Day 17 9/7/11 Been a pretty busy few days. Lecture each morning followed by various forms of sightseeing. Left for Prague on Thursday after class and arrived in the late afternoon. Went to visit Radio Free Europe and had a talk by one of the broadcasters from the Balkans station. Had dinner at a city restaurant then a night walk through the city centre including the castle. Friday was quite busy. Started with a visit to Transparency International for a talk on...

Day 12 4/7/11 Left residence at 9am for induction at the uni. Followed up with lunch and then first lecture at 12:30pm. Lecturer is nice although a little difficult to understand at times, particularly when she gets excited about something and talks way too fast. Back at residence now for down time before heading out later for dinner. Had delicious goulash dinner at restaurant behind residence, then went into town again for some drinks. Didn't get back until a...

Day 11 3/7/11 Left Prague hotel at 10:30 and walked to main station to catch train. The trip was a bit over 3 hours and got into Brno just after 3pm. Made it to student residence and checked in. Rooming with a guy from Canberra for the 3 weeks. The group is about 16 Australians and about 4 Slovaks/Czechs. Had welcome dinner at local restaurant and went to a city bar for some drinks. Got back to residence at about 11.

Day 10 2/7/11 Had breakfast at hotel and headed to local laundry, whence I write. Planning to watch Reds game in hotel room, supposing I can get a stream, then will go into town for the afternoon. Watched Reds at hotel then headed into town. Wandered for a few hours then back to hotel in late arvo. Went out again to a local bar for dinner. Walked back in light rain.

Day 9 1/7/11 Finally arrived in Prague after 16 hours of train travel via Vienna. Made way to hotel in city centre. Settled in then checked out some local bars for dinner. Found one and had a good steak. Everything much cheaper here than in Italy.