Michaela Grasserová
Study: MSc Management and Economics.
Destination: Czech Republic
Double Degree.
Hello, my name is Michaela Grasserová, MSc in Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at WUR, and I will share stories from my Double Degree program in Prague with you. If you want to know more about my adventures, you should follow the WURld explorers on instagram, under the #wurldexplorers hashtag!
First days in Prague
The time has come, after a year and a half, to finish the second half of my Double Degree programme and leave Wageningen. Pack all of my memories and 18 months of life into a couple of suitcases and let’s go. It is quite convenient to travel from the Netherlands by car to my final destination. It takes around 10 hours, if you include a couple of coffee-breaks. So, here I am – back in the City of a Hundred Spires, in the Mother of Cities, in the heart of Europe – in Prague, Czech Republic.
Prague vs Wageningen
One of the many advantages of living in a bigger city, than Wageningen is that you can visit some of the cozy coffee-places, pubs or bars, when you walk around. An undeniable advantage of visiting such places in Prague is that you can actually afford to enjoy the little treats, such as a nice cappuccino, cake or a very good beer, even if you are a student.
Cultural Possibilities of Prague
Prague is not only the political, but also the cultural capital of the Czech Republic. There are a lot of places and events that you can visit, when you search for art, education, entertainment or all in one.
Visiting Austria
One of the other undeniable advantages of studying in Prague is that it is situated literally in the heart of Europe. This means that you can travel around the continent using relatively little time and money. Craving for winter sports enjoyment, our family went to visit Tirol region in Austria. We reached it after a four hours’ drive. Even though the sun did not want to show its face and it was quite cold, the conditions for skiing were great.
Seminar of Rural Development in South Moravia and Lower Austria
As the spring was approaching, the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, where I am studying, organised a seminar about the rural development. This seminar was hold in South Moravia, near Znojmo, and in Lower Austria, which is just across the border.
Prague by night
Living in Prague gives you a lot of opportunities, I was already talking about this in one of my other posts. This also holds for the night activities. I always like to take a walk in the night Prague. And many people do so as well. When I meet my friends in the centre of Prague in the evening, sometimes we just prefer to walk to our destination and enjoy the atmosphere of the city. When you do the same, you will always meet interesting people on your way and find new places to hang out in. As well as that, you will see a lot of Prague´s interesting monuments and historic buildings. This building on the picture is called “Prašná brána” (Powder Tower). It dates back to the 15th century and it used to be one of the original gates to the city back then. The gun powder was stored in this place, which also points to the origin of the tower´s name.
Prague architecture
As a considerably old city, Prague is very rich in its architecture. The fact that each house looks in a different way even strengthens this feeling. When you walk on the streets, you will just randomly run into various architectonic styles and buildings. The two of them on the pictures can be found on one street facing each other! They both stand on the corner of the “Karolíny Světlé” street. The whole street is characteristic for its high concentration of coffee places mainly targeted at students of the universities that are close by – especially those with artistic and philosophic field of study. For this reason, you can also find different galleries and art shops in here. The first photo shows a functionalistic house with an art-focused bookshop in the ground floor. The other picture shows the oldest Romanesque rotunda in Prague “U sv. Kříže” (By the St. Cross). This rotunda was built in 1125, when it was used as a church. There are services still taking place today.
Me and the river walks
There was enough told about the Prague Castle, but a little about the riverside walks. The river “Vltava” runs through the centre of Prague and I highly recommend to take a walk around its banks. The view on both sides of the river is breath-taking. On this photo you can see the brown, stone Charles Bridge behind me going over the river and the Prague Castle on the top of the hill. When you walk on from this point, you will see the crucial monuments of Prague as well as the beautiful, old, decorated houses that stand on the river banks. I think that those buildings on the waterfront belong among the most enchanting ones in Prague. You can end this small tour on the so-called “Náplavka”. This is a place, where the riverbank is lowered almost to the water level and where you can sit down, watch the waves on the water and listen to a band or a DJ who is playing from one of the open-air bars and coffee places that are situated here. This is one of the most pleasant places to spend warm afternoon and evenings at.
Graduation boat party
When you graduate from (or study) an English-taught course at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, you can join the Graduation Boat Party. This party always takes place in the beginning of July and it is one of the best university parties of the year. All of the students come to a huge boat and go to a river cruise together with a live band playing to all of this. The students are looking forward to this party for the whole year and many visit it more than once. On the photo, you can see my classmates in the beginning of the cruise, preparing to party.
The last story
My last WURdexplorers picture is also the last picture of my studies. It was taken on the day of my graduation ceremony at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. The graduation ceremony at my university is very formal and traditional. The representatives of all chair groups and faculties join the ceremony, as well as the dean of the faculty and the rector of the university.