Prague: Revisited

I had the opportunity to visit Prague with my aunt the summer after my sophomore year in high school. Ever since that short visit I have been wanting to go back. The city is incredibly beautiful and I just wanted to get the chance to explore it a little bit better. This past weekend I had that opportunity.

Thursday night I caught the night train from Tuebingen to Prague. I arrived in Prague at 10:30 in the morning Friday and hit the ground running. I got a map from the train station and headed out to find my hostel. Last time, I remember our hotel being more in the downtown, old city area, this time my hostel was about a ten minute walk away from the city center. This was a nice change. The city is very old and has a lot of old, gorgeous buildings. But it also has a modern side that was cool to see.

After finding the hostel I dropped my stuff off and went to the square to get some food. The weather was hot and sunny. I sat down at one of the many sidewalk cafes and ordered some food and a coke. Along with my coke the waiter brought me a full cup of ice. I literally haven't had ice in six months. To eat I had a lovely cucumber salad. The cucumbers were grated and marinated in vinegar with a little bit of sour cream. For dessert I had a pineapple carpaccio with lime sorbet. Quite a tasty treat if I do say so myself.

After eating and getting my fill of people watching I headed out for Charles' Bridge. I crossed the bridge admiring all of the various things for sale along the way. On the other side there were people selling tickets for boat tours. I am, and always have been a sucker for all things water. I went on the next boat out. It was a nice little tour from the river made even better by the ice cold Budweiser that I was served. For some reason I think that the Czech version is a bit better than what they have in America.

After the tour I did a bitmore walking around, I found a park to explore, before heading back to the hostel to get my room. After getting situated in my room I went back into town for dinner. I was planning on staying in town late enough to get some night time pictures, but it stays light so ridiculously late, and I was really tired.

Back at the hostel my roommate and I were in our pajamas by nine o'clock and decided to watch a movie in the hostel lounge. Several other people joined us and it turned into quite a nice Friday night.

Saturday, the weather was quite the opposite from the blue skies, sunny, hotness of Friday. It was pouring down rain and rather cool the whole day, but that didn't stop me from getting my tourist on. I went to the Prague Castle.. I must admit, I didn't do this justice. But the lines were so long and it was so cold and rainy, I just wanted to keep moving.

I also went to the Lennon Wall. This was came about during communism as a way for younger people to express political beliefs. It now contains fewer political sayings and more Beatles lyrics. I got a phenomenal hot chocolate at a cafe nearby.

On the way into the city I had see what appeared to be the Czech version of the Great Wall of Chine, so of course I had to try and see it. I made my way to the distant hill that I had seen the wall on. I was able to find the wall, but I wasn't able to find a way to climb the wall, gain access to it, or find out what it was. Mission: Failed. In my defense, I had been outside in the pouring down rain for several hours at this point, and really had no interest in being in the rain any longer than necessary.

I made it back to the hostel where I did a bit of reading and studying before heading back to the train station to catch my train to Tuebingen. This trip marked my last international trip before returning to the states. The key word there is international. I still have a couple of adventures up my sleeve before I return.