was so beautiful. It was interesting to learn that Prague survived so much of World War II. As a result, going to Prague was almost like going back in time. Especially in Old Town Square, everywhere you looked you were surrounded by buildings filled with such rich history and you couldn’t help but imagine all of the untold stories.

Our tour guide, Marek, was phenomenal! He was very knowledgeable about all of Prague’s history, as well as some great restaurants to eat at. He was also happy to answer any questions we had. In particular, he helped me understand so much about the Czech language. For example, “ahoj” is how to say “hello” in Czech. And thanks to Marek, I learned that “ahoj” (pronounced “ahoy”) was an expression used by pirates, which the Czechs adopted into their own vocabulary–no surprise there.

But I bet you didn’t know that the word is actually an abbreviation! A is for “ad.” ho is for “honore.” and the j is for “Jesu.” So the word “ahoy” actually translates as “to greet/honor Jesus.”

There are so many other interesting little tidbits that I learned while in Prague in addition to our business visits. So far, it has been the trip of a lifetime with a truly great group from Elon. I cannot wait to see what Barcelona brings!

Written by: Crystal  Robinson