Day 22: Prague

The Charles Bridge

Ahoj!  Brendan and I had been hearing from other travelers that Prague is a great place and are quite happy to find that it is indeed pretty great here!  We hunted down an ATM this morning to take out 3000 Kc ("crown" ~120 euro) which was, in hindsight, probably about 30 euro too much but we had to pay for the hostel and train ticket to Dresden.  We knew things here were cheap but we also figured we'd be spending money on some touristy things but fortunately didn't have to spend much.

We started out by strolling through the town ending at the meeting point for a free (tips only) walking tour through the old and new city.  We had a very animated woman named Andrea (from Corning, NY) show about 20 of us around town.  Over the course of a few hours we learned a bit of history about Prague and met a cool Asian woman from LA (traveling with a Swiss guy who we assume to be her husband) who collects vintage electric guitars and a retired air traffic controller from Ohio.  The air traffic controller attended the Belmont Hill School and then went off to Northwestern.  His best friend went to RPI!  It's a really small world.

The tour started by the astronomical clock and took us to see various buildings in the area before heading to the Jewish Quarter. the old Jewish cemetery where as many as 12 people were buried in the same plot (it was a really tall cemetery) because it was the only place where the Jewish were allowed to use for a while.  We also saw the oldest operating Synagogue, the old new synagogue.  Apparently Prague is actually pretty Catholic too--there were quite a few stories involving the Catholic church.  I also enjoyed hearing about the more recent events such as the fall of Communism in 1989 and the crazy story of Jan Palach during the Prague Spring (1969).

After that we hit up the Prague Castle which we were expecting would actually be a castle but as far as we could see it was more of an area on top of a hill that may have at one time been a castle but is now mostly just government buildings.  I could be wrong about that but the Church in the center was quite nice!  There was also a parade of people dressed up walking in silence for, apparently, three hours.  I have no idea why though!  Our next stop was the Lennon Wall which was really cool.  It reminded me a bit of the Coldplay Mylo Xyloto wall--graffiti with lyrics...

We climbed Petrin hill (because no city visit is complete without climbing a mountain or two) and then climbed to the top of the mini-Eiffel tower as we called it (the Petrin tower I think).  It's apparently taller than the realy Eiffel tower but that is only because of the elevation heh.  We had a good view of the city from up there but it was swaying in the wind and made us feel uneasy so we climbed back down and had a beer in the beer garden at the bottom for only 50 Kc.  The Czech Republic is known for the beers apparently but Brendan's was particularly tasty.  Mine was pretty good though but it was a fruity apple beer haha.  I don't actually care for beer so much.  After writing a few postcards we walked by a few more monuments and then headed off for a great dinner!

We ended the night by going grocery shopping at a Tesco (who knew they had them here too??) and getting a bottle of Champagne to open tonight at midnight when I turn 21 (yayyyy).  We're still so full from the delicious meal that we didn't even bother with a cake hah.  Only 24 more minutes!  Exciting.  Thanks for reading! :)

Easter Market in the center of town!

Lunch.

The Astrological clock.  The figures represent the fears of the people (I think in the 17th century) from left to right: Vanity, Stereotypes? Something with money lenders..., death, and non-christian influences.

Andrea our tour guide in front of the old Jewish cemetery (left).  A lot of the statues here are this dark black color with vibrant gold pieces.  This is on the Charles Bridge with the Prague Castle in the background (right).

Most cities offer tours in horse drawn carriages--Prague seems to prefer these whips.

I saw Absinth on shelves for the first time.  I'd only seen it in the movie Eurotrip lol.  No, I didn't drink it.

Yet another lock bridge.

Part of the Lennon Wall--the idea reminds me a little bit of the MX/Coldplay wall.

If anyone can tell me why there was a parade of dressed up people at the Prague castle today that would be wonderful.

Guards outside the castle.

The Church on the castle grounds.

The inside of the church and the tower on the neighboring hill top over.

Brendan marveling at the price of beer in the beer garden by the tower.  50Kc for 0.5L ($2.64 for 16.9 fl.oz.).  I'm pretty sure that's cheap in the States?  That's cheap for Europe and it's cheaper than water here haha.

Czech at the tower.

View from the top of the tower.

The river from the tower.

Brendan trying to understand why my apple/fruity beer is so delicious (left) while his Pilsner is so.... not (right).  lol

The guy gave me a straw so I used it.  Seemed unusual haha but then again so did the idea of fruity beer.  Writing a post card to my pa.

View from the park below the tower (left) and a memorial to the fall of Communism (right).

Our tasty dinner: Smoked pork and saurkraut after a tasty bowl of goulash with bread.  We're pretty sure the stuff on the left is also bread...

Then we had a crepe for desert.  Price for the whole meal?  7.8 Euro.  Love Prague.

Grocery shopping at the end of the day!

When we originally went to the bank we got a 2000 and a 1000 bill (80 and 40 euro--had to pay for a train ticket and the hostel and we still took out about 20 euro too much I'd say).

The hostel.

The view from our hostel.