Czech this out!!
I cannot even express how much I loved this city.
Budapest is my often chaotic home, Bratislava is a charming small capital, Vienna is the pricier home for art and music and Prague seems to really mix all three! We walked some quiet streets, discovered all kinds of activities going on in the old town square, and toured the most impressive cathedral I've been in so far. (I am beginning to think I am a little bit of an expert on Cathedrals, as I think I've been in about ten now).
The one catch is that Prague is quite crowded. Seems like everyone else fell in love with the city just as much as me! We did have a few moments where we got stuck in the crowd, but thankfully we also had some really amazing quiet moments as well.
We arrived in Prague early in the morning, after about an hour and a half of sleep. We didn't let that slow us down and we immediately hoped on a free walking tour through the city. We saw the famous towers, the astronomical clock and the synagogues of the Jewish quarter.
The capital shares a lot of history with the surrounding capitals. It was under Nazi occupation and later it was part of the Soviet Block. The unique thing about Prague is that Hitler wanted to keep the Jewish quarter as a sort of "museum" of the Jews. Because of this, there are some beautiful Synagogues unlike anything else in this part of the world.
In the afternoon we grabbed some lunch in the Jewish quarter and took a walk over to the famous "Dancing House".
That day we headed into the Prague castle, which to be completely honest was very croded and difficult to enjoy around the private tour groups. Still, the stained glass in the cathedral especially was breathtaking.
The palace was also home to some old Byzantine records, some of which dated back to the thirteenth century! I think that this wins as some of the oldest things I have seen here!
That night we actually returned to the same restaurant, because we loved it so much. I guess sometimes it feels really nice to find somethings that are immediately familiar in a city that is so far from home!
The next day, we went to print our train tickets home, and discovered that I was on the wrong train! It was no big deal, and I actually got a chance to talk to this amazing Korean couple. They were grad students together in the U.S. and now the husband works for the Korean embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia. I asked him if it was a very interesting job, and he told me that while he loved the opportunity to travel and live in a new place, the embassy itself was kind of slow and small. Turns out there is no mass immigration from Korea to Slovakia right now.
I also learned a Korean slang word "daba" (of course that is not how you spell it!) and it means jackpot. The great thing about this new word is that it can be used sarcastically or in full seriousness, meaning that you can actually say it at any time!
That's all for Prague! What a beautiful time!!
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| The astronomical clock draws a HUGE crowd every hour, and it moves only for about thirty seconds. |
In the afternoon we grabbed some lunch in the Jewish quarter and took a walk over to the famous "Dancing House".
We toured the inner historical district before dinner, just kind of getting lost in the cobblestone streets. For dinner we went to the my new favorite typical Eastern European restaurant, Lokal. The restaurant was full of locals, and the rooms were echoing with Czech. The restaurant itself was like a traditional beer hall. Everyone has a smile on their face, and some were even singing drinking songs. The waitress brought us some of the typical Czech Pilsner and we had some fantastic home made sausage and horseradish.
The next morning we forced ourselves to get up at 4:30 in the morning. We had not had a good night of sleep in a while at this point, but it was worth it! The Charles bridge is one of the most iconic sights in Budapest, and usually it is packed with people. We enjoyed an amazing quiet morning and we also managed to snag some awesome photos. The sunrise was pretty breathtaking!
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| Early in the morning the bridge is empty!! |
We also took advantage of the empty streets to visit the Lennon wall, a famous graffiti wall that has been a sight of protest since the days of communism.
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| "Time you enjoy wasting wasn't wasted" |
That night we actually returned to the same restaurant, because we loved it so much. I guess sometimes it feels really nice to find somethings that are immediately familiar in a city that is so far from home!
The next day, we went to print our train tickets home, and discovered that I was on the wrong train! It was no big deal, and I actually got a chance to talk to this amazing Korean couple. They were grad students together in the U.S. and now the husband works for the Korean embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia. I asked him if it was a very interesting job, and he told me that while he loved the opportunity to travel and live in a new place, the embassy itself was kind of slow and small. Turns out there is no mass immigration from Korea to Slovakia right now.
I also learned a Korean slang word "daba" (of course that is not how you spell it!) and it means jackpot. The great thing about this new word is that it can be used sarcastically or in full seriousness, meaning that you can actually say it at any time!
That's all for Prague! What a beautiful time!!
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