Saturday October 15-Day 2

Saturday morning started with a bus ride to Prague. This city is said to be one of the oldest and most well preserved because it was never bombed out during the war like many other big cities around. I didn’t think the buildings here looked much older than a lot of the buildings I’ve seen in Vienna but what do I know? The stuff here kept the same architectural themes that I saw in Cesky Krumlov: painted façades and bright colors.

We dropped our stuff off at the Hostel we’d be staying in for the next two nights and were not very impressed by what we found. The rooms consisted of beds with rather skimpy bedding, an occasional table or broken wardrobe, and a wide assortment of very questionable-looking stains. Despite this setback we were all still determined to enjoy Prague and set out to the river where Brother Minert said we could rent paddleboats. Along the way my friend Ashley spotted a rather entertaining Harry Potter shirt and rightfully thought to point it out to me. Once we had a good 20-second look we turned to continue following the group. Unfortunately for us, everybody had seemed to vaporize and there was not a familiar face in sight! So we found our own way to the paddle boats and, after waiting a while, decided that if we wanted to paddle boat we’d better just go; so we did for about 100 Korun (around 5 bucks) a person. A few minutes later the rest of the paddle boaters showed up and joined the fun. We had a great view of the city from the river.

After that of course we went to a Rathaus (actually I have no idea what it’s called the Czech Republic, so we’ll say town hall) where we could get the best view of the city. 

We stayed up there for quite some time because it was an incredible view and the sun was setting. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Once we got hungry Ashley and I met up with Amanda, Allie and Kiersten and wandered over to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. I felt a little guilty eating American food whilst in the Czech Republic, but once I took a bite of that juicy honey smoked bacon burger, I had no regrets. It was the most delightful thing I think I’ve had this trip. I would trade any food Prague had to offer for one of these again in a heartbeat.

I was surprised to see how many Jazz clubs there are in Prague because there were quite a few that I saw, and I’m sure I didn’t even pass them all. So for our night-time enjoyment Amanda, Keirsten and I went to a Jazz club! Saxophones are pretty much the coolest instruments out there and I absolutely love listening to a good sax player. All the old men in the band got really into it and you could tell they were having a good time. The music was really good and I was pleased to be listening to it while drinking my black currant juice.

Once we got back to the hostel there was a general lack of towels, so the Minerts were kind enough to offer one of theirs to anyone who just wanted to pat dry after their shower before putting on their pajamas. I gladly partook in this generous offer.

The rooms were cold and I had to change rooms due to a snoring roommate (why didn’t I remember my earplugs?) so I think it’s safe to say the sleeping situation wasn’t the greatest but I did still manage to get a few hours of shut eye. Gotta be rested for another day in Prague!

Oh, Also I got this really sweet T-shirt.