We are in Pra-HA-HA.

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Hello from Prague. We arrived in Eastern Europe yesterday around 5:30. Though it took a bit of map interpretation to decipher the metro system, we got to our hostel...eventually. We were all a bit skeptical of the alleyway reception desk and three levels of security. Sketchiest hostel yet? But after climbing the three long flights of stairs, we discovered that our sleeping arrangements are quite nice. In fact, the breakfast room was only just down the hall.
Last night, we were directed to a traditional Czech restaurant which turned out to be a medieval times looking basement. The atmosphere was very cool, but the menu was very Czech. After talking to the waiter, Adi got some fried cheese, and the rest shared a massive plate of pork, ribs, chiken, potatoes, potatoe pankakes and much more. It was overwhelming, but yummy. Afterwards, we found ourself wandering over to the Old Town Square. Eleni found the bookshop that she waited outside last summer, until one in the morning, to pick up her seventh Harry Potter book. Accross the way from Anagram Bookstore was an American Bar, where we ran in to a group of British boys we had met at our hostel in Berlin. Small Europe? The place was empty-it was a Sunday, so we decided to take stroll around the Old Square and the surrounding area. At one in the morning, we sat in front of the old clock to see what all the hype was about. Apparently, it does not dance at night. It only chimes. But we saw the whole show today along with two hundred other eager tourists. We decided that it was a bit of a let down. But then again, everyone loves a dancing Skull Guy-which Adi found out is called a "skeleton."
This morning, we got up, caught our free breakfast and headed for the Castle. We stopped at various tourist traps along the way and goggled at over-priced puppets and Amber. Also, the US dollar exchange rate seemed to vary indirectly with altitude...interesting. We reached the top and were overwhelmed by the wonderful view of the city. Picture time! The castle was pretty, but we felt the inside may not be worth the line that had formed outside. So, we skipped that tour and headed to the Barbie and Toy Museum. YAY! The boys were transfixed by the display of Barbie and her family and enjoyed pointing out famous people and odd costumes. Our favorites included the 80s collection, Michael Jackson, Pregnant Barbie, and Empress Bride Barbie.
After that, we made our way back down the hill and into the Kafka Museum. This was deifinitely a highlight. The place was designed to create the illusion that one was taking a walk through Kafka´s world and brain. We enjoyed the room with two angled mirrors and reading through the guest book at the end. There were some interesting entries...
In order to confuse tourists, they placed the Prague Coffee Museum right next to the Prague Kafka Museum. The two were just seperated by a fun, urinating fountain. But this supplied Sam with a rather foamy coffee to devour while we waited for the rain to let up a bit.
In keeping with the theme of the day, we ate lunch at the Franz Kafka Cafe, which allegedly has the best Apple Strudel in the world. It was good, but perhaps a bit over-hyped. The meal was a bit shadowed by an anxious Parker, who had misplaced his Passport and Eurail. Don´t worry. He found it. So, this lunch stop placed us conveniently next to the Jewish Quarter, and the boys went to explore while the girls needed a power nap...as usual.
There is a concert in the Old Town square and the group is trying to figure out how to ditch their nerdy, music major roommate (sorry, Gayleen), who has decided to leach on for the night.
That´s all for now and we head back into Germany tomorrow afternoon.

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Photos

Food
Medieval food in Prague

Poster
Museum of Communism? Must czech this out!

Tourists
Touristy crowd waiting for the clocktower in the Old Town Square to ring and do its thing. Very underwhelming.

Toy Museum
Toy Museum!

Laker Barbie
My kind of Barbie...

Kafka museum
Franz Kafka!

Comments

[Tim]

FRANZ KAFKA!!!!!!