Spring Break Part 1: Prague

I spent the first half of my spring break visiting the capital of the Czech Republic: PRAGUE. I spent a total of five nights and five days there. At first when I told people how long I would be spending there, most made faces and said, more or less the same thing: "What the heck are you going to do in Prague for that long?" I never knew how to answer, because in all honesty, I really didn't know much about Prague. Previous study abroad students told me that if I visit one city this semester I must make that city Prague. Other than hearing how amazing this city actually was, Shannon and I arrived not knowing what to expect. Fortunately, Shannon has a good friend (Adam) studying in Prague, who not only let us stay with him until Tuesday, but also was our very own personal tour guide. He took us all over; showed us yummy places to eat, how to use the metro and tram system, and tons of important monuments we probably would have never seen on our own.

Shannon and I in Prague

We arrived in Prague on Saturday afternoon and shortly after met up with Adam. He lives in a really central location, very close to most things. He took us over to Old Town Square, where we planned to take a few pictures, until it started pouring rain. As the rain quickly turned to hail, the three of us took refuge in James Dean, a cute little diner that certainly seemed out-of-place in Prague. Once the rain died down a little, we headed over to U MEDVIDKU, a 550-year-old beer hall and restaurant, that serves it's infamous X Beer 33. A darker, yet sweet brew that has an alcohol content of 12.6%, making it the strongest brew in the Czech Republic! It was way to sweet for me, but there were plenty of other beers for me to enjoy. After dinner and a few beers, we prepared for our first night out in Prague. Adam took us to the club, CHAPEAU ROUGE, where we danced and drank all night. Later in the night, Shannon and I took our very first ABSINTHE shot, which may or may not have been one of our better ideas.

at the Lennon Wall

Sunday we woke up early (read:10 am) to prepare for a day filled with lots of walking and tourist attractions. We grabbed breakfast at Prague's well-known bagel shop, BOHEMIA BAGEL. Bagels are my ultimate hangover food, not to mention I hadn't had one since being abroad. Needless to say, this was the perfect breakfast. We left breakfast and walked over CHARLES BRIDGE, a historic bridge in Prague, that lead us to the LENNON WALL. Since the 80’s, this wall has become a tribute to John Lennon, filled with Lennon-inspired graffiti and lyrics from Beatles songs. Right around the corner is a gate that overlooks the canal; the gate is filled with 100’s of locks. Couples leave these "love locks" as a way to symbolize their everlasting love (a little cheesy if you ask me). As we walked back to take a nap, we tried some traditional hot wine. It tastes more like apple cider, than actual wine, but it was a yummy treat that kept us warm until we made it back to the apartment. We took a much-needed nap and then headed out for the night. Sunday nights aren’t big in Prague, so we kept it more casual and just went to a few bars. We started at SHADOW BAR and then made our way to U SUDU. U Sudu was one of my favorite bars – it seemed like a more local hangout and just had a really cool atmosphere.

Babies at Zizkov Tower

We started Monday off with lunch at this really yummy thai restaurant called YAM YAM . It’s located literally right off the metro stop, VYSEHRAD. After some amazing pad thai, we explored Vysehrad, a castle that is said to be the original settlement of Prauge. In this area, the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul is situated, as well as the Vysehrad Cemetery, which contains the remains of many famous people from Czech history. Later this day, we went and saw the ZIZKOV TV TOWER, made famous by the crawling baby sculptures created by artist David Cerny. We intended to go up to the top of this tower, but it was actually closed so instead we stared at the babies crawling up the tower. Monday night my roommates were finally in Prague so we all got together, grabbed dinner, then headed out for another crazy night in Prague. We started of at the Roxy then made our way to another bar. It was yet, another, very successful night out in Prague.

Enjoying a night out in Prague!

Adam left for his spring break Tuesday, leaving Shannon and I alone to explore the rest of Prague. We used a lot of Tuesday to plan out our Wednesday and Thursday adventures. We also walked around Old Town Square, where we tasted some traditional Czech pastries. While walking around we happened to stumble upon WOW, a little Boba stand, situated in an underground tunnel. Shannon and I both love Boba, so this find literally made our day! For dinner, we went back to the thai restaurant, but this time we brought our friends to it. They loved it, just like we had!

Wednesday my roommates, Shannon, and I took a day trip with Sandeman’s New Europe tour company to the small city of Terezin, about 45 minutes outside of Prague. This city is home to a concentration camp, where Hitler and the Nazi’s occupied during World War II. We spent the entire day here. It was incredibly interesting, especially because I had never heard or known anything about Terezin until this tour. (See the next post to learn more about my day at Terezin).

View from Petrin Hill

Thursday was our last and final day in Prague. We started our day with a trip on the funicular that took us to the top of PETRIN HILL. This hill is in the center of Prague and home to the lookout tower (something that resembles the Eiffel Tower). Shannon and I climbed to the top of this tower and were able to see all off Prague. The view was beautiful! After Petrin hill, we intended to tour Prague castle with the same tour company that took us to Terezin, but once we met up with the group it was pouring rain. Now usually I’d be able to suck it up when it comes to rain, but unfortunately we were traveling on a 13-hour bus ride to Croatia in about 5 hours, with no change of clothes. Neither Shannon nor I could fathom sitting on a bus for that long and that wet. Instead we grabbed lunch and did a little souvenir shopping. That night we boarded a bus to take us to Croatia!