The architecture is so amazingly elaborate and everything is so well maintained. But what I found out is that Prague is really a "commuter city." On the weekends, a lot of the locals go elsewhere because it gets packed with tourists and all the shops and restaurants hike up their prices. That means fewer struggles trying to communicate with sole-Czech speakers, but also fewer authentic Czech experiences.
Still, we managed to find a few good local spots and snag a few pictures. We also took frequent breaks to try the local beers - and it's true, they're actually cheaper than water here. My favorite so far is a Czech lager, Kozel, which is very sweet. For the rest of the day, I caught up with Chris and Cody and heard about some of their foreign language/culture antics.
Sunday, we went to Dresden, but I'll save that for another post ;-)
Monday, the guys went to work and left me to explore the city on my own. I bee-lined right to the Prague Castle (along with every other tourist that was in the city on Monday). The castle sits on a hill, so the walk up was incredibly scenic. But it didn't end there... I went to the Cathedral and walked around for almost an hour. It reminded me a lot of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York but much larger and much more elaborate. Despite the construction that prevented me from going up to the very top and ruined a lot of otherwise-great pictures, it was a fantastic place to go.
The views from the castle show you just how similar (but great) some of the buildings in the city look. It makes it a really cool place to walk around, and a very easy place to get lost!
Then I walked into Old Town in the city center and went to the top of the clock tower. There were a lot of great views from it, and the 70 CZK (about $3) was worth just the ride up.
The food has been spectacular - it's all basically meat & potatoes, but everything is prepared so well! Also, it's considerably cheaper than the UK. $1 = about 18 CZK. Lunch everyday costs 90 CZK (about $5) and I had a pretty expensive dinner out tonight, it was 209 CZK (about $11.50).
Communication has been fun... I've gotten flustered a few times when people started talking to me in Czech and I responded in broken Spanish. I'm an idiot. But Chris & Cody & I have been managing pretty well by pointing.
...and this was way too funny for me not to post. I got a coffee from Starbucks (I know - Starbucks - I could get it anywhere, but it's really hard to say "to go" in Czech), and the girl working there spent some time in Boston and knew that the Sox blew it. Long story short, I thought it was so cool that someone here watched (or at least cared about) baseball. So I got my coffee back and this was how she spelled my name:
KCHAJL
...not bad
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3 comments:
i can't believe you got up at 430am. and what the f happened sunday!?!? and that on your cup prob says "i want to have your babies"
Did you get to enjoy any Absinthe?
getting up at 4:30am was not easy - but we did something similar on EuroTrip07 as I recall.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to have any Absinthe. We went out on Wednesday to get a glass "done right" (with sugar and such), but couldn't find any.
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