Prize Goes to Prague

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Okay, okay, everyone keeps bugging me with the question, “Which city was your favourite?” I originally was going to say Vienna; that is, I was going to say Vienna until I arrived in Prague. Prague is everything that people say it is. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I had heard how pretty Prague was, but I also heard that its allure has been diminished due to British stags taking over the city (due to cheap flights and cheap beer). If you can ignore the annoying Brit boys, you cannot deny the beauty of this city. The buildings actually are so nice, they really do look fake. I kept thinking that it was a movie set filled with false front buildings. It had a very Disney-esque feel to it.

After admiring the beautiful buildings, I met up with my friend Helena (we met in Nice, but she lives in Prague) for dinner. Before dinner, we went on a little walk around Prague, which I didn’t expect, so my feet were a wee bit sore, as I opted (for once) to wear my flipflops instead of my trusty runners. We walked up to the castle and along the way Helena served as tour guide, which can be difficult in your own city, as sometimes you know less than the tourists do! She pointed out one statue on the bridge that brought good luck if you rubbed a scene with a man being thrown into the water (if you ask me, that’s a bit disturbing, but I went along with the tradition and rubbed the little man). We also walked up to the castle and witnessed the changing of the guards. Helena also showed me this cute little street of shops that is modeled to look like a row of miniature houses. The shops were closed already, but it was fine with me because I had a chance to take a photo without paying the toll to shop on the street (isn’t that crazy?! You had to pay a toll to shop on a street).

After our little tour, we were getting hungry, so I suggested to Helena that we go to her favourite restaurant. Funny enough, Helena led us to a cute little Italian restaurant, as she admitted that she really didn’t like Czech food! After dinner, she took me to her favourite pub and, sure enough, the prices were rock bottom (about a $1 for a huge mug of beer). However, as Helena informed me, we were in the “expensive” part of the city! We had some great chats over a few pints of beers and a few pots of tea. I asked her about what it was like to live in a communist country and what kind of changes have taken place over the past 15 or so years. Because she was quite young (about 10) when communism fell, she doesn’t remember much except the good aspects (e.g. cheap ice cream), but does notice a huge difference between then and now. She said the biggest change has been the ability to travel (to non-communist countries, in particular). I guess that’s part of the reason I was so surprised by the beauty of the buildings, as tourism was non-existent during communism, so I was surprised someone had the foresight to keep the buildings in such immaculate condition.

My last day in Europe was spent wandering around the city centre and just enjoying the views. I didn’t have the motivation to visit anymore museums or galleries (plus, Helena didn’t really think they were worth visiting), so I just walked and observed. I caught a plane that evening to London, where I spent a lovely evening attempting to sleep on the floor at Heathrow airport before catching my flight back to Toronto.

All in all, my time in Europe was something that I will not forget, and I had some amazing experiences, but I have to admit that I was ready to come home and ready to socialize, as traveling solo is not the easiest thing to do. The days are great as you can do what you want at your own pace, but the evenings could be a bit of a drag. The next few evenings definitely proved to be anything but a drag, as it was family reunion time in PEI!

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Photos

Great Fundraising Idea!
Like a giant Jenga game, this fundraiser allowed people to purchase a block, decorate it, and then add it to the big structure. If you look close enough, you can find a Canadian flag!