It's really a perfect city. It's modern, but mixed with unique architecture from various periods of history. It's also small and quaint, but not too small as to be confining, its a good size. There's also a ton of things to do, great night life, and a large Jewish population, which is cool for me. We stayed in Prague for all of Friday and Saturday, which by our method of traveling, equated to about 2 weeks so needless to say, we did a lot.
After checking into the hostel, we ventured out to explore the city. We had done extensive research for Prague, (thanks to Jordana Nahum for the help), so we knew to look for the old town square, which is something like a city center. Once there, we noticed several people staring at this old clock tower, and we had no idea why. We waited for a few more minutes, and then it came to life; a small door opened up and some figurines rolled by, some guy played a trumpet, and just like that, it was over. We later learned that the clock tower is called the astronomical clock; it tells time, shows zodiac signs, and other weird stuff, and is rated the number 2 most over-rated tourist attraction in Europe, and we saw it by accident. (The first is the Mona Lisa.). Here it is:
After laughing at the clock, we hung out in the market in old town square and bought some weird candy. I never eat candy, so you know I was having a good time if I ate some candy. Anyway, after that, we did some more exploring and went back to the hostel to get ready for a night out. Some friends from AUR were staying at the same hostel, and a few of them went out with us on a bar crawl. I love bar crawls, it's a great way to meet and interact with people from other cultures, and this one was no different.
The next morning we went on a walking tour and we saw a ton of the sites that Prague has to offer. We started in old town square, went to the Jewish quarter, saw the famous Charles bridge, and tons of other sights. Our tour guide gave us a great history of the city. Of course I don't remember much, except a bit about "defenestration" which apparently is the word for throwing oneself out a window in a form or protest. Google it.
After the tour, we decided to do more exploring on our own. Most people studying abroad in Europe agree that the "Prague Castle" is the thing to see, and they are right. It's absolutely enormous, there are a ton of pictures on facebook if you want to see. (I know I'm being lazy, but I'm in the computer lab and don't have access to my own pictures. The hike up to the castle is just that, a hike, and our feet were hurting my the time we made it up there. It was also pouring rain, but the grand nature of the castle was so, well, grand, that the rain didn't really take away from our day at all. On the way back down the hill from the castle, we stopped to to visit a cool museum which had old manuscripts by both Beethoven and Mozart. I don't listen to their music much, but it was cool to see original manuscripts that the famous musicians actually wrote themselves.
Finally, cold, wet, and hungry, we stopped at a restaurant for some traditional Prague food. I head heard that fried cheese sandwhiches are supposed to be the thing to eat in Prague, but unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone who would sell us one. We settled on a good place at the bottom of the hill from the castle and all ate ghoulash. Ghoulash is basically bread and meat, covered in some kind of gravy; it's good but it sits in your stomach like a loaf of soggy bread. Oh wait, it is a loaf of soggy bread by the time it get's to your stomach. Yum.
Anyway, the meal pretty much concluded our time in Prague. We did go out again that night to a fun bar with a ton of foosball tables and weird cavernous areas, but nothing too crazy. The next morning we were up bright and early to catch a train to our last stop. Vienna!
After the tour, we decided to do more exploring on our own. Most people studying abroad in Europe agree that the "Prague Castle" is the thing to see, and they are right. It's absolutely enormous, there are a ton of pictures on facebook if you want to see. (I know I'm being lazy, but I'm in the computer lab and don't have access to my own pictures. The hike up to the castle is just that, a hike, and our feet were hurting my the time we made it up there. It was also pouring rain, but the grand nature of the castle was so, well, grand, that the rain didn't really take away from our day at all. On the way back down the hill from the castle, we stopped to to visit a cool museum which had old manuscripts by both Beethoven and Mozart. I don't listen to their music much, but it was cool to see original manuscripts that the famous musicians actually wrote themselves.
Finally, cold, wet, and hungry, we stopped at a restaurant for some traditional Prague food. I head heard that fried cheese sandwhiches are supposed to be the thing to eat in Prague, but unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone who would sell us one. We settled on a good place at the bottom of the hill from the castle and all ate ghoulash. Ghoulash is basically bread and meat, covered in some kind of gravy; it's good but it sits in your stomach like a loaf of soggy bread. Oh wait, it is a loaf of soggy bread by the time it get's to your stomach. Yum.
Anyway, the meal pretty much concluded our time in Prague. We did go out again that night to a fun bar with a ton of foosball tables and weird cavernous areas, but nothing too crazy. The next morning we were up bright and early to catch a train to our last stop. Vienna!
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