Czech out my Prague Blog

Before Prague--Tuesday night we all went out to Moose Bar to celebrate one more night together before we left on our trip to Prague. We had such a good time, all hanging out in my room before going out as one big Tordens group. Alex went in only shorts, a muscle shirt, and flip flops.. hilarious. There were quite a few exchange kids from other residences that I haven't seen in forever. Didn't make for a good travel day the next day but definitely worth it!

Okay, onto Prague trip:

Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2105418&l=df65c&id=73404302

Blog:
Another trip! Yes, this time it was Prague, in the heart of the Czech Republic. Our group of travelers for this trip included two groups of four each. My group was me, Elyse, Teddy, and Chris. We met up with Alex, Ben, Matt, and Jess the second day. Our flight left Wednesday around noon. Dino took us to the airport and we were off to Prague! When we arrived, we found our way to the hostel by using the bus and metro. Their metro is so different than Copenhagen’s. It is really old, loud, and dirty. My first look out at the city was beautiful. You can see all of the historical old city parts of Prague (cobblestone, uneven streets, old buildings), the newer, more modern big city part, and beautiful nature all in one view. Tall, grassy hills and bluffs are surrounding the main center of town. Prague is split between a few districts, pretty much Old Town and New Town from what we were traveling in. We stayed in the Old Town side of the water that splits the two sides at Chili Hostel.

Night 1—We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and were off and running to explore Prague. No destinations or sights to see in mind, just trying to get our bearings and see where we were. We found ourselves hungry after awhile and ate dinner in the a basement restaurant with authentic Czech food. I had goulash and dumplings, my new favorite meal I think. It isn’t too expensive there either, not dirt cheap, but definitely reasonable. I had a big thing of goulash and dumplings with a side of garlic soup and water for around $11.50. Later that night we went to a Czech pub close to our hostel and had a few beers with some guys we met at the hostel. It was very bright in there and not the atmosphere we were looking for so me and Elyse decided to go our separate ways. Teddy and Chris stayed and hung out there with our newfound friends and we ended up meeting people and going to another bar. We were looking for this popular five story club but couldn’t find it so we ended up in an underground bar. At first I thought it was really lame because it was adult Czech people who were drinking and dancing, only about 10-15 of them max. We ended up having a few drinks there and talking to our new friends from Ukraine and Germany and eventually joined the adults in dancing to Czech music. All in all it turned out to be a pretty good time.

Day 2—Our first real day in Prague we decided to go to the National Museum. I feel like I’ve been to my share of museums for awhile since being abroad but this one was quite a bit different. Elyse and I went apart from the guys in the museum and had a good time. There was a huge mineral collection and a zoo-like exhibit. The zoology room had real animals stuffed (taxidermy I think they call it..??)—everything from birds to bison. A little creepy if you ask me, but interesting none the less. There was a foot exhibit too. It had a bunch of interactive things for kids and Shaq’s shoe!

After the National Museum, we walked to Old Town Square. We saw the Astronomical Clock and then got lunch at a stand and ate in the square. Lunch was horrible, we watched them microwave our food and then hand it to us.. sick. The square was really pretty and lively--music and people everywhere and a pretty nice day too. Next up was the Jewish Quarter. We couldn’t really tell a difference except there were a few temples and people selling Yakimas. They charged for everything there, including a cemetery. Who would pay to see dead people?! Not this girl. We walked by the water and then headed for the hostel for a quick nap before meeting the other group. When they arrived, we went to The Globe (a student bookstore/café/bar/restaurant right by our hostel) for happy hour. Some of the guys took shots of absinthe which the bartender lit on fire. Pretty serious drinking at 5:00 in the afternoon! We all got ready and headed out for the night. We ended up splitting up again because some people wanted to eat dinner at an expensive place and go to pubs while another group wanted cheap dinner and a club. I opted for the second option. We found an Italian place, then a bar after that. We met a guy from the States who teaches English in Prague. He was telling us all about this place called Cross Club and said we had to check it out. He ended up taking us all the way there, what a nice guy. Except he did ask where I was from and didn’t think I was from America because he said my English was not native English. What that hell?! Either way.. Cross Club was not that exciting on a Thursday night but it was a cool building. The interior looked like a bunch of car engines on the wall and they had the best dark beer I have ever had. It was sweet almost and tasted so good. The music there was not my style either, the whole place seemed like there was an underground drug culture that we didn’t know about. Well, until some guy offered Teddy “nose ice cream”, haha!

Day 3—We split up seeing the city again. We were all supposed to meet at noon by the clock and the other group never showed so we decided to take on the city by ourselves. Me, Elyse, Matt, Ben, and Chris all went across Charles Bridge to the other part of the city. We saw Prague Castle (which had a church, royal building, and Golden Lane). I like that side the best I think because it was a more upbeat atmosphere. We found the funniest souvenirs ever—t-shirts that said “Czech Me Out”. Matt and I each got one and wore them for awhile that day. We were making up hilarious puns on Prague and Czech. Some of the best—“Can I pay with a Czech? –Okay I think there’s one over there”, “Prague-ability”, “Prague-nosis”, “Impraguenate”, “Czechpoint”, “Czech that out”, etc. That night Elyse and I had dinner at The Globe then met up with Alex and Matt and went to U Flecka beer hall. We had more of that dark beer and shots of cider, too bad it closed about ½ hour after we got there because it was a lot of fun. Then we met the rest of the group and went to this three story bar/club called Chateau. It was quite the hike and again seemed like more of a gothic/dark scene. Matt and I didn’t stay very long and then went back to the hostel to get ready for an early flight the next morning.

All in all I think there is something so different in the Czech culture than the Danish culture. I was trying to explain it to Dino and the best explanation I could come up with is that there is an innocence about Scandinavian culture. The Czech culture is lacking that innocence, much harsher and dark culture. Not that the people were outright rude or mean, quite the opposite, but you could just feel a difference. It seemed like there was a much more obvious drug culture there than in Denmark or anywhere else I’ve traveled to so far. I still really liked the city and was glad I got a chance to experience it.

Since we've gotten back: Saturday we arrived back in CPH around 1pm and it was a gorgeous day out. Dino and I took a 3 1/2 hr walk around the city. We went to our favorite eating spot, Sunset Boulevard, and stayed for quite some time like usual. That night we stayed in and watched a movie and talked to some Tordens people about their weekends.

Sunday--Me, Jos, and Jon took a walk to try and find this man-made lagoon that is supposed to be really nice during the spring and summer. It was another nice day, sunny and 55'F and it was quite a hike. We decided to get a Carlsberg for the way and when we got to the beach we found a nice sand hill and sat and chatted for hours. We had a few beers long and just enjoyed the nice and relaxing day in Copenhagen. On the way back we stopped at Christiania for a drink. The bars in there are sooo much different than traditional CPH bars. Then the three of us came back to Tordens and cooked dinner together.

Monday--Today I'm working on my papers and trying to get caught up before leaving again. Next trip is Mallorca for 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! An all inclusive resort in the heart of the shopping/restaurant/bar district. Our resort looks so nice I can hardly wait to go!