Which way to the nearest Tesco?

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone in the states is enjoying a good Gamecock victory against Clemson in the College World Series and ready to cheer us on against UCLA in the finals.

We made it to Prague yesterday afternoon, and we were met with bright sunshine and a wonderful breeze. The drive around to the hotel showed us really cool parts of the city including the Old City, the Small City near Castle Prague, and the old National Gym Stadium. It can hold 250,000 spectators! Just try to imagine that at a Carolina football game!

Our hotel is in an excellent district in Prague 1, and we are near a ton of restaurants and cafes. One thing we've discovered are the two most important things a travelling student needs to find when in a new city: the closest ATM and the nearest Tesco. Tesco is similar to the European WalMart, and they also have Tesco Expresses, which are like grocery stores. It's very important to find one so we can buy large bottles of still water, which are life-savers considering we all feel so dehydrated from a higher altitude and all the walking we are doing.

Our hotel is near all of the embassies, and the Japanese embassy is a block away. We walked and trammed all day today, and saw loads of cool places, statues, and bridges thanks to our wonderful tour guide, Dean Bierbauer. He really has Prague down, and I'm fairly sure he speaks a little more Czech than he leads on. The Charles Bridge was really cool, and I truly felt like I was walking through a mideval Europe. The Castle district was also neat, and extremely touristy. They had a ton of shops with little knick knacks and some nicer crystals. Today has really been the best first day I've ever spent in any city around the world.

Well, I don't want to keep y'all longer, and we have to go find a laundromat so we can have some clean socks for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty tomorrow morning! I'll leave you with a video from a ragtime band playing on the Charles Bridge. As they say cheers in Czech, Probst!

Carolina love and Go Cocks,

Zach