Hello, all!
It's been almost 2 weeks since I posted (sorry!). I was busy with mandatory class trips, midterms, and papers last week, and then got really sick with a stomach flu-type illness. But I'm back and will be reporting my upcoming spring break adventures! A few friends and I just concluded a 3-day trip to Prague, Czech Republic for the first weekend of spring break. To say the city was absolutely beyond amazing would be downplaying its true worth. I had such a fantastic time - even while in the midst of a painful stomach bug. The two plane rides (Athens —> Belgrade, Belgrade —> Prague) were not fun, though, seeing as I spent most of them either in the bathroom or wincing in pain in my seat (aisle, thank god). We got into Prague late Friday night, so we just headed to Czech Inn, our hostel (har har so punny), and called it a day. In the morning, we went on a 3-hour walking tour around the city that was advertised at the hostel. The tour guide was incredibly well informed about Prague’s unique history and was also very funny/charming. At one point during the tour, I thought about asking him out to dinner, but I chickened out when he didn’t seem overwhelmingly receptive to my questions after the walk finished. During the tour, we saw the infamous Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square and watched the show that is performed by the clock every hour. There are several key elements to the clock’s display: the skeleton who rings the bell of death calling for people to die, an old man holding a mirror to represent vanity, and another old man holding a bag of money to symbolize greed. There is also a golden rooster who pops out, as well as several rotating statues that appear and disappear from within the clock. Overall, it's a really cool, complicated procession that occurs every turn of the hour. We then saw the Estates Theatre, which is the opera house where Mozart debuted Don Giovanni (that was obviously a huge success among Prague-ers). This theater is a pretty shade of mint green and has several corinthian columns, making it one of the finest examples of classicism in modern Europe. Fun fact: my friends and I actually tried to see an opera (Hansel and Gretal) at this theater, but unfortunately nothing was playing that day. After a quick bathroom and snack break, we heard the history behind the statue of Jan Hus in Old Town Square. We then toured the Jewish quarter, which used to be a sectioned-off ghetto in older times (Hitler actually tried to make this an official ghetto again during WWII and reinstated many of the antiquated, anti-semetic practices). The two main attractions were the Jewish Synagogue and the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery, which has a beautiful church-turned museum attached to it, is built significantly higher up than street level in order to house several layers of graves in one plot. The synagogue is the oldest in Europe, being built in the 13th century, and has withstood many fires, wars, and attempted destructions. Our tour guide recommended that we place a hand on the synagogue's wall to receive a bit of its strength and good luck, so I placed both my palms on the building for a good 5 seconds. Before finishing our tour at another opera house, we looked across the Vltava river towards Old Town where the Prague castle, faux Eiffel Tower, and giant metronome statue are located. Fun fact about the metronome: it is built on a large platform that used to support several enormous statues of Joseph Stalin and his comrades. After their regime came tumbling down, the statues were removed. Years later, Michael Jackson built a huge statue of himself there to promote one of his international tours. Today, a giant, red metronome exists on top of the platform that is constantly moving back and forth. Legend says that once the metronome steps moving, society will return to a state of tyrannical rule, so hopefully that never happens! Once our amazing tour concluded, we said goodbye to our cute guide and headed across the Charles Bridge in search of the John Lennon wall. We managed to get to the wall and spent the next 30 minutes posing in front of it. It's so ridiculously colorful and has so many great phrases written on it ("for the nights we won't remember with the friends we won't forget," "imagine," "be kind," "the sun will rise and we will try again," and "fight hate with love" are a few). We had a great time doing solo shots, couple shots, and group shots. And, of course, leaving our own mark on the wall somewhere. Next was the castle on the hill (*cue the Ed Sheeran song*). We stopped for a brief food break (a little to-go pizza shop with slices for 40 koruna/$1.00) and then started our ascent up the hill. As the largest castle complex in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site, it's currently the Head of State for the Czech Republic. Besides the royal guards outside and the amazing gothic church that has gargoyles peering down at you from all sides, the castle complex was kinda blah. However, we did get a fantastic view of the city from up there. We also walked by the Golden Row where Franz Kafka used to live in one of the little houses and then touched the highly-shined genitalia of a statue (that's what we were supposed to do, don't worry!) before walking down. Later, the other girls on the trip wanted to go shopping for clubbing clothes before dinner. I, unfortunately, was definitely not feeling well enough to go out. But I joined the excursion anyway and then got a falafel with lots of hummus since Greece doesn't have this amazingly tasty spread. They didn't end up leaving the hostel until well after midnight (crazy people). Meanwhile, I went to sleep fairly early and was later awakened at 4:30 am when one of the girls came back. The other 2 stayed out until 6:30 am! No. Way. José. The next day, we ventured back to Old Town to climb the faux Eiffel Tower. It was a loooong hike up there on the little spiral staircase, but we made it. The view was fantastic, but the tower definitely swayed a noticeable amount, so we went down pretty quickly after our ascent. Back on the ground, I bought 2 "Praha" pins and a magnet to spend my access koruna coins. We ended up sitting in the cafe area of the tower for awhile since we were all exhausted and freezing by then. Fun fact: Prague's tower was built 2 years after the original in Paris and is actually 16 meters higher above sea level. The reason: Prague built its on a hill. Smart. Then it was lunch time. We wandered back to Old Town Square to look at the offerings of street food. We ultimately ordered a combination of sausages and a potato, cabbage, bacon concoction that was insanely overpriced (tourist area, oh well), but full of food. I felt like I hardly made a dent in my bowl, but I didn't want to push anything with my still-upset stomach. Afterward, we walked through some tourist shops and a fur shop that sold coats for upwards of $5,000. We also tried to buy those opera tickets and got turned down, so we went back to the hostel to relax for a bit instead. Later we went back into the city to have a traditional Czech meal, but we got turned down from the restaurant because it was too full for a group of 4. Instead, we went to a really delicious Italian place called Don Giovanni's (of course) where I ate spinach tagliatelle with pesto and pulled out my rusty Italian. Then it was off to bed for us to prepare for our flight the next day. Next top: Copenhagen, Denmark! - Hannah
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Hannah BisbingStudent @ Penn State. Figure skater. Writer. Traveler. Coffee fanatic. Foodie. Semi-professional people watcher who recently returned home from backpacking around Europe. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.
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