Prague part one

I must admit: Prague and Budapest were never high on my list of places to visit. I think it is because I had absolutely no expectations about them. I had heard that both cities are beautiful, but the only images that my brain would conjure up were those of cold, gray, communist cities; the kind of images you would see in a movie, where all of the filming is done with a blue filter to make everything look dreary. So, though I was slightly terrified, we decided to go to these two 'eastern' cities because they were new, different, and much much cheaper than anything else we could find.

On Wednesday afternoon we boarded the train to Prague. We found a compartment that would seat the five of us together - the five of us being Maija, Fleur, Dave, Nick and me. The train went through Linz, where we changed trains and headed straight to Prague. Maija and I get extremely motion sick, so we made sure not to book a journey that included bus travel. Our first train was lovely; our second train, not so much. We nicknamed the train's bathroom the 'rabies bathroom' since we probably caught something just from walking in. Don't worry, we doused ourselves in hand sanitizer when we were done.

Minus the bathrooms, our second train was good. We relaxed and watched the sun set over the Czech countryside. Then suddenly the conductor opened the door to our compartment. He grunted some words at us in Czech, which we clearly didn't understand. We asked him to clarify in English, and he responded, "You get out at next stop. Take bus." Um, what? Was this really the train to Prague? "Yes. Take bus to train. Train to Prague." Oh lord. The train was only two cars long, and everyone seemed to have gotten the same message. If everyone else was going, it couldn't be that bad, right?

The train stopped in the middle of nowhere. No station was in sight. It was pitch black minus some bright spotlights on the tracks. We clamored out into the cold dark, luggage in hand, crossed some more tracks, and were ushered into four waiting buses. Thank god we were together. I can only imagine how terrified I would have been by myself. But together, it was just another adventure, though I'm not sure everyone else saw it that way. Fleur looked terrified, and Maija made some comment about how they were actually taking us to Auschwitz, not Prague. Luckily we made it safely back onto another train, and could see the signs to Praha (Prague in Czech) pointing in the direction that we were going. An hour later we were in Prague with a good story; not long after, we had exchanged some money into Czech korunas (or 'Funny Money') and taken a taxi to the hostel. The taxi driver ripped us off a little, but after our train adventure that was the least of our worries. We settled ourselves into our hostel, the Czech Inn. The name was the source of great amusement, especially when I announced that we would like to check in, completely oblivious to the pun I had made. Everyone else caught it, though, and died laughing. Anyway, we settled ourselves in and had a nice drink and meal before heading off to bed.

My 1,000 koruna bill

The next day we set out to explore our surroundings. Our plan was to get the free tour of the city at 10AM, but we didn't make it until the 2PM tour. We got mildly lost on our way to the city center, but managed to regain our bearings in time for lunch. We even stumbled upon a fabulous festival in the middle of the city, complete with delicious bratwursts. We also found a Starbucks, which worked wonders.

The free tour was fabulous - I highly recommend it to anyone who visits. Naturally, you tip at the end if your tour was fun. Ours certainly was. Our tour guide, Filip, was a Prague native, and promised to make us "Czechsperts" by the end of the day. We learned a ton about the city - about how it used to be one of the richest cities in Europe, how it was beloved by kings and composers, and how it suffered through the Cold War. The people of Prague seem to be a cheeky bunch. Their go-to move for confusing enemy troops seems to have been mixing up street signs so that the invaders got lost. And though the city suffered a great deal, it's clear that it houses incredible amounts of history.

At the end of the day we were wiped and headed back to the hostel. We had planned on going out to experience the nightlife, but one bad round of goulash made me feel awful, and we decided to rest up for the next day's adventures instead.

Really long Czech word

Nick checking the map

Dave, Maija, me, Nick

Food festival

I was endlessly amused by the Super Vafle sign. They were actually really tasty!

Giant vat of potatoes

Fleur and Maija with their bratwursts

Astronomical clock tower

The ladies

At the end of the chiming clock, a trumpeter comes out and signals that the spectacle is over. It's been voted the most disappointing tourist attraction in the world.

Prices in Czech Funny Money

Old Town center. The towers on the building are two different sizes. There are two stories about this: one is that they represent Adam and Eve, the other that the building supplies were lost or stolen before the second tower was complete, so they just made one tower a little smaller. I definitely would not be surprised if the second were true.

The astronomical clock (which nobody can actually read) has four figures surrounding it that represent the four greatest fears of the Czech people: vanity, Jews, death, Turks. Oh dear.

Then we found a woman walking a lion.

The Museum of Communism right next to the McDonald's. Perfect.

Cubist building

The inside of a beautiful church

The thing that's hanging is the arm of a thief that apparently tried to steal from the statue of the Virgin Mary. The lesson? Don't steal from virgins.

We enjoyed our first taste of bagels since the US

Me with the Kafka statue

Spanish Synagogue

Spanish Synagogue

Hugo Boss in the Jewish Quarter. The irony is that Hugo Boss designed the Nazi uniforms.

The building on the left supposedly houses the Golem of Prague

Jewish Quarter

Golem's resting place

Ah, Prague

I think this is a statue of a composer, but to be honest, I have no idea. The light was beautiful, though.

The ladies with our tour guide, Filip

Czech goulash in a bread bowl