and we finish in Prague

Phew we have done a lot this week! Needless to say, I was tired after my 7 hour train ride from Budapest to Prague but was really excited to be reunited with my roommates and explore the beautiful city of Prague (Praha will you).

Our first stop before even reaching our hostel was to go to the Old Town Square to see the astronomical/astrological (the name seems to be up for debate among us). I have been told that is the number 2 overrated attraction in Europe (second only to the Mona Lisa I believe) but I actually found it quite cute. Every hour a skeleton statue rings a gong and figures of saints come prancing out. Afterward a real buglarer sounds off his horn. So what, it's a little anti-climatic and probably a big draw for pickpockets while all the tourists are looking up, but I say it was well worth those five minutes of my time!

After that big excitment we headed out for some drinks, as Prague is the drinking capital of the world. We ended up at a bar called "Propaganda" (we really can't escape the communism). The bar itself was really well decorated with really cool kitschy things and the company didn't suck either!

Since Friday was our only full day all together in Prague we took advantage of it (and the beautiful weather) and packed a lot in. I'm ashamed to admit it, but our day started with a visit to one of my many Starbucks. To be honest, I was dragging by feet there since I felt that Starbucks was something that I could do without for four months but it was really nice to have the comforting feeling of home. The caramel hot chocolate I had didn't hurt either. Warmed up on Starbucks goodness we headed to the Charles Bridge. The area itself is pretty toursity but still is nothing compared to Florence. The views from the bridge were breathtaking and we spent a lot of time cheesing it up for the camera and enjoying the view.
The Charles Bridge

View of the castle from the bridge

We crossed over the bridge and headed to Prague Castle which is the largest coherent castle complex in the world. Once we entered the castle gates it felt like we were in a new city and of itself. We bought a "short visit" ticket which granted us access to the St. Vitus church, the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George, the Powder tower and Rosenberg Palace. My favorite part was St. Vitus church. The church itself was massively and beautifully decorated but what did it for me was the truly gorgeous stained glass. The light that day was perfect too and the church was filled with so many brilliant colors.

We all had really worked up an appetite at that point and before continuing on with our discovery of the city we went to a really nice sports bar for some pilsner and goulash (I finally got my goulash!) We wandered around the beautiful area around the castle and along the river for awhile afterward seeing the famous John Lennon wall and not-so famous but eerie baby statues.... We also happened upon Frank Gehry's "Dancing House". A really contemporary piece of architecture which is fascinating to look at but really does not feel like it belongs in this city of quaint old buildings.
John Lennon wall

The Dancing House

We made a quick trip back to the Charles bridge for sunset (with mulled wine in hand) before going to Kozicka (means Little Goat) Bar for dinner. The place itself was kind of dive-y but had all these goat statues all over the place. Sticking with the theme of the place and to supplement all the heavy heavy food I have been eating this week I got a platter of goat cheese, toast and vegetables. Delish! The day ended with another local delicacy-apple strudel!

On our last full day in Prague, Sarah and I did yet another walking tour. It was great. I really recommend them; they have been so awesome everywhere we've gone. Our tour guide, Colin, took us to a lot of the places that we'd already been but we got to hear the fun history of everything as well as to discover the Jewish quarter which we had not yet ventured too. After the tour we found another festival going on (shocking) and had some delicious street car kielbasa for lunch before escaping the sudden downpour in the Mucha museum. Alphonse Mucha was a Czech artisit who did beautiful prints of figures of women. The museum itself was sort of small, but the works were beautiful and there was a really interesting video. Saturday ended with a visit to a brew pub for dinner.

On Sunday, technically the last day of our trip, we did our best to escape the rain in some of the local shops before our flight to Milan where we stayed overnight and took a 6 am train back to Florence to make it back just in time for class! What an amazing week of culture and food that was!