PRAGUE

Hey all,
Last night I got back from an amazing weekend in Prague, where Kristin and I stayed with Heather in her dorm. We had such a great time, we saw a lot, had some great food, and had a fun time catching up. Kristin and I left early Friday morning, getting up at around 5, and then taking the metro, RER, and Orlyval to Paris Orly, where we caught our flight to Prague (about a two-hour flight). We got in at around 11, and then took a bus and a metro to meet Heather at the metro station close to her dorm. We spent some time catching up and getting settled into our dorm, and figuring out the plan for the weekend, before heading out for lunch at an amazing noodle place. Then, we explored some of the city, with Heather’s friend Sarah (who was really nice), seeing some significant spots in Czech history, before catching the tram to a famous strudel place. It’s basically just a tiny strudel place that most people would miss, but it has been featured on the travel channel and such as having the best strudel in the world, so of course we had to get some! We climbed up the hill to a little park and sat on a bench to eat our apple strudel, delicious, where we also got a pretty view of Prague in the fall. Then it was off to visit the TV tower, which features these creepy babies/aliens crawling over it (I’m still not quite sure why…). We paid to go up to the top, where we got a really cool view of the city, although it was pretty foggy, so a bit limited. After a bit of a walk, we headed back to the dorm to hang out for a bit before heading out to a nearby bar (“Dogs Bollocks”, haha) for some Hoegaarden with Sarah and this guy named John (who said he almost went to Kenyon, but is at Haverford, and new some of our friends on the Sweet Briar Program, as did Sarah-who goes to Northwestern). Then it was off to dinner, where we tried to go to a couple Czech restaurants by the dorm, but they were full, so we headed to a really good pizza place. Afterwards, we headed to a bar known for having different flavors of beer. We tried some samples, deciding that our favorite was the banana flavor…yummy! After the bar, we headed back home, as Kristin and I were too tired to go to a club or anything, where we stayed up a bit late just talking and hanging out.
Saturday, we got up relatively early and caught breakfast at the hotel, then set off to see the castle. It was so cool; we saw the beautiful chapel, as well as a museum housing a bunch of interesting artifacts and such, and then Golden Alley (I think), with a bunch of little stores and stuff, including one with a bunch of armor-where we all paid to shoot a crossbow, fun, as well as a prison with all this old torture stuff…cool! We also went to the Toy Museum, which I have to say has been my favorite museum so far, haha. They even had a Barbie exhibit going on, so we learned some of the actually really interesting of Barbie, and basically saw its evolution-it was really funny to see all the different outfits from different decades. Then we headed out to Bohemia Bagel, where we got our first American breakfast in forever! I got some delicious blueberry pancakes and such, it was funny, I felt like I was back in the US-hanging out with Heather, hearing English all around me, and eating American-style breakfast food…it was nice. We then crossed the beautiful bridge, lined with sculptures, to head into old town, where we saw the famous clock tower, and saw it on the hour-where a skeleton rings a bell and the apostles come out the sides. We even climbed it, as Kristin’s friend from home specifically called her from home to tell her it was a must, and got a really nice view of Old Town. We then walked around for a while and headed back, heading back to the dorm, and then out to an authentic Czech restaurant. It was really nice, we sat on benches and they brought us their home-made beer. Kristin and I split an order of Goulash, the Czech dish, consisting of meat (I believe beef) in a yummy broth, as well as some potato dumplings. Delicious. We also had some shots of Becherovka, a special kind of Czech liquor with lots of different kinds of herbs from all over, not my cup of tea, but okay. Afterwards, we met up with John, as well as our friend Ben from sweet briar, who it turns out was visiting someone from Heather’s program, which was funny. We all went to this fun bar, where it’s basically a giant drinking game. There are taps at the table, and it’s all done electronically, where the tables get points for ever .5L of beer they drink, and there’s a big screen listing each table and their points. They even compare different bars around bar, showing which bar has drunk the most. We weren’t feeling too competitive, but it was still fun, and definitely a cool idea. Afterwards, me, Kristin, Heather, and Sarah headed to a 5-story club, which was really fun. It was great, we hung out mainly on the fourth floor, which played a bunch of American rap that we all knew, good time. When we were too tired to dance anymore, we headed back to the dorm, and fell asleep not too long after.
The next morning we slept in a bit, gaining an extra hour from Daylight Savings, yes!, before heading out. We had missed the dorm’s breakfast, so we got some fresh juice from this amazing place by the dorm, and then tried Trdelnik-an amazing Czech pastry. We then went to see the Lennon wall, where graffiti was written following his death. The police apparently would paint it over every night, but it would always reappear. It was a really cool thing to see, all about peace and love. Then we headed over to the Gardens, which were really cool, with sculptures, a wall made to look like that of a cave and featuring a cage with real owls, etc. There was even a duck pond! We then went and saw an interesting sculpture, depicting a man losing parts of his body in different stages, essentially representing the effects of communism. We then went to an amazing Mexican restaurant for lunch, so good, we all agreed that we missed Mexican food from the U.S., and it’s the one type of food Paris seems to lack. Then it was off to a nearby church, where there is the famous baby Jesus, which people send in clothes to wear. They had a display of some of the different outfits from all over the world, it was really cool, they were all really elaborate and beautiful. We then walked through a touristy area to check out souvenirs and such before heading back to the dorm, to collect our stuff and head out. Then it was goodbye, and Kristin and I headed back to the airport, where or flight was delayed for two hours because of the heavy fog, argh. I finally got home close to 11pm, what a weekend! It was such a great trip; so nice to have Heather, it was like a personal tour guide! So yes, Prague was great, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Alex I know you will enjoy it, although I’m excited to have the next two weekends in Paris-a break from the craziness of traveling.
This morning my host mom was kind of pissy, she said that Madame Parnet called about the internet situation, and kept repeating that she cannot “faire des miracles” (make miracles), that she works so much and doesn’t have time…sigh. Madame Parnet talked to me today and said that my host mom had said she would take care of it this week (although my host mom didn’t tell me this, so we’ll see if it actually happens). Oh well, I will live. Tonight I think Kristin and I are heading to Bar Cristal to see our favorite bartenders, yay! So yeah, life is good here, love you all!
Brit