One quick train ride from Berlin and Elizabeth and I were in the glorious city of Prague. Downside of train rides in the EU is that you get no passport stamps. I guess I will just have to fill up those blank spaces in my passport with other countries.
Our first night there was quite an exciting one. For one, I got to see my wonderful friend Rachel for the first time since I visited Hendrix in September! We also got to meet her friend Kyle who was visiting her from Missouri. Clearly we were all excited and we decided to make the night even more interesting by trying absinthe. Unfortunately there were no green fairies for us and the actual taste was a disgusting licorice thing.
Our first full day didn't really begin as planned because we couldn't get everyone up and ready in time for the free walking tour, but we just adapted our plans a bit and continued on. We walked to the Old Town Square and enjoyed the wonderful show of the 2nd most disappointing tourist attraction in Europe...the astronomical clock. The actions of the clock at noon my be a disappointment to most but the clock itself is truly phenomenal. I still don't fully understand it, but it tells the time of day on a 12hr and a 24hr clock, whether it is night or day, what name day it is, and some other things that I just can't recall. After the clocks performance we got to enjoy the Easter market in the square and have a cup of some delicious goulash.
The second day we were joined by Emily Deer, another Hendrix student studying in Spain with Rachel. This day we actually did make the free tour and it was well worth it. It was lovely to have a bit of historical context for the buildings and the area. Also the tour guide was extremely tall so following him was ridiculously easy. Turns out people from Prague like to settle their arguments via defenestration (throwing people out of windows). Seems like an effective way to win an argument. There was another trip to the Lennon Wall (this time I made an addition), but the highlight of the day was definitely the KGB Museum which had been recommended to us by Marcus & Kelly. The man was so invested in everything there. I mean he was upset about the USSR breaking up. His involvement in it all just made so much more worthwhile.
One of the plus sides of having a decent sized travel group is that it is that much easier to split up if we want to do differing things. Rachel and Kyle went to the Kafka museum while Elizabeth, Emily, and I attempted to go to the Old Jewish cemetery. I say attempted because we never even considered that it might be closed on the Sabbath. Thankfully we got to see at least part of it through the gate. But we all met up again to do a walking tour of the castle (not as worthwhile as the free one in Old Town). And then back to the Lennon Wall.
Our first night there was quite an exciting one. For one, I got to see my wonderful friend Rachel for the first time since I visited Hendrix in September! We also got to meet her friend Kyle who was visiting her from Missouri. Clearly we were all excited and we decided to make the night even more interesting by trying absinthe. Unfortunately there were no green fairies for us and the actual taste was a disgusting licorice thing. 
Our first full day didn't really begin as planned because we couldn't get everyone up and ready in time for the free walking tour, but we just adapted our plans a bit and continued on. We walked to the Old Town Square and enjoyed the wonderful show of the 2nd most disappointing tourist attraction in Europe...the astronomical clock. The actions of the clock at noon my be a disappointment to most but the clock itself is truly phenomenal. I still don't fully understand it, but it tells the time of day on a 12hr and a 24hr clock, whether it is night or day, what name day it is, and some other things that I just can't recall. After the clocks performance we got to enjoy the Easter market in the square and have a cup of some delicious goulash.
From there we made our way over to the Prague Castle via the Charles Bridge. Rachel and I got into a crazy competition to see who could take the most picture of people taking pictures. It got pretty intense and Rachel was just running around all over the place. We also checked out the Lennon Wall which had some amazing artwork on it inspired by John Lennon's death and also as a protest to communism. In fact, it was so cool we went back there every day.
The second day we were joined by Emily Deer, another Hendrix student studying in Spain with Rachel. This day we actually did make the free tour and it was well worth it. It was lovely to have a bit of historical context for the buildings and the area. Also the tour guide was extremely tall so following him was ridiculously easy. Turns out people from Prague like to settle their arguments via defenestration (throwing people out of windows). Seems like an effective way to win an argument. There was another trip to the Lennon Wall (this time I made an addition), but the highlight of the day was definitely the KGB Museum which had been recommended to us by Marcus & Kelly. The man was so invested in everything there. I mean he was upset about the USSR breaking up. His involvement in it all just made so much more worthwhile.
Unfortunately I had to take a tiny break from my holiday and plan my next year at Hendrix. The two weeks we were travelling were the two weeks of room selection and course registration. Yay, timing!
One of the plus sides of having a decent sized travel group is that it is that much easier to split up if we want to do differing things. Rachel and Kyle went to the Kafka museum while Elizabeth, Emily, and I attempted to go to the Old Jewish cemetery. I say attempted because we never even considered that it might be closed on the Sabbath. Thankfully we got to see at least part of it through the gate. But we all met up again to do a walking tour of the castle (not as worthwhile as the free one in Old Town). And then back to the Lennon Wall.
I didn't get to see/do everything that sounded interesting so I guess I am just going to have to visit there again. Oh well.
I think the clock also told what name day it was. Maybe. I was distracted by the skeleton ringing the bell and scaring people.
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