Prague is absolutely unlike any city I have ever been to (I'm pretending I have been to many cities). This could be because I have never been to Eastern Europe before so it was a completely new experience.
The trip started off on the right foot when some lady absolutely ate it in the airport. We were on one of those moving walkways and when we got off to wait for our other friends we just heard a huge thunk. Some woman was not paying attention to when the walkway ended and just completely face planted on the airport floor. This is going to be good weekend.
Once we arrived to our hostel, we asked the workers for a good place to eat. Luckily, we were not super close to the main squares in the city so the restaurants were less commercialized (expensive). We went to a small restaurant and we were immediately handed beer when we sat down. Then a man played the accordion the whole time. I ordered some kind of pork roast with dumplings and I was not disappointed.
After lunch we decided to do some sight-seeing on our own, which was a splendid idea because the weather was amazing and all of the pictures turned out great.
That building in the distance is the cathedral of the castle (we'll get to the castle later). I cut the Charles Bridge out of the picture by accident but this was too good of a picture not to include. Then we went down to an island in the middle of the river where there were a million ducks/geese/swan whatever and pigeons. They made for some great pictures, though!
After the island, we went to a coffee shop to relax for awhile. We made our way over to the Charles Bridge later. The Charles Bridge is really old. That's all I know about it. There were a lot of entertainers, artists, and people selling little trinkets all along the bridge so that was pretty cool. Little did I know I would cross this bridge about a hundred more times that weekend alone.
Then we returned to the hostel for a much needed shower and nap. We found a little bar for dinner and I inhaled a burger and a beer for less than $8 so I can't complain. It was delicious. After dinner and some drinks we went to a club called Lucerna. I'm pretty sure it was the greatest club I have ever been to...it was 80s and 90s music. Also, have you ever watched a couple try to grind to 80s music? It doesn't work and it makes for a great laugh. I was enjoying my night when out of no where I hear some guy yell, "Angela Rodriguez!" and give me a hug. I was so confused. Turns out, a friend from high school who I haven't spoken to since high school is studying abroad in Prague. So weird that things like that can happen all the way over in Eastern Europe. Also, one of the first things he told me when he was me was that he reads my blog every time, so this one's for you, Brian.
The next day, we went on a tour that we scheduled. We went up to the castle first. Let me tell you, it was not a castle. More like a "castle". It was basically an assortment of government buildings that were built in different periods of time so seeing the different architectural styles was definitely cool. Then I got to see the cathedral up close and it was very pretty.
Easily the most important part about my trip to Prague was the potato spiral I ate. I'm not sure how they make it, but it was basically just a giant spiral french fry and I absolutely cannot complain.
Once the tour ended, we went to the John Lennon Wall. I'm not exactly sure why it's called the John Lennon wall or how it got started but it was really cool to see. Basically everyone just graffitis whatever they want on the wall and it stays there until someone else comes and graffitis over it. The colors were so amazing and some of the messages were cool. Such art.
That night we went to the same place we went for dinner Friday night because it was so cheap and so good. We didn't know that the Czech Republic was playing Switzerland in hockey so it was interesting to see how the Czechs watch their hockey. Unfortunately, they lost. I couldn't stop myself from saying quietly, "It really doesn't matter who wins because the USA will just beat them anyway." I'm not good at being a foreigner.
Then, get this, we bought beer at a mini mart from a Pakistani man with TWO THUMBS. Like there was one thumb stem, and then it branched in to 2 thumb tips. Like he had 11 fingernails. Then he was literally doing magic tricks with my change and confusing the F out of me so I'm now convinced his second thumb contains some kind of sorcery. After drinking our Czech beer and hanging out, we went to a chill martini bar that was super close to our hostel. I had a great time. Then we returned to the mini mart to buy chips. The man with 2 thumbs was still a sorcerer.
Sunday wasn't too eventful and we were so tired from the weekend. I really liked Prague, but I was also super happy to return to Barcelona. It's getting more normal to say, "I can't wait to go home" and be talking about Barcelona and not America. Would ya look at that.
Now, my definitive ranking of cities I have been to in Europe:
1. Barcelona (duh)
2. Berlin
3. Prague
Tonight, Barca played Manchester City for the champions league and Mercedes asked us to watch with her. So we came out of our room and went into the family room for the first time (not including meal times). We bonded and it was a good time. Thankfully, Barca won. Obviously.
Tomorrow I am going to a flamenco show for dinner so that will be exciting! If I don't blog before then, I am going to Madrid this weekend. See ya never.
Angela
See ya never??? I don't think so!!
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