Trip to Prague Part 2
This weekend we had Friday off of school so we headed off to Prague in the Czech Republic. It was such an amazing city. Early Friday morning we boarded a train in Vienna. The seats were separated into compartments of six people. Katelyn and I had 2 others from our group with us (Alyssa and Rachel). The rest of our group (8 people) sat in the adjoining compartments. It was so cool to ride a train. The countryside we passed was so green and there were random sunflower meadows. A guy from New York, who had been living in Europe was sitting in our compartment and told us that Prague was going to blow our minds. We arrived and were astonished that he was right.
Once we got to the train station we purchased 3 day metro passes and headed straight to the hotel. We did not know exactly where the hotel was, all we knew was that it was closed to Krizikova subway station. Being professionals at public transportation we arrived without problem at the Hotel Brno. The hotel turned out to be exactly was we expected. We got the room for really cheap and read that is was a great location but nothing great as far as the hotel itself goes. The room barely fit two twin beds pushed together and the shower had no walls so the bathroom got wet every time we used it. The only thing above average for this hotel was the great continental breakfast. This was great because we left early in the morning and came back late at night each day and only used the hotel to shower and sleep.
Friday night after we checked into the hotel we wandered around the city a little bit and found the Spanish Synagogue. We were not allowed to take pictures, so I spent my time cherishing the magnificent nature of the building. There was gold everywhere and elaborate and vibrant colored stained glass. I still cannot explain how much I love the stained glass in all of the places we have been going. The colors are nothing close to today and the detail cannot be matched. After the synagogue we decided to take a walk to find somewhere to eat. We found the perfect restaurant, an Italian restaurant on a boat anchored on the side of the Vltava River. From our table we could see the water, Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle which overlooks the city. The food was once again amazing. And our favorite part was paying in the Czech currency. Our bill was 500 k. I paid with 200 k. bills and felt like I was throwing down some serious money, that is until I did the conversion and realized that I had only spent 22 Euros on a scenic dinner for two. After dinner we went on a one hour 9 euro river cruise. The tour took us around the main city along the river and we were able to see where a lot of the main attractions were.
Saturday we got up early and guided ourselves around the city looking at local monuments and churches. We went to St. Nicolas’s Cathedral where I joked that Santa must have been catholic and Czech. We walked around the Old Town square and did dome shopping. In the afternoon we joined a walking tour that walked through the city and up to Prague castle. The cathedral that is part of the castle complex was the most stunning building there, our guide told us that it took over 600 years to construct. There was a lot of original Stained Glass which I loved. (A lot of the stained glass in the cathedrals we have been going to was destroyed in World War 2). Saturday night after the tour we at a typical Czech restaurant where I had pork with bacon wrapped green beans. Around 8 we walked down to the rived and rented pedal boats to cool off and have some fun. We ended the night with a almost daily ritual…an ice cream run. The ice cream in Prague was really good, just one problem. When they say one scoop, what they really mean is that they are going to take a small ice cream scooper and fill it with ice cream then flatted off the top so it’s just a hemisphere. To put this into perspective my waffle cone fit 2 scoops without getting to the top of the cone. I am grateful to be back in Vienna where the ice cream is just as good and way bigger.
Sunday morning we headed to church. Church was in the first floor of the mission home. It was really nice because they have headsets to translate into English. There are a lot of international people in the branch and the most common language other than Czech is English. After church we rode the metro up to the observation tower on the other side of the river and spent the afternoon enjoying the large rose gardens up overlooking the city until it was time to take the train back home. On the ride home there were 3 of us with seats in our compartment and the others were empty. We folded them all down which created a large flat bed and had a very comfortable ride home.
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