What is there to say about Prague?

.PRAGUE.

I recently had a little adventure to the Czech Republic and actually made it to Prague. Last weekend we had a 4 day weekend due to class conflicts with the theater kids, which meant that I was able to plan a trip with my friends to Prague. I don't know what it is about Prague that draws me in but I have heard nothing but fantastic things about a city located in such a pivotal area historically speaking. The Czech Republic, which was once Czechoslovakia, had at one time been occupied by the Russians during the Soviet Era. Central Europe isn't usually the first place most people look toward when they think of traveling to Europe, but I am prepared to change all your minds. Prague was such a beautiful and I'll even dare to say magical city. It is filled with so much culture and excitement nestled amongst the most serene and absolutely breathtaking buildings that range from so many different time periods. Old Town, Lesser Town, Jewish Town, and even our little "Art Nouveau" district contain so much life and the possibilities of things to do are endless. I loved Prague and it is the first city I've been to where I could honestly say that I could live there and be perfectly content. While our trip was drastically affected by our circumstances, that does not mean it is not still a fantastic place to visit. When I say our "circumstances" I mean that we had our own personal guide to the city of Prague. One of the friends I went with, Kate, happened to know someone from high school who is a true Praguer. Her friend Ondrej showed us around Prague like a true pro and amazingly knew more about the city than most tour guides in America know about any American city. We were able to learn about the buildings and monuments we saw historically and we even got basic knowledge about the local lifestyle. It was so much fun gallivanting around the city without any concerns or strings attached. We had complete freedom to do as we pleased and the weather was absolutely perfect. I can't imagine what Prague is like in the spring time other than completely perfect and splendid. I wish I could go back already and spend a majority of my time there. In fact after returning from Prague we all had a bit of depression since we were no longer in our most beloved city thus far.

Well to begin we left Wednesday afternoon (February 24th) and began our journey from here in Riva san Vitale, Switzerland to Basel, Switzerland. That was about a 3 hour train ride and from there we quickly made our way along the train platform for the train from Basel all the way to Prague. This train ride would last us nearly 14 hours and would go straight through the night. We were scheduled to arrive in Prague around 11pm and finished our nearly 20 hour train ride. Now this might sound either terrible or completely thrilling, and I must say that it was the latter. Leigh Anne, Kate, and I managed to get three seats together and we bought some wine to enjoy on our long train ride. Well, first of all the train ticket man kept coming by and talking to Kate because her last name is Walker which led him to reference Walker Texas Ranger each time. He even managed to conjure up some decent Chuck Norris jokes. We met a guy who sat in front of us from the Berne who entertained us most the train ride. While sleeping wasn't the most enjoyable experience, we managed to survive and by the time we woke up the next morning we only had a few hours left till our arrival.

After disembarking the train and stopping to get a quick and delicious bite to eat, we managed to work the metro and bus system to get to our hostel. Okay so our hostel was said to be located in the "Art Nouveau" district of Prague. Well....I must stress the quotes around art nouveau because there wasn't much about this area that reflected it's title. It wasn't the most attractive side of town to say the least, but we're young and capable girls so we sucked it up and checked into our hostel. Our hostel wasn't too shabby but then again it wasn't the best. It was filled with the wildest objects to decorate it in an attempt to make it have this eclectic chic sort of look, but their attempt failed slightly and by slightly I mean they pretty much failed since most of the decor was shabby looking to begin with. Now it wasn't terrible but if it had some work done on it then that may have done wonders. Our room was filled with about ten bunks and we each had a security locker to place our stuff when we were out and about. We set our stuff down and hit the streets. We took a bus down into the more attractive side of the city and definitely less ghetto. The central part of the city is really extraordinary and I could walk around the city for hours.

At the Center of the World in Prague

We walked around a bit and then met up with Ondrej who showed us all around the city and did a really fabulous job of keeping us entertained. It was so much fun. We had dinner out by the Astronomical Clock which dates back to the medieval period and not only tells the time but also the planetary movements. It was pretty warm out but as it got darker it became a tad bit chilly. We snacked on some trdelnik which is cooked dough with sugar and it is addicting. I could eat some trdelnik on a daily basis.

Astronomical Tower

Our first night in the hostel....well where does one begin? We got back around 11pm or so and managed to get in bed around midnight. It was just the three of us but there were other people's stuff on some of the bunks so we assumed they were enjoying the night life. When we first got in bed and turned the lights off one of our fellow hostel stayers arrived back clearly intoxicated. He stumbled his way across the floor and woke up Leigh Anne in bed by sticking his face less than a foot in her face (mind you she was on the top bunk). He spoke elaborate Czech and offered her wine and Fanta. After she kindly but forcefully refused he eventually passed out in his bed, but not after he stared at Kate and I sleeping in our beds debating whether he wanted to make us the same offer. Luckily Leigh Anne came to the rescue and told him we did not want any wine or Fanta. I'm guessing us [pretending to be] asleep was not a good enough indicator that we wouldn't be interested. Eventually I was able to fall asleep and in the morning we had breakfast which was pretty good and hit the town once again. It wasn't a terrible experience at the hostel and honestly I can look back and laugh it off as just part of the European experience. Would it have been my first choice in a place to stay? Probably not, but it served its purpose and my expectations weren't that high to begin with.

So on Friday we decided to hit some of the major sites in Prague. We took a bus over toward the main castle in Prague. We hiked our way up to the castle which had the most spectacular view of the city. Prague's skyline is blanketed with the red shingled roofs of the buildings with the churches and beautiful architecture breaking through. It was something out of a fairytale. We walked through the church that was next to the palace and this church had such elaborate stained glass windows that it was just unbelievable. Pictures do not do it justice. The church was simply gorgeous. We would have walked through the castle itself but we decided we would rather walk back down into Old Town to get lunch and coffee. We really just wanted to take the city in and not rush ourselves or put pressure on ourselves to tour every single place. To be quite honest, I like to think that it is because I will have to come back to see it. We met up with Ondrej yet again, after we did a little bit of shopping and wandering around,  in the Center of the World which is this circle in this square outside some of the main shopping. He walked around and eventually had the opportunity to meet up with his friends. We went to this place to play pool and hang out which was a lot of fun. I love meeting new people and luckily Ondrej and his friends were a great group to hang out with. They were so nice and even put up with a bunch of silly American girls. It was the perfect last night in Prague.

On the Charles Bridge

Our last day in Prague we met up with Ondrej at the John Lennon wall. This wall is so incredible. Apparently it was originally painted during the Soviet era and was a symbol for peace but was painted over by the government. It was repainted soon thereafter but painted over again. The third time it was repainted the image stayed. After that many people have added graffiti to the wall to where the original image is not even visible anymore. People come to this wall and put message of love and peace as well as pictures that range from portraits of John Lennon to abstract art. It was so beautiful out on this particular day so it was perfect to be out in the city and staring at this wall was exactly what I wanted to be doing. Ondrej took us to the river to show us more graffiti that people have done and it was really a neat experience. Unfortunately we had to leave soon after that to catch our train back.

John Lennon Wall

Leaving Prague was really depressing for me because I really wasn't quite ready to leave. In fact it almost felt wrong to leave such a truly great place in the world. I really loved Prague the most of all the cities I have been to in Europe thus far.

Powder Bridge at night

Hopefully now all of you are inspired to either see Prague for the first time or even revisit it. I would be thoroughly surprised if you were disappointed.