Spring Break: Prague

I broke away from the main group of eight with two close friends, Mary Ann and Rachel, to continue our spring break travels to Prague. This was definitely the highlight of spring break. When I stepped out of the metro, I immediately fell in love with the city--the colors of the storefronts were beautiful pastels and I had a great view uphill of Wenselas Square and the small Easter Market. I stayed with my friend Chelsea from Rochester, and Rachel had a random friend connection, so her and Mary Ann stayed in their spare apartment. Chelsea lived just outside of the city center at Namesti Miru; it was an easy metro ride back and forth. Her living arrangement was similar to mine in that she lived in an apartment building that housed other groups of students too from her program. She lives in a really cool neighborhood--a couple good pubs and restaurants, a 24-hour grocery and cute little fruit market, and a hookah bar (which we never made it to, unfortunately).

We arrived on Monday and spent three days--not enough time as far as I'm concerned. The first night we went to this really cheesy, touristy restaurant called U Flecku. Mary Ann wanted traditional Czech food, and Chelsea had heard of this place but had never been. Everyone sat at long wooden tables, like at a dining hall. We immediately realized the place was packed with tourists. I think the musicians playing American songs kind of gave it away--Home on the Range was looped a couple times. Chelsea was totally embarrassed by how unauthentic it was because Rachel's Czech friend, Martin, joined us for dinner. The meal opened with a traditional shot of berechova (I think I spelled that correctly). Surprisingly tasty; as my friend Dave says, it tastes like Christmas. I had a delicious soup, so I was perfectly content. And then I had delicious beer afterward: Staropramen. I highly recommend it. Oh, also the cheesy bread stuff is great, too (although I had that at a later date).

Tuesday was a lot of walking around. I went with Chelsea to her school at Vysehrad and met the other two girls there. Chelsea has class right by a church so we walked around the church yard there. Dvorak is buried there. It was surrounded by a pretty park, which is all surrounded by walls that include existing castle fortification. Vysehrad is apparently where the original Prague Castle once stood. That afternoon we walked over to Charles Bridge, one of two major Prague sites. Definitely impressive. We walked around Old Town to see the huge Easter Market and then through the Jewish Quarter. There is a big graveyard in the Quarter that was actually preserved during the Second World War by Hitler--supposedly it was meant to be used as a museum-like site in the event the Nazis were victorious. The graveyard is an awesome site because graves are toppled upon graves. Horizontal space disappeared so people were buried on top of each other; the graves are simply jumbled together atop the surface. We finished up the day with a free boat ride (courtesy of Martin and his great connections) on the Vlatava. I didn't really pay attention to the tour guide because I couldn't actually hear her but it was a cool vantage point of the city.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and walked over to see the Lenin Wall. This was one of my favorite sites in Prague. I signed my name and everything. I included this quote from Jeanette Winterson's The Passion: "We are a lukewarm people and our longing for freedom is our longing for love. If we had the courage to love we would nto so value these acts of war." It felt appropriate. That day was spent mostly at Prague Castle. I was so crabby and tired and hot. Not a great travel day. I was mostly frustrated because the main exhibitions of the Castle were closed so I didn't feel like I got to see that much for what I paid and for how much effort it took to get there. I guess I can't complain too much since it was the only site I actually had to pay for, but both Mary Ann and Rachel will attest to how grumpy I was that afternoon. I think we were all disappointed, though, when we couldn't even get into the gardens. The cathedral was the coolest part, and it was a free bee. That night we all went out to a pub for drinks and dancing. A good finish before an early wake up and flight. Well, not that early. Rachel and I didn't leave for Paris until mid afternoon, whereas Mary Ann had to wake up around 6am to catch her flight to London. I did not envy her.