praha for the weekend

Friday, May 17, 2013

After turning in a poorly executed midterm & enjoying a lively class time with jokes, Czech pronunciation & tongue-ties with my prof, we were off to Prague! Well, not quite yet...we still had a lunch break but were on the road a short time after :) 

There had been a lot of rumors going around as to how long this ride was going to take us...ranging from a doable 2.5-3 hours to unfavorable 6. When we sat down on the bus, we figured out it was going to take us 4.5-6...right in the middle. Bring. it. on. At least it was easy to sleep! I woke up when we were approaching the border & was greeted with a lovely view of rolling hills, plush fields, & a gorgeous castle on the horizon. Lovely!

Just outside of the city we picked up our tour guide, Dana. (“Dobre Den, Donna!”) She was jumping up & down and waving her hands when she saw us turn the corner. What a sweetheart! 

For dinner we ate at a 1000 year old monastery thats been turned into a brewery. The first course was questionable (but I did try a bite...I could hear my Dad’s voice saying “try new things!”) but the rest was phenominal. I never used to eat the sauteed veggies whenever my parents cooked them up...but after this meal, I might start. So yummy! Dana then had us work off our meal with a walk through the castle of Prague. Now, it doesn’t look like a castle, but nonetheless it is very beautiful. When you walked through the gates and under the arches, you come to an absolutely gorgeous church in the courtyard. Doc told us that the best way to really see the church is to lay on the ground...so all 58 of us laid down in the middle of the walkway. A couple was taking their wedding photos there (awww!) & when their photographer saw what we were doing, they started taking photos of us. Crazy Americans.

Dinner!

It really is a better view when you lay down! 

Our group in front of the Church

 I’ve just made Prague sound like this perfect & romantic place for everyone to visit...but it’s really not (at least, I don't think it is!). Talking with my roommates tonight we came to an agreement that it is dirty, smelly, creepy, and unsafe. We were already homesick for our clean & safe Vienna. We had planned to go out and explore a bit after we checked into our hotel but we've called it an early night & are going to bed. Pretty sure they showed us every bad part of Prague while trying to get us to the nice part. Prague - I’m rootin’ for ya...but you have to show me something a little (a lot) better tomorrow. 

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Prague, you’ve redeemed yourself

The rain that fell this morning matched my mood. I was so unimpressed and disappointed in Prague last night that I didn’t want to set myself up for failure again today. I was so relieved when our walking tour was switched to a bus tour. Whew! But I won’t lie...the tour was a struggle. I saw a lot of heads bobbing. 

It was literally perfect timing when we left the bus to continue the tour on foot. The rain had just stopped and the sun was trying to peak through the clouds. We went deeper into the city’s center & saw a lot of cool buildings and the facts associated with them, including the concert hall where Mozart performed one of his pieces. Our tour guide, Dana (pronounced Donna”) is so cute with her umbrella high in the air & her microphone. We’re such tourists and I love it. 

The concert hall

For lunch they took us on another boat cruise down the river. It was great. This was when Prague really started to grow on me. We had to go through a lock-system, but afterwards Dana was back on her microphone pointing out all of Prague’s historical landmarks. Fascinating! Seriously...where else can you find Medieval ruins hanging from a cliff? 

Slappy

Boyu & I with the St. Charles Bridge

Well that is picturesque

After lunch it was our free time to explore. This was a great afternoon. We walked the Charles Bridge, went for ice cream, & tried trdelnik (a traditional rolled pastry -- with cinnamon!). In the early evening we got tickets to climb to the top of the Astronomical Tower...what a view! The experience was only completed when the trumpet players stood next to our group & played his song on the hour. Fantastic. 

For good luck

The markets on the bridge

Astronomical clock. Climbed that. Every hour on the hour the two blue doors above the clock open and the 12 disciples circle through, then the trumpet sounds.

The home of the Trdelnik!

The sight of the crowds from the top of the tower! Eeek! 

Beautiful

We went for dinner & afterwards caught a Black Light Theatre Show called “Aspects of Alice.” I didn’t know what to expect, but what I saw was not what I was anticipating. It was very well done & definitely a Prague thing to do, but I couldn’t follow it at all times. I think everyone got something different out of it. Me? I’m just happy for the experience. 

No, we did not stay at this super nice hotel...but we did eat there!

Aspects of Alice

Tonight was also the night for the international pub crawl...something I had no interest in. When people started to get rowdy on the street, we decided that it would be probably be in our best interest to head back to our hotel. We got drinks & dessert (tiramisu, my favorite!) & called it a night.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Today was an emotional roller coaster. 

After we loaded the bus with our stuff, we ventured into the Jewish quarter to visit the Pinkas Synagogue & Jewish Cemetery. On the walls inside of the synagogue are listed the names of every Jew from that area that lost their life during the holocaust. Two, no, three HUGE rooms are filled from ceiling to floor. It took four years to complete. And if that isn’t heartbreaking enough, the upper level held an exhibit of children’s artwork from the concentration camp called Terezín. Most of the children that drew these did not survive...I was bawling. 

I gained some composure before we headed out to walk the cemetery. Here you can find 12,000 gravestones, but there are probably close to 20,000 people buried here. Since they weren’t allowed to be buried outside of their quarter, the bodies were buried in layers. I can’t even imagine. Then to keep the merriment alive, we went to the Spanish Synagogue a few blocks over (while passing the oldest synagogue in Europe!) that had been converted into storage during the evacuation of the Jews. It is fully functioning now, but it was incredible to see the pictures of what it had been like & to see the remnants of what was left behind. 

The cemetery

The oldest synagogue in Europe!

On a lighter note, we were released after that for a few hours to explore the city some more & to fit in some last minute shopping before we had to board the bus. A group of us found a super cute (and yummy!) pizzaria, did some souvinier shopping, & stopped to hear a band perform on the street. Their music reminded me so much of Toy Story that I had to buy a CD from them. Functioning souveniers...that’s what I’m about.

Street performers!

Pizza is always a good choice

One last look at the square

Until next time, Prague!

After today, I really hope that I never have to ride a bus for 5+ hours ever again. I think the heat was starting to get to me before we got on the bus, then it didn’t help that the driver made sure to hit every bump that he could (not really...but it felt like it!). When we finally made it back to Vienna & to the institute, I made a beeline for the subway - I was going home by golly. Sweet sleep here I come!