PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Just when I thought a language couldn't be harder than Hungarian, I am introduced to Czech. And to top if off, my introduction to Czech was not casual and friendly. It instead involved the train attendant slamming open our train cabin door, screaming something in Czech, and then walking away. April and I walked into the hallway of the train which happened to be stopped in the middle of rural Czech Republic, and noticed that no one else was still on the train. The attendant hollered, "BUS!" at us and, with all of our stuff, we were seated in the back of a bus and driven around the Czech Republic. The bus would stop every now and then, and April and I would get out, check to see if it was our stop, they would scream at us in Czech, and then we would get back on the bus. Eventually somehow everyone knew to get off the bus and back on a train, and we followed and made it to Prague.


Our hostel there was probably the nicest place I stayed on my whole trip. Two boys from Clemson University had decided in college to open a hostel, and they made it happen in Prague. They had great American food in the restaurant downstairs, showed movies or had live music every night, and had a great continental breakfast. At dinner April and I tried the Pilsner beer that is famous in Prague, and we didn't like it. We explored the city a little after dinner and I found it to be absolutely beautiful. The Charles Bridge at night was awake and busy, and the castle was lit and beautiful. Back at the hostel we met our roommates, Damion, a guy from Australia, and Skeeter, a girl from the Philippines, and we went everywhere with them over the next couple of days. 


The free walking tour in Prague was awesome, and our tour guide had lived in Boston, Charleston, and Virginia, just like me! We learned about Prague's past under the Hapsburg dynasty, its darker days under Nazi and Communist rule, and my favorite part was the Jewish history. The oldest jewish synagogues and oldest Jewish quarters in Europe are in Prague, which coincides with the fact that Hitler wanted Prague to remain forever as a city with the evidence of the extinct Jewish race. I loved the Jewish cemetery, that contained stacks of graves over 20 feet tall. Since Judaism requires their followers to be buried, they had no where to bury but up, since they were only allotted so much space for over 400 years.


Everywhere you look in Prague, there are beautiful Baroque style buildings and churches, and I loved the red clay-tiled roofs all over the city. We had more good food, of course, chimney cakes, goulash, and braised beef. I didn't get a chance to try real Absinth, but I think I'll live. Damion, April, and I even ate delicious Mexican food! Mexican food is in the top things that I miss from home!


Our last day in Prague was c-c-cold. We went to the John Lennon wall and it was refreshing to see all of the art about peace and love. We hiked with our Philippine roommate Skeeter to one of the highest hills in Prague to a monastery and had great views of all of Prague. Our castle tour was later that day, but I hardly remember anything from that, since I was freezing to death. I do remember the Cathedral, however, because of all the beautiful churches I saw on my trip, the Cathedral at Prague castle was my favorite. It was understated while being magnificent and I loved it. Our last dinner was at an authentic Czech restaurant, and after, Damion and I went to get real Prague ice cream and saw French actors filming a movie. April and I left on Friday with the train, where got yelled at because I put my feet on the seat, and we said goodbye in Berlin. In my next train I sat with a really nice family and their two sweet boys taught me how to play "MauMau", a German card game.  Sandra and Kara, the dog, were waiting for me at the train station, and Christof had a great home-cooked dinner waiting for us. I'm glad to be back.


I am so grateful that I got to go on this trip. I can't believe the number of beautiful things I've seen, how many wonderful people I've met, and experiences I've had that really help my appreciate how sweet things can be. 


Pictures to come soon!