Prague!

I know my posts are starting to become more spread out, but I cannot apologize because it is due to the fact that for four weekends in a row I will be traveling!!! On Valentine's Day, Lainey and I decided to book a trip to Prague through a company called Bus2Alps. Although it was last minute, it was by far the best decision I have made thus far. (obviously Paris is up there too but that is this weekend so lets not put the cart before the horse.) Lainey's two guy friends (Alex and Nick) whom she knows from back home, who are also studying here, joined us on the trip. I will try to break down my trip, but to be honest, it was hard to understand our Swedish/Czech tour guide who had a irish-esque accent when he spoke english.


Prague

Thursday, February 16th--

Buses left from the train station (Santa Maria Novella) at 8pm. The buses were actually really nice and since we had a 12 hour ride there, benedryl became Lainey and I's best friend.

Friday, February 17th--

Old Town Square

We arrived to our hotel, the Czech Inn (hahaha) around 9:30 am and had an hour or so to eat breakfast and freshen up before our walking tour at 11. Our walking tour was headed by a funny man named Christian, who was full of energy and really tried to make the tour as funny and educational as possible. Due to sleep deprivation, I am having trouble recalling exactly what we saw and the history behind it, so forgive me on my inability to be as descriptive. When we left for our tour, we had to take the tram in order to get deeper into the city, unlike Florence, Prague is not small enough to walk everywhere. Our tram dropped us off by the Old Town Square. One thing I really liked about Prague was how open it felt in comparison to Florence. The streets were wider, allowing more light to shine through, making the city seem a little brighter. Old Town Square was surrounded by buildings that reminded me of Disneyland, because they were bright colors and too perfect to be real.

Clock

There was an astronomical clock and beautiful church in the square, the clock was actually named the world's most disappointing clock. Yes, it was made around 1410 and is the world's oldest working clock, but when it rings every hour, it really isn't all that exciting. However, the clock is still gorgeous and the contrast of black/grey stones and the gold/green in the clock make it very pleasing to the eye.


We walked all over the old city, saw the Jewish Quarter, after eating at Bohemian Bagel (of course, I miss bagels) and saw a few famous synagogues, an unbelievably depressing Jewish cemetery and ended at the Rudolfinum.

Jewish Cemetery 

The Rudolfinum is a very famous landmark in Prague, it is a concert hall and is an example of neo-Renaissance architecture. Very beautiful building and is right on the river, allowing for some amazing views of the Prague castle and Charles Bridge.

Rudolfinum

Our tour lasted about 3 hours and after the tour, Lainey, Alex, Nick and I all decided to see the Jewish Museum since it is closed on the weekends and we had some time to kill before dinner. The museum consisted of a few different buildings but we only managed to make it into one, which was a small little synagogue that had the names of 100,000 innocent men, women and children who died during the Nazi occupation in Czech. To see that many names was overwhelming and I was shocked that I, of all people, didn't burst into tears. On the second floor the names continued but they also had a room housed drawings from children held in one of the concentration camps in the area. The pictures depicted hope, family, and only a few were about death or sorrow. The drawings are in museums all over the world and the Jewish woman who had the children draw as a form of therapy managed to hide over 400 drawings (my numbers could be completely wrong, so for that I apologize) in suitcases before her death in a gas chamber, in which we volunteered to enter since she thought her husband was dead. We also walked through the cemetery in the back of the temple that is at least 7 feet above ground and said to have 11 layers and holds over 100,000 people. The lot was a about 100 yards long (again bad at math but it was not very large) and the reasoning for it being up so high is because the Jew's were not given much land in the city and they also do not believe in cremation, thus they just piled up.

Nick, Me, Lainey and Alex on the Charles Bridge

After being very sad for an hour and a half, it was time to head back to the hotel and figure out what we were going to eat for dinner. After freshening up, we asked the front desk for a really good, traditional czech restaurant and we ended up at U Bulinu. Dinner was amazing. I had beef goulash, potato dumplings and hot raspberries with vanilla ice cream (for dessert) along with a beer. Hands down, best meal I have had since being in Europe. Not only was it nice to have a lot of protein (Italians do not eat a lot of meat) but the food itself tasted so fresh and light. Our waiter was also very good looking and spoke very funny english. He kept saying the "f" word but did not understand the meaning of it and we all died laughing. The boys also told the waiter is was my birthday and that I really wanted to take a picture with him...so embarrassing but sadly partially true. Bummer we never found out his name, oh well.

We ended up staying at dinner for 4 hours, missing the pub crawl (not that we needed to drink more) and so we just went back to the hotel and had more drinks in the bar. It was nice to be in good company and simply just enjoy Prague without having to spend a lot at clubs or freeze to death outside in the rain.






Saturday, February 18th---

Woke up at 9:30 am, had breakfast then headed off on a tour of the Charles Bridge, Lennon Wall and then we had a separate walking tour for the Prague Castle and the Lesser Quarter.

Lainey and I (charles bridge behind us)

The Charles Bridge was very cool. Unlike Florence, Prague doesn't seem to constantly keep their landmarks clean, meaning the stone was very black, giving it more of a Gothic, dark fairytale type feel. Most of the statues that were along the bridge were made of gray stone and had accents of gold (i.e. a crown, cross). The bridge lead to the other side of the river and from there we went down and had walked through this little street fair that I guess is there every Saturday. There was food, drinks, and a live band. Lainey and I got, Pikle, which is basically a small dessert that tasted like a churro. It was freshly made and very delicious.

"In My Life" my favorite beatles song

Then we walked over to the Lennon Wall, which is a large wall that has been graffitied, mainly with Beatles songs but also other words of love or funny drawings done by those who visit the wall. I tagged the wall with "Love Wins" from Tuesday's with Morrie. Here is the full excerpt from the book:

 "Have I told you about the tension of opposites?" [Morrie] says.
- The tension of opposites?
- "Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted."
- "A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle. Sounds like a wrestling match," I say.
- "A wrestling match." He laughs. "Yes, you could describe life that way.
- "So which side wins," I ask?
- "Which side wins?" He smiles at me, the crinkled eye, the crooked teeth."Love wins. Love always wins."

Love Wins

I loved the Lennon Wall. I got some really great shots and look forward to turning them into prints and hanging them in my room back in Orange. After the wall, we went on our Prague Castle tour which lasted about 3 hours and was on the other side of the river (also the more wealthy side since the houses were bigger and only the most wealthy families could live in the area around the castle). The church that sits on top of the hill was by far my favorite site that we saw. 

French Gothic architecture and neck straining due to its sheer size. I cried a little I was in such awe of the cathedral. From the gargoyles, to the gothic arches, to the detail and bell tower, the entire thing was a masterpiece. The outside was stunning but entering into the church made my mouth drop. The tall ceilings and various stain glass windows could make even the hardest heart soften. It was beautiful, heavenly (pardon the pun) to say the least. The view other churches we saw after that one were beautiful, but could not compete. We wandered more around the area, seeing places where the Nazis tortured people (well the outside of the buildings) and other important buildings to Prague's history and the final collapse of communism in 1989. We ended the tour outside a monastery which brews its own award winning beer, not for the beer but for the amazing view overlooking the city. 

By this time it was dark and the city was glowing. The feeling you get when you feel as if the entire world is gone and it is just you and whatever you are staring at and for a moment you feel completely weightless, that happened while standing there look out over this gem of a city I never dreamt I would visit. 

From there we walked to dinner, we weren't original at all and simply ate at the same restaurant. It was too good to not have again! We went to an 80's & 90's (American music only) club with Bus2Alps people after dinner. It was fun! They played Whitney Houston (r.i.p), michael jackson, Grease, and other very cheesy songs. It was a fun place to end our amazing weekend in Prague. 


Sunday, February 19th--- was spent entirely on a bus. 12 hours. we watched 5 movies (Forrest Gump, 50 First Dates, Blood Diamond, The Social Network and Jerry Maguire) Today was also the 1 month mark of being abroad. :] Great way to celebrate my accomplishment of finally making it to Europe. 


I still cannot believe that I was there. It went by too fast and I truly hope that I can go back to Prague before I die. It was a beautiful city, rich with history and amazing architecture. I had a smile on my face the entire trip and I am greatly looking forward to going to Paris this weekend for my 21st birthday. Now THAT is a dream come true. 


Ciao!