Prague: Czech It Out

I have to admit that I cannot take credit for the title of this entry--I stole it from a t-shirt in a souvenir shop. I thought it was clever, but I felt guilty for attempting to pass it off as my own...it's like blog plagerism. Anyway, let's talk about Prague...

Andrea, Katie, Chucky, Lance, and I took the bus to Prague on Thursday afternoon. Here's a summary of our journey through the Czech Republic.

First thing, we got off the bus and had to try and figure out how to take the metro from the bus stop to our hostel. Where the hostel was, we really didn't know. But, we were going to figure it out. And it only took two hours, a stop at McDonalds, and one tram in the wrong direction to get there. We made it! Friday was rather dreary and rainy. So, we opted to spend the afternoon at the National Museum just down the street.

The National Theatre was one of those museums where it's more fun to look at the architecture of the building than at the actual exhibits. I did, however, really enjoy the Czech Olympic exhibit. I looked at everything in detail...I think the others thought I was a little strange. But there were skates from Olympic champions, so I had to examine them very closely. Here's a photo of the wall of champions:

This is my new best friend from the Museum. As you can see, we're very close.

Lance made a friend as well.

Three neandrathols at the Czech National Museum.
Czech money. $1 (American) = approx. 17 Czech crowns...it was really confusing,

On Saturday, we did a little more exploring. The sun came out for a few hours in the afternoon, and the city was absolutely gorgeous. Here's a veiw of the Prague Castle from one of the city's many bridges.

Stephanie and I are Czech teeter-tottering maniacs. We found this teeter-totter down by the river, so of course, we had to play.

Czech swans--I was very thankful that they didn't attack me.

Our exploration/sightseeing group in the Old Town Square. I abalanced my camera on the trash can and set the timer to take the picture. That trash can turned out to be a descent photographer.

It's probobly the best glass. We don't want to make any promises; you may find something better. But, for the most part, this is the best Czech glass you're going to find. No garantees though (funny enough, this was a chain throughout the city).

More of the Old Town Square:

The hill leadin up to Prague Castle:

At the very top with all of Prague in the background.

Prague:

Just off the road leading to the Charles Bridge:

Lance and I on the steps leading up to the Prague Castle:

The clock tower on the Town Hall:For 40 crowns you could go to the top where there was a 360 degree view of the city. I took lots of pictures.

I felt rich with my 2000 crowns bill. But in reality, I had about $150.

Sunset on the Charles Bridge, the oldest bridge in Europe, on Sunday evening:

This was my favorite moment of the entire trip.

The journey home--how many people can we fit in an elevator?

As a whole, I really enjoyed my time in the Czech Republic. The city was gorgeous, and Kozel is the best beer I have ever tasted. But, being on this trip with almost 30 other Erasmus students made me realize that as far as traveling goes, I need to be more careful as to how these trips pan out. So many people with many differant agendas creates a lot of waiting around. On Saturday, Lance, Andrea, Katie, Stephanie, and I deliberately left earlier than everyone so we could avoid the big group.

Anyway, Prague is my new favorite city. I would very much like to go back in the spring...but I'm told that Budapest in Hungry is even better, so perhaps I should Czech that out as well. Right now, Prayanka and I are planning to spend the Easter holidays in Kracow and maybe some of the surrounding towns.

Also, classes started this week. More on that in the next few days...

PS Just out of curiosity, how many people are reading this? And hello to Lindsay J and Heather B at Wesleyan. You're e-mails made me happy, so you get to be on my blog. : )