DAY 69, FRIDAY, MARCH 22ND
Today I had my two normal morning classes. One of my professors was sick and didn’t come to class but still gave us a full class worth of assignments to do which was quite annoying. Oh well... I came home right after classes to pack and get ready to go since I’m flying to Prague tonight!! I packed and finished some work until it was time to say goodbye! My host family is off to Jutland (the land-locked part of Denmark that borders Germany) this weekend to visit a grandpa, so I left about the same time as them to head to the airport. I met up with my two friends I'm traveling with and grabbed a quick dinner at the airport before getting on our flight. Everything was on time and ran smoothly and we landed in Prague around 9! I feel like I’ve been super lucky so far traveling as I haven’t really had any delays or issues with flights! After landing we stopped at an ATM to withdraw some Czech crowns and I got the best surprise! As I’m standing waiting at the ATM I turn to my right and a really good friend from my high school is standing in line next to me!! She’s studying abroad in Switzerland and happened to be in Prague this weekend and her flight landed around the same time as mine! It’s such a small and crazy world we live in- it was so nice to hug and catch up for a few minutes. Eventually we headed our separate ways and me and my two friends took an Uber to our Airbnb and checked in successfully. The Airbnb was super nice, new, and clean- just what the pictures showed, which is always a welcome site. Once we arrived we planned a bit for the next few days before showering and heading to bed!
DAY 70, SATURDAY, MARCH 23RD
We left the Airbnb around 9:15 this morning and headed to the metro, only to find out that you need to have coins to buy a ticket so we walked the 2 miles into the city. We stopped and got a crepe in the old town area before heading up the Prague castle!
The weather today is absolutely beautiful- 60s and sunny! I was comfortable in just a T-shirt today and that is a beautiful thing!!! We got into the Prague Castle which was most likely founded in around 880 by Prince Bořivoj of the Premyslid Dynasty (Přemyslovci). The complex consists of a large-scale composition of palaces and ecclesiastical buildings of various architectural styles including the Old Royal Palace, St. Vitus Cathedral, St. George's Basilica, Golden Lane, and The Story of the Prague Castle museum... and we saw it all! The cathedral was really impressive- I was a huge fan of the stained glass work.
And, by random chance my roommate from college, Sarah, was in Prague this weekend too so we met up for a bit at the castle!! It’s a small, crazy, weird world!! After going through the complex we headed to lunch at a cafe nearby for a sandwich. After that we walked through the Mala Strana neighborhood before heading to the famous Charles bridge (It is the oldest bridge in the city, built between the 14th and 15th century. It was super super crowded but was still beautiful!
Then we climbed up the Petrin hill- it’s a pretty tough uphill climb but it’s a super peaceful grassy area with a wonderful view of the city. We sat in the grass for a bit while the sun set!!
Then we headed for dinner- we tried to go to a popular Czech restaurant but the wait was too long so we made a reservation for tomorrow before getting food at a Vietnamese restaurant nearby! After dinner we got a Trdelník (chimney cake), which are famous in Prague even though they are not really from here. We were pretty tired from all the walking so we headed home after that!
DAY 71, SUNDAY, MARCH 24TH
Today was back to more normal cloudy and chilly weather but it wasn’t too bad!! We were a little slower leaving the apartment this morning but eventually made it to a nice brunch place for some French toast and mimosas!
While at brunch I get a Facebook call from a friend from W&M who is studying abroad and also traveling on spring break right now. Turns out they saw a Snapchat I posted in Prague and they’re in Prague too now!!! Seriously such a crazy world!! We met up with my friend, Julia, in the old town square- I haven’t seen her since the beginning of fall semester since she was abroad last semester too, so it was so nice to see her! We poked around the old town square for a bit- some parts literally look like Disney world- so picturesque!
Then we went up the tower on the old town hall to get a really great aerial view of the square and the rest of the city!
After coming down the four of us headed to the Jewish quarter where we saw the Old Jewish town area, a synagogue, a cemetery and some other exhibits. I really enjoyed the memorial to the Czech victims of the Shoah (Holocaust)- an old synagogue with the names of all those killed written floor to ceiling. Really goes along with my Holocaust and Genocide class!
After we finished in the Jewish quarter we decided it was time for more food. We got another Trdelník- this time with ice cream and lots of toppings! It was fantastic- the place even had gluten free ones for Julia!!
Once we devoured those we headed to the John Lennon Wall- it was originally used in the early to mid 1900s as a place to write protests (especially anti-communist sentiments at the beginning of the communist regime) and other political messages over the years. However in 1980 when John Lennon was murdered the wall became somewhere to protest and grieve his death. Now the wall is the only place for legal graffiti and is still covered in paint- It was really neat and I really enjoyed the messages of hope and peace in particular.
After the wall we went to a Memorial for the victims of communism- a really interesting art installation.
Before eventually making our way back to the main square. Julia split off to go off with Sarah while me and my two friends stopped for some hot wine from a stand in old town. I surprisingly really liked the wine! And then we headed to a statue done by David Černý of Franz Kafka’s (a famous author) head. It was a dynamic sculpture with slices of the head moving independently around, super cool.
After that the three of us headed to dinner at a Czech restaurant that we made reservations at yesterday. I got the goulash and the bread dumplings which are both recommended “Czech” foods- they were both fine but not my favorite :/ the best part of the meal was the fried cheese we shared as a starter! We also tried a Czech beer- still don’t like beer very much, let the journey continue. After dinner we met back up with Sarah and Julia to get some dessert before heading somewhere to grab a drink and chat a bit! It’s so so so nice to spend time with them!!
DAY 72, MONDAY, MARCH 25TH
Woke up and checked out of the apartment around 9:40 today before heading to the train station to store our luggage there for the day. After storing our luggage we headed to a waffle place for breakfast & met my friend Julia there. We connected with the older couple sitting next to us over their son and Julia’s shared gluten allergy haha. Today it rained for a bit and was chilly but it was fairly sunny for the majority of the time which is always appreciated! Once we finished breakfast me and my two friends went to the communism museum. I really enjoyed the museum and am super glad we went. It covered a lot of Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic history from the its beginning after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire to present day. We learned a lot about how communism affected this country and Czech’s politics and politics in a broader context. I’m definitely happy I left this country knowing a little more about it! After the museum we stopped in a few tourist shops before heading into the main square to get some snacks/sausages for lunch. We quickly walked over to a statue of Sigmund Freud (a famous psychologist who founded many biological/sexual psychological therapies as well as hypnotism in psychology)
before meeting up with Sarah in the main square to say bye!
At about 3:30 we finally headed to the train station to leave Prague. Prague was absolutely beautiful and I really enjoyed my time here- it was made even better with surprise reunions with several friends who I haven’t seen in a while!! Definitely leaving Prague a happy girl. Now it’s on the train and heading to Vienna! Not sure if it was all the sun or seeing my friends but my heart sure is warm!
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