Bohemian Paradise

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What's happening everybody? I write to you from Prague, the bohemian capital of the world. Once considered the capital of the Roman Empire, for it's innovative style and culture. It is true what they say, that Prague is truly poetic and a poem in itself. What I mean is, when you step onto the streets of Old Town, you are immediately thrown back into the 16th century, with the cobbled stone streets and the Baroque architecture all around you. It is truly beautiful. It was definitely all about beauty above anything else back then, and the Czech's have made sure to keep it that way. I roamed around the city yesterday and found myself in Old Town Square, where the old Anatomical clock is, as well as a beautiful church that protrudes from the top of the pretty little houses.
I walked a bit further to the famous Charles Bridge. That is a masterpiece in itself. I can's believe how big it is, and no cars are aloud on it. It is constantly flowing with a massive amounts of people, artists, vagabonds. It took me almost an hour just to get across, because I had to stop and watch the sights. After I crossed over, I was in the district known as Mala Strana. From there I walked up the hill towards the Prague Castle. This is more than just a castle. It is more like a complex. The whole thing is massive. It has a giant cathedral in the middle which you can see sitting high above Prague's city center. I decided I would do the whole shabang, so I got a ticket for 250 crowns and the audioguide for 50 crowns. Yeah I know that's a little steep, but I thought it was worth it. It took me almost 4 hours to get through the unguided tour and I definately got to see alot. My favorite part was being able to see the tower which housed the dungeon and torture devices. I can't believe that people were actually tortured in these devices. Made me glad I was born in the 20th century. Anyway. After the castle tour, I headed back down the hill and grabbed a bonnafied pig in a blanket for lunch. Really it was a bavarian sausage in a baguette, with spicy mustard. It was delish.
So i headed back towards the Town Center, where I got to watch the clock tower go off. What a disappointment. A crowd of like 300 people gathered under the tower and all that happened when the doors opened was a couple saints popped their heads out and a skeleton pulled the bell chord. Kind of silly when I describe it, but it was lame. I then walked around the city for a while, popping in and out of souvenir shops. I really wanted to find two marionettes for my nephews, cause that is the big thing here in Prague, but they are soooooo expensive I just couldn't find anyone to give me a deal. So I will have to look elsewhere for a cool thing for them. After a few hours I was hungry again and stumbled on a place called Bohemia Bagel. Now just in case you are wondering, Prague or Czech Republic even, is not known for it's cuisine. If it was, I would have definately tried to find something authentic, but I was starving and it was starting to rain a little. So I ducked into Bohemia Bagel for a tasty Bagel Sandwich, just like from home. It was awsome. Just what I needed. As I was leaving, I was looking at all the brocheures they had and I found one for free tours. One of the tours was a ghost tour leaving only an hour from then. I decided it would be cool to check out a little ghoulish history of Prague.
So I waited by the meeting point, until a family from wisconsin walked up. We were getting nervouse because it was literally 7:59 and the guy had not shown up yet. Just like a scary, mystery story though, he appeared out of no where, this little old man walking with a limp and a cane. I was like, ugh, this could get interesting. It turned out, he was the coolest old man I had ever met. He knew everything about the history of Prague. I even made a joke in my head that he knew all these storied cause he was alive in the 16th and 17th centruy. I figured saying it out loud may be poor form. So he told us all sorts of storied about people getting murdered and heads being decapitated and bodies being thrown over the Charles Bridge. It was really cool. The tour was finished with a beer inside the original pub of Prague, conveniently called "The Executioner". We sat, had drinks, talked a little more, and then we parted ways. I forgot to mention that another couple joined the tour, from Seattle. They incidentally were staying at the same hostel I am. So we ended up heading back together. When we got back we had a drink or two and then I went to bed, cause I was exhausted.
This morning I attempted to sleep in, but my hostel staff insists on cleaning the floors of the hallway with a giant obnoxious floor buffer at 7am. So I could only take it so long before I was wide awake and heading to get ready. I definitely took my time though. I headed down for breakfast of cereal and a ham and cheese melt. Mmmm it was tasty and free!!! Can not get better than that. After breakfast I headed back into town. This time, I was heading for the national museum. I walked around the museum for an hour or so. It was a bit of a disappointment, because it did not really have anything I had never seen before. It was pretty much like a zoological museum, with all sorts of animals, bones, minerals, rocks, etc, etc. The coolest part was the foot exhibiton. It was an exhibition dedicated to the many many uses of the foot and its development over the years. Sounds weird but it was cool.
After the museum I decided to walk around St. Wenceleslas Square, where there are a lot of stores. I found the absolute coolest, most flattering outfit, but I told myself known with a slap on the hand and quickly left the store. It really was perfect, but to buy the whole thing would have cost like 150 bucks, that I just can not shell out right now. SO I am pretty proud of myself. I decided I need to get a few presents for people and I went a bought a few souvenirs. That did not break the bank like the outfit would have and I got the satisfying relief of shopping. Ahhh being a shopoholic in Europe is difficult. Since I am still sick I decided I could not walk around anymore, and I had seen all there is to see, so I headed back to the hostel. I have been on this computer for like 3 hours. :oI Ooops. I will tell you why though...I finally was able to get some pictures up on my blog, in case you have not noticed, check out previous entries, for I have added pictures.
Now I think I will head to bed soon, because I have to wake up super early to catch my train to Berlin tomorrow. I will write more soon. Auf Weidersehn!

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