I guess to preface this post Rutali and I were going to Prague. And knowing that the Czech Republic is outside of the European Union, this meant that their currency wasn't the Euro. In fact, it is the koruna, and as of right now the exchange rate is about $1=16CZK or €1=25CZK. Needless to say, we were very excited. In fact, we only booked our tickets on Tuesday of that week since we had waited and almost given up on going to Prague since it was becoming so expensive. However, one last check had a really reasonable and affordable flight show up, and then we booked a hostel that had received amazing reviews a day later. So coming to Prague, we left for Rome where Rutali and I talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness until the heaviness knocked me out. I woke up in Rome, where at the airport Rutali finds out she left her boarding pass back in Florence. So while we are waiting in line, we are freaking out that I might have to go to Prague by myself. But when we were at the check in desk, we found out that our airline, Wizz Air, made it mandatory for them to print it out so we got our boarding passes printed and avoided disaster.
We get on the flight and land in Prague no problem, and meet up with our driver who was going to take us to our hostel. In about a New York Minute, after flying through empty Prague streets, we arrived in a nook of the city and we are expecting a hostel like all the other ones that we have stayed at. No, not in Prague. We walk through a hallway that leads to small courtyard and then we walk to our door. When we open it, we find out we are living in an actual apartment. Yes, we had a foyer, a master bedroom, a kitchen, a dining room, and a large bathroom. We walked in and were totally amazed at the amount of space we would have. We unpacked, and fell asleep almost immediately since we had been traveling since 1pm and it was now 1am. Waking up and going to class in Florence, and going to sleep in Prague. Love it.
Kitchen and Dining area
Bedroom
We woke up and ate the free breakfast that was there, grabbed a map, and started making our way to the Old Square where most things are. The first thing that we saw was the Powder Tower and the concert hall. The medieval aspect of Prague had come to light, and the inner tourist kicked into high gear. We walked in, and bought a ticket that would allow us into a few sights for 1 low price, like €8! The value of Prague had just began. Also, in each tower, they all guarantee the best view in Prague. Disclaimer...they are pretty much all the same. After the tower, we lazily sauntered down cobble-stoned streets, taking advantage of each little store with all of their trinkets and took about an hour to walk down 3 blocks. One store that stood out was a Belgium Chocolate house, where there were two people making chocolate and candy in front of us. Naturally, Rutali didn't want to leave. So she got something to eat, and we made our way to the Astrological Clock. Now the thing is, every hour, on the hour, the clock has this show where people for hundreds of years would travel days on foot to come see. We stood in front of the clock, in the front row, for 10 min to try and get ready. After the show, I can honestly say, it was the most disappointing and hyped up thing I have ever witnessed. But, to credit people before, they didn't have iPhones, Xbox 360s with Modern Warfare 2 inside, or technology beyond the candle, so naturally this was their app called FUN. But today, it is a 2 minute bell and chime show with dolls shaking their head and that is it. After that, we got some hot chocolate, some mulled wine, and tried to warm up before we met up with Reshma for our free tour. Now, our free tour was with a man called Isaac. This man was beyond a doubt the funniest and best tour guide I have ever been led by, free or not. In fact, if anyone reading this ever ends up in Prague, you must go to the Old Square, and find Isaac so he can show you Prague. There is no better tour guide. He's funny, he's informed, and he knows 6 languages so he will start conversations with other tours without a hitch. 4 hours of non stop laughing and learning and it was nightfall. Rutali and I were both insanely tired, and so we took a nap until we went out again at night. We went to this pub that was 3 floors underground, and each floor was a pub, and each floor we descended the smoke got thicker, the music louder, the people more...enjoying life. It was crazy because it looked like we were in a stone cave, like we were enjoying our night while hiding from either the Nazis or the Communists. Great night, and on the way home Rutali bought a fried cheese sandwich and I bought a chicken cutlet sandwich, each which turned out to be like 80 cents...like...80 US cents. I love this city.
Powder Tower and Concert Hall
Inside Powder Tower...is that guy real?
Ahh! Defenestration!
Prague!
First view from a Spire
Making Candy!
Prague loves puppets!
Old Square
The Astrological Clock
He failed at recruiting...no the guy in the middle...the one with the sword...
View from Spire #2
Quick, do something asian!
Quick! Do something brown!
Mulled aka Hot Wine!
Isaac's Free Tour! Find Him no one else is better!
The most haunted church in Czech Republic...700 protestants killed in here
Bacon egg and cheese on a bagel? I love you!
Franz Kafka?
First view of the castle
Krtek!
Dough, Sugar, Cinnamon, and Almonds
Old Square at Night
Hi! My name is George and I'm made out of 112kg of pure Chocolate!
A...spot of tea?
The next day, armed with a new hat that I had bought, and Rutali's (awesome?) company, we tackled some more sights. However, since we had slept in since we had so much time, we started our day at around 1pm. So we slowly made our way to the castle. Only, once we got to the Charles Bridge and into the actual castle neighborhood, we walked up all the different towers we could get ourselves as good a view as possible of the castle. We even logged our names in a book, and we, Harold and Kumar, are officially known as stair masters and spire chasers. But by the time we got to St. Vitus, the large cathedral on the top of the hill, it was closed. And so, we had one last thing to see on the last day. But since we still had a night, we walked all the way down to the Dancing Building, which was ok, and then we ate a really chill and good thai food. The funny thing is, I haven't had Thai food since the end of the first semester of sophomore year, so it has roughly been a year since I have had it. It had a nice vibe, and with the food really cheap, it got even cheaper when they moved us to the back and offered a 10% discount to move. So our food was basically absurdly cheap, and I got a chicken breast, stuffed with salmon...yeah. I love Prague. After that, we walked back and we hit a movie set that had two large light things floating in the air that was really cool, and then we had some desserts in the Old Square that cost us absolutely nothing. We bought a few trinkets and then made our way home, packed, and then passed out.
Baboushka! I'm talking about my awesome hat
Is it fair street performers use kids as the money asking part of the operation?
Walking into the castle
Castle!
Stair Masters and Spire Chasers!
No idea
Go brush your shoulders off
Perks of a higher education
Sure I'd love some of that!
Changing of the guard
St. Vitus
The largest cathedral outside the Vatican...yeah it is in Rome
Scary
The Dancing Building
All this for $8...yeah you heard me...that's chicken, salmon, and bacon
Oh wait...the salmon is INSIDE the chicken!
Set of a movie
Inside a shopping mall!
I Love Christmas!
How clear is Wall-E?
With our last day in Prague, we made our way quickly to the Castle, where the man selling us tickets tried to hustle us by saying that we had to pay 1400 korunas, and then when we said no he immediately said that we could pay a children's price and it would only be 400 korunas. Is that sacrilegious? To try and rip people off who are trying to go into a church? I dunno. But we basically got an audio tour where the voice literally sounded like a nasally british history professor that would drone on about, I don't know, but it definitely put me to sleep everytime I tried to learn something. One cool thing that we saw inside the castle was the window that Prague citizens threw people out of, an act known as defenestration.
We also visited a tower where they tortured people, and all the different contraptions that they had was really interesting. We saw the house that Franz Kafka lived in, and the main event of St. Vitus was all that was left. When we walked in, the vaulted gothic ceilings, with the amazingly colored stained glass, definitely justified the cathedral as the second largest, in the world. Not only in Central Europe, which turns to include only Czech Republic, but the entire world! The only bad thing is my camera died and we only took 5 pictures inside. It is definitely worth another visit!
Got duped to get an audio guide
Prerequisite for a relic: REAL bones
Golden Lane
Sadness
We're not in Kansas anymore
Inside St. Vitus
Gorgeous
We headed to the Prague airport, caught our flight at 630PM, landed in Rome Ciampino in 855PM, caught the airport shuttle to Roma Termini at 9pm, took a metro after buying our train tickets home to Roma Tiburtina, and then took the 945 train home and got home at 2am. Yes, clutch is a good word to use. A great weekend in Prague didn't cost nearly as much as most European cities do. Also, it is perfectly preserved, and the ambience is a mix between medieval Europe and Iron Curtain Russia. The city streets are amazingly quiet for being a capital, with the loudest noise being a slow hum of the tram. Basically, if Walt Disney could design a theme park after a European city, he wouldn't have to. He already did, its called Prague, it is in the Czech Republic, and you need to go.
Next weekend, Modena. You know what that means, the birthplace of Ferrari.
