It’s really hard to blog about Prague after the fact (it’s early Sunday morning, and we got home Friday around 4). I can try, though! The train ride to and from Prague was pretty amazing. It’s very pretty German and Czech countryside. Most of our trip followed the Elbe river, and the kind of swoopy German mountains at which we all love to look! We got to Prague, checked into the hostel, and pretty soon it was time for our walking tour. We followed our tour guide, a sweet younger Czech girl, around the Republic Square, the Astronomical Clock (from the 15th century), the palace and corresponding church, new-town of Prague (the NEW town is still from the 14th century, so you can only imagine how old old-town is), and the Charles bridge (largest bridge in Prague, build in the 15th century). We covered a lot of ground, but I think I enjoyed this walking tour more than Leipzig and Berlin.
Prague just had a different architectural appeal. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, is interesting all on its own. We’d been warned about the abundance of expert pick-pocketers in Prague, and so most of the group was a little paranoid about anyone or anything touching his or her bags/pockets/wallets/etc. On several occasions, people from our group walking closely to me on the sidewalk accidentally bumped my backpack purse (which is already incredibly difficult to open when in use as I’d already discovered) and I’d turn around and hold up a hand (what was I going to do? Backhand or karate chop the offender?) or clutch my purse to my back only to discover it was an accidental bump from a friend (not an imaginary foe). The Czech Republic seemed a bit less pristine (cleanliness-wise) than Germany (which is still not quite as pristine in SOME PLACES as the U.S. Although the U.S. can be gross, too). It’s always a bit dirtier in large cities, though, and Prague is by FAR Czech’s largest city. The Czech currency was pretty interesting, too! They use krones (crowns), and there are currently 25 crowns to a U.S. dollar. This exchange TRICKS you into thinking things are good deals, however. I found myself buying a bottle of water for 50 crowns thinking it was a steal (it wasn’t). It’s strange to see a price tag on a McDonald’s Royal (I know, weird) Meal that says 100 krones. I kept switching between thinking it was a great exchange like pesos and momentarily forgetting and thinking, “_____ euros?! That’s insane!” Enough about the Czech differences; back to the itinerary.
After the tour, we headed to a local place near our hostel to get some grub (I believe we had Czech pizza and potatoes and such) and hit the hay.
The next morning, we visited the small, but pretty interesting, Smetana museum. Smetana was one of two really influential composers from (what was at the time Bohemia, but now) the Czech Republic. Probably his most famous nationalistic work was the Moldau, about the river than runs through most of Czech (and of course in Prague). Interestingly enough, the Moldau is almost all that’s visible from inside the museum’s windows, it’s practically floating on the river. After exploring the modest little museum, we headed back up the hundreds of stairs to the palace to see the changing of the guards. Afterwards, we ate the O Krale Brabantllebo which is a pub that has existed in the same location in Prague since medieval times (I think the first time it was mentioned was in the 12th century or something insane like that). It was really expensive, so we only had their homemade bread and cokes, but the atmosphere was too good to pass up. It seemed like we were eating inside a cave in the dark, just how I’d imagine people from medieval times (ha)! Then we wandered around, and eventually headed back to the hostel to change into nice clothes for our dinner cruise on (you guessed it) the Moldau! It was a really neat experience. We had to go through a system of locks to cruise further down the Moldau, and the scenery was pretty impressive throughout. We were served drinks, we ate from a (packed) buffet, and we played spades at my table. All in all, a successful river ride down the historic Moldau!
Friday morning, we headed in the rain (once again…it rained on our last day of a short trip) to the Dvorak museum! It was definitely worth getting damp to go. We got to see hundreds of pictures, lots of handwritten scores (my personal favorite of course was seeing a few handwritten pages from The New World Symphony that we played the final movement of in Wind Ensemble not too long ago), and even a (yet again creepy) cast of Dvorak’s hand (made post-humous). After the Dvorak museum, just about everybody on the trip took the time to do something we’ve all neglected: souvenir shopping. Prague is a MUCH more conducive area for shopping than Dresden, and it’s the first place I’ve actually been able to successfully ‘haggle’ for something (although, some items weren’t open for open price discussions). After our souvenir venture, we headed back to the hostel, grabbed our luggage, and headed back to Dresden. Upon arriving in Dresden, we had probably the most delicious Chinese food I’ve ever eaten (I even ate all the vegetables cooked in…even cucumbers and such. That’s a big deal for me!), and we went back to the dorm to sleep!
Today was a slow day while the sun was out. I slept until 11, we had class at 1:30 (Kathleen and I had a successful postcard adventure followed by an unsuccessful Mensa adventure and a forced McDonalds run prior to this), we wandered around Dresden a bit, then had a Subway supper (yes, subway like the sandwiches. We’re missing American food!) and headed back to the dorms. About 45 minutes or so after getting to the dorms, Adam and Katie barged into my room grinning from ear to ear. Katie said to me and Lyn, “What have y’all been up to?” we replied with something lame, and apparently didn’t ask in return because she finally exclaimed, “Well, we’ve been busy getting engaged!” Adam and Katie have been dating for three years, and a couple of people had suspected they might get engaged while in Dresden. I was so excited for them that I even creepily followed them to take pictures while Katie called her parents to tell them! We all celebrated and played every card game we knew (because it’s Adam and Katie’s favorite pastime). It’s been a great night here in Dresden after a sleepy, rainy day. I’m going to miss it so much!
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