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Astronomical Clock
In Old Prague Square As you know, we arrived in Prague late last Monday night, May 4th. Since we arrived a day earlier than planned, we had to stay at a different hostel for the first night. We checked in and went out for a beer and some pub grub from the only place nearby that was open.
The next morning we checked out, then checked in to the next hostel which was closer to Old Prague. We were off to a good start - the receptionist was very rude, they didn't have our reservation, and despite the hostel being nearly empty we were still asked to prove with our confirmation email that we had a reservation. We showed her the email and she gave us the keys to the room.
The rooms were in a separate rundown building. It was probably the most depressing place we had stayed to date. Also, the free wi-fi they advertised was only available in the hotel lobby next door. The bathrooms were dirty and all of the hallways smelled of cigarettes. Once we dropped off our bags, we left our dank room and headed for the famous town squares.
As we walked towards Wenceslas Square,
we realized that the hostel location wasn't nearly as central as they had advertised either. After strolling around Wencelas Square we decided to make our way to Old Town Square. Armed with our map, and the knowledge that this huge square should be just around the corner we headed on our way. After wandering around for a good 45 min we realized that we were quite lost. Once we located ourselves on the map we saw that somehow we had managed to completely circle the square. If any of you have been to Prague, you'd know how easy it is to get to the square: follow all of the tourists.
We spent some time here people watching over a cold beer, checking out the astronomical clock, visiting the Communism Museum, and wandering around the nearby streets.
The next morning we woke up early to go back to Berlin to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in concert. We were both really excited for this show, as neither of us had been to a concert in a while, and little did we know that night would turn out to be one of the best nights of our whole trip.
Since we wanted to get good spots at the show, and we didn't have enough time to do much else, we decided to go early to the venue. When we arrived there was only one other person waiting. Shortly thereafter, we found out his name was Hanno, and he was in town from Cologne just for the show. A few minutes later, a girl sat down beside us, also just in town for the show from southern Germany. Her name was Lavern, originally from the Phillipines.
When the doors opened, we all made our way to front row center. While waiting for the show to start, a guy came up to Rob and I saying, "did I hear someone say Saskatchewan?". We enthusiastically replied, "how have you heard of Saskatchewan?". It turns out, Bernardo, originally from Mexico, went to school at the U of R in Regina for five years, and now resides in Berlin. Needless to say, he joined our culture club.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were absolutely phenomenal. Karen O, the lead singer, blew our minds with her great style and energy on stage. We were also very surprised at how amazing the crowd was. Everyone
Rob
With his head out the window in a tunnel was really into the show, but no one was getting too rowdy. After the first encore ended and the house lights came on, the crowd kept cheering until eventually they came back on stage. Even Hanno, who saw them a couple of days ago in Cologne, didn't expect a second encore.
We all left on a high from the show and agreed to go out for some beers. Bernardo, being a local, took us to a nearby pub where we hung out until after 3am. (On a sidenote, I discovered the best beer I've ever had, Hefe-weisen. It's similar to a Rickard's White, only better.)
After a few beers, we sadly said our good byes to Bernardo and Lavern. Like us, Hanno was taking a train home early that morning, so the three of us headed to the train station. Rob and I didn't feel it neccessary to book a hostel for only a few hours, as our train left at 5am. There, we parted ways with Hanno, and boarded our train back to Prague.
We spent the following few days in Prague seeing such popular sights as the St. Charles Bridge, the Dancing House, designed by
Me
Sticking my head out the window of the train famous architect, Frank Gehry, St. Vitus Cathedral, the John Lennon Wall, Mucha Museum, Medieval Torture Museum, a black light theatre show, all while drinking lots of beer.
We also took a day trip to a small town called Kutna Hora to visit the Kostnice Ossuary. This was a chapel built in the 14th century, during the time of the Black Plague. Since the surrounding graveyard was full, one monk decided to "decorate" the interior of the chapel with the bones of 40,000 bodies. There was even a chandelier made up of every bone in the human body. Rob and I both found it fascinating, but also a little strange. The small chapel also turned out to be one of the most enjoyable places to photograph we had seen so far Europe.
The following Sunday we took a train to Munich. Which now leaves you all up to date on everything that is going on in our travels.
A happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading this!
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Auntie Gaye
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Loving the blogs. Your trip is soooo amazing. What an adventure. Keep writing. Can't wait to see where you go next.