Praha

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Hmm what to say about Prague. It was a very different experience.
First of all, we got into the Prague train station late and had to figure out how to get to the subway and buy tickets. This required taking the Czech koruna (pronounced crown) out of the atm. Taking Czech money out was like sticking your card in the machine and having the monopoly game spit money back out at you. I took out 3000 Koruna. This translates to about 100 euro. Of course the subway ticket machine only accepts coins so we had to go buy a candy bar to get change back. This left me with a couple 1000 bills, a 500, couple 100's and a 50. It was money I couldn't take seriously. So we made it to the hostel after getting lost only twice and checked in. Turns out the little shop we had visited for change had not given Jess back 1000 crown. Thank goodness that only looks like a lot of money. The next day we decided it wasn't necessary to set an alarm and just slept until our bodies decided it was time to get up. 9:00 am. But we took our time getting ready and found ourselves in a place called Bohemian Bagel by around 11 o'clock. This bagel shop was picked up from a typical U.S. corner and plopped down on a random street in Prague. They had eggs and bacon (american bacon) and they had hash browns and bagel sandwiches and basically everything a typical bagel shop would have. After 2 weeks of different cultural cuisine, good ol' American breakfast was the most beautiful thing in the world!
Prague itself is an absolutely gorgeous city on the river. The architechture is amazing and you could walk around the city looking up the entire time. They also have some very odd and most of the time violent statues decorating these buildings as well. Dave and I went on a walking tour in which I learned absolutely nothing. Our tourguide was Czech so her accent was thick, which was fine, but the actual facts that she said did not make sense one sentence to the next so in the end I mainly took my own advice and walked around just looking up and taking pictures. We walked all around the city and across the river up to the castle. They say that Prague has one of the most beautiful skylines and from the castle, I can see why they say that. So after the walking tour, Dave and I were worn out so we made our way back to the hostel to meet Jess.
Dinner that night was extremely entertaining. Point blank, I do not like Czech food. Our tourguide said that everyone loves goulash. Nope, not true. Dave and I ordered potato dumplings and goulash to split. The goulash was set down in front of me. I expected to see some vegetables and some meat in a stew type concoction just as the guidebooks had described. In real life it was brown goo with brown chunks sticking out the top. I tried the meat and spit it right back out. I know that's rude but it wasn't meat! It was slime. I tried the actual brown goo liquid and it was very flavorful but the cook said to eat it with the bread and I didn't like the bread so I just passed the goulash straight to David. He passed me the dumplings. I made a solid attempt on the dumplings. The first bite was good and the ham on the inside was tasty. The second bite was about the same as the first. But as the bites continued the more I decided in actuality I didn't really like this dumpling that I was eating. I made it about 75% through one entire dumpling. This was also passed back to David who found nothing wrong with the meat and had finished the goulash. He only made it through one more dumpling before he could not handle any more of it. Neither of us can look back at the pictures of that lovely dinner. After dinner we returned to American heaven on earth aka Bohemian bagel and I got a chipwich, ice cream sandwiched between two huge chocolate chip cookies. That's a real dinner. When you're traveling around the world, you tend to be disapointed when you see a starbucks on every corner because you want to get away from American culture. However, there are those moments when you rejoice that America has spread its wings and landed in the middle of Prague in the form of a bagel shop. Especially after goulash and dumplings.
So the next day we didn't set the alarm clock once again. 10:30 am. Definitely getting better. Of course we returned to Bohemian heaven and ate our third meal here within 24 hours. We actually sat in the shop for almost 2 hours just sitting around and talking. We were in no hurry to do anything! We were so exhausted from the past two weeks, it felt nice to not have anywhere to be. When we finally decided it was time to move on, we made our way to whats called the Dancing House. Its located right on the river right in the middle traditional Czech architecture so it definitely stands out. It's a house that looks like its swaying, or dancing in the wind. We attempted to do jumping pictures in front of it which meant we were on an island in the middle of a traffic intersection so all the cars going by were distracted by two crazy American girls jumping up and down.
We continued down and around the river, wandering around the old town and below the castle, up a steep hill for a view of the city, and back down again. We wandered until we were worn out (about 4:30) and headed to the supermarket. Food is really cheap in Prague, at least in the supermarkets, so we decided to make dinner one of the nights we were there. As soon as we walked in, there was a display of chips and salsa. It was decided we were definitely making tacos in Prague. Looking for Mexican food ingredients in a Czech supermarket is an adventure. We did manage to find all the ingredients including cheese dip (which has no resemblance in my opinion to American cheese dip) and taco seasoning. The only thing missing was sour cream. We left the supermarket around 5 and walked through a market on the way home. We had the food cooked, piled onto our plates, and demolished by 6. Tacos and the demolition of them were taken very seriously! We then spent the rest of the night playing cards and hanging out until it was time to pack for the airport the next day. It was at this point that I had to say goodbye to my cream colored sweater that I had no joke, worn everyday for over 2 weeks. It was not necessary considered cream anymore. I also said goodbye to my uggs 😞 and a few other pieces of clothing that I could just not fit in my bag. Dave helped me to get over the mourning of my clothes by putting them all on. By the end of this performance I was weeping, and it was not because of me leaving the clothes...
So the next morning we received 200 crown a piece from the deposit for the hostel and what better way to spend leftover crown then to head back to Bohemian Bagel. The shop was supposed to open at 7 and we were there at 7 sharp. It did not open. Apparently it's only in the U.S. that American bagel shops open on time. So unfortunately, we could not eat at Bohemian bagel for the 4th time. We made it to the bus stop for the airport bus just as the bus was pulling up. Jess and I pushed our way on just fine, but Dave has not yet adopted the aggressiveness one needs to make it onto public transport that Jess and I learned in London. Dave lets the old women go in front of him. While this is very nice of him, these women are not joking around, they are just as catty as the rest of us and are just better at it because they've been doing it longer. Moral of the story, Dave did not get on the bus. Jess and I were crammed in trying to do frantic sign language through the bus windows to Dave as everyone in the bus watched in amusement. At least we were all headed to the same spot. Or so we thought.
Jess and I waited at the bus stop at the airport terminal until the next city bus came in. Dave did not get off. We waited for the second bus, Dave did not get off. At this point Jess thinks Dave has gotten off at the other terminal so she walks to the other bus stop. As she is walking along the road to the bus stop, I see David walking along the building toward our terminal. Both are out of shouting range and neither of them realize they are walking parallel to one another. They pass each other and Dave walks into the building and Jess continues to the bus stop. I have to watch it as if its out of a movie and I can't do a thing about it (although I'm sure I looked crazy pacing back and forth and talking in their general direction with my hands on my head) as I am standing with both Jess and my luggage! So after about 10 minutes Jess comes back to our stop and we head inside to the departure area and of course, Dave is nowhere to be seen. We walk up and down the terminal and decide to head back outside to see if he went to the bus stop. As i'm walking outside, Dave comes in from the bus stop. Somehow we were all managed to walk in opposite directions but did not run in to each other.
So after this fun little adventure, we still had not eaten breakfast and needed to get rid of our crown so we headed to McDonalds. Dave got a ham and egg meal which came with a coffee and then ordered a large coke seperately. I ordered an egg mcmuffin, a coffee, and a large strawberry milkshake. The total came to 255 crown. We were literally trying to spend as much money as possible and we just couldn't do it! Not at McDonalds at least. Before boarding the plane, I was in the little shop buying sprite, water, gummy bears, and as many packs of gum as my leftover change could buy. I still didn't spend it all!!
Prague was a very unique city. Unlike all the other cities we've been in where there have been touristy areas and "local" areas, Prague to me seemed like just one big toursity area, almost like an amusement park where you go from one fun area to the next. I said I felt like the city had kind of sold its soul in order to attract tourism which obviously boosts the economy. I didn't feel like I was in the Czech Republic because there was nothing really culturally czech except the food (minus Bohemia of course). Dave described it more as a city searching for its soul after the fall of the Soviets and actually becoming the Czech Republic. Regardless, it's definitely a unique experience. It was also the perfect time for the three of us to just chill out for a couple days. They say Prague has great nightlife and beer is cheaper than water. We had planned on experiencing this however that failed miserably as we were in bed by 10 PM pretty much both nights we were there. It was a much needed rest!

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Comments

[anonymous]

all I hear/ read from your blog, is what you were eating, poor hungry thing ;))))