CZECH it out...we went to PRAGUE!

View from the tower!

"Where beer is as cheap as water..."

Czech Countryside (on the way to Prague!)

Prague exceeded my already high expectations. I had heard from all of my friends that it was an incredible city and I couldn’t be happier that I got the chance to visit it, even though it was a pretty short stay. Never in my life did I think a volcano in Iceland would affect me personally! Kind of crazy. Basically, all of the airports closed and we were forced to take a 17 hour train ride home. But the good news is that it was worth it…

We left Padova on our 14 hour bus to Prague. It was way better than I thought it would be. The seats reclined really far back and it was really comfortable. I slept all night long. When I woke up we were in Austria somewhere, no clue what city. It was really nice to pass through the Austrian and Czech countryside’s. In the Czech Republic, all of the hills are bright green, and then out of nowhere a tiny little village of maybe 30 houses will spring up and then nothing again. I was just listening to my iPod watching out my window when I see a billboard with the band KISS on it (apparently they are performing in Prague in May) and I wished I could call my dad up and tell him about it!

We arrived in Prague at about noon and headed to our hostel, Sir Toby’s. For once, I volunteered to take the directional lead (I don’t know why they let this happen, but it did). I had gotten directions off of the hostel website and they were really strange…like “if you are standing with your back to the train station and you see a tram going to the left you can get on it.” Everyone thought I was crazy, but sure enough we ended up right where we needed to be. Initially, I was a little uncomfortable in Prague. It definitely felt like a whole new world, way out of my newly developed comfort in Italy. Luckily though, we picked the best hostel in Prague to stay at and the staff was incredible! Right when we arrived they not only let us check in early, they also gave us a really helpful map and suggestions on how to make the most of our weekend. Another plus: our rooms were big, clean, and the bathrooms were actually nice! Hands down the best hostel we have stayed at so far, it will be hard to beat.

The architecture in Prague is gorgeous, and it was a great change of scenery from Italy. We started by walking around Wencesler Square where all the shopping is. I immediately realized what a crazy city Prague is when we saw hash lollipops and absinthe slushies in plain sight in a store window. Then we made our way to “Old Town,” which was my favorite part of the city. We saw the Astronomical Clock and climbed a tower (I feel like I do this in every city, yet it is still always so cool!). We also walked down to the river but it was freakishly cold (coldest we have been all trip, and not at all prepared for it) so we decided to head back to our hostel after a long day of exploring and getting lost in the city.

Something we all agreed on was to try a traditional dish in every country we visit, so sticking to our promise we went to Rustika for dinner and had a Czech meal. Amanda, Lauren, and I shared a platter with roasted duck and pig throat and goulash and dumplings. Not something I would EVER imagine myself ordering, but it was fun to try and tasted pretty good. All the food is really cheap because their currency is the Crown and the Euro/USD is worth way more there (a nice change of pace!). After dinner we were walking around Old Town and came across a cool place to get dessert. We sat out on the sidewalk (under the heat lamp) with an incredible view of the cathedral. By this time it was about 12:30 but the night was still young!

Thanks to our hostels suggestion, we discovered a touristy discotec. It was five stories tall and every floor had a different kind of music! It was so much fun! Something that shocked me though was that the rap music floor was labeled “black music,” something you would never see at home! This was our first time going to an actual club in Europe so we had a blast. Walking home to our hostel through Old Town as the birds were chirping and the sun was rising just added to the experience J Something I will never forget! We definitely got the most out of our day to say the least. We slept for about 4 hours and somehow woke up and did it all over again!

Day 2 we saved for the main attraction: the Prague Castle. It was AWESOME! Gothic style architecture on a hill overlooking all of Prague…nothing else like it. The cathedral was beautiful inside, and surrounding it was an entire village with government buildings and homes of important people. The castle dates back to the 9^th century and has been renovated over time. It was definitely the coolest thing we saw while in Prague. After this we walked down the hill back into town. It was a long walk but well worth it because it is fun just to see all of the little shops and buildings there. We walked over the Charles Bridge, another main tourist attraction. It was really beautiful but almost too crowded to fully enjoy. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around the city and Hana and I got matching super cheesy/touristy shirts that say “Prague: CZECH ME OUT!”

We had the genius plan of not going to bed that night (since we had a 6 am flight scheduled for Sunday and would have to leave by 3:30 to get to the airport a little after 4). That changed pretty quickly when we learned our flight was cancelled. We thought it was a blessing in disguise and that we would get an extra day there and maybe even miss a day of class…kind of like a snow day, but with volcanic ash. We were mistaken though because our professors basically said under no circumstances, even a volcano, can we miss our class on Monday morning. Our only option: a 17 hour train leaving Prague at 2:30 pm, 3 hour stop in Salzburg Austria, then finally arriving in Venice at 8:30am Monday morning. We got the last 5 seats on the train. The station was a mad house full of people trying to find ways out of Prague. I overheard a lady telling someone that her sister had taken a 2000 euro taxi ride home out of desperation. It was craziness!

So after we got that mess all sorted out we decided to enjoy our last night in Prague and deprive ourselves of even more sleep. We went out to a nice dinner and sat outside again. Then we went to Roxy, a true European club (techno music and all). It was so much fun! We got to the hostel and caught up on some sleep (maybe about 4 more hours) and then got up in time to check out, have lunch, and head to the train station. We made it back to Padova with 20 minutes to spare, just enough time for some coffee. I showed up to class still in my train clothes and completely exhausted. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but so far my favorite trip just for the pure chaos of it and the experience of a completely different culture than I have seen so far.