Praha

After the excursion to Vienna a group of us decided to go to Prague for the long weekend.  Originally we had been planning to stay until Monday since it was a holiday but this ended up not happening.  Due to the cost of flights we decided to come back Sunday, which was a good decision because we were all burnt out.  After visiting the Natural History Museum in Vienna a group of us decided to go get lunch.  I actually got gumbo at lunch and it was delicious!

This definitely would not pass for gumbo in Louisiana but it was really tasty and fresh so I was not worried about whether or not it was authentic.  After having lunch part of our group left to go catch their bus to Prague.  The rest of us thought about finding something to do but we were all pretty exhausted.  We ended up finding a park and laying under a tree up until we decided to go get some dinner.  I have to admit that we ended up at a restaurant that served American food.  We saw it on the way to a different restaurant and thought it was too funny to pass up.  The menus had American flags on them and so did a sign outside of the restaurant.  Upon looking through the menu we found that they were serving "quesadas" (also know as quesadillas).  After our interesting "American" food we headed to the bus stop.  We were not sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised when a very nice bus pulled up.  The bus took us through some very beautiful areas and was a nice experience overall.  We got to Prague a little after 11:00 and proceeded to try and figure out how to get to our Airbnb.  One thing we had not thought of was the fact that the official currency in Prague is the crown.  We had exactly zero crowns, which was problematic because the only way to buy a train ticket was with crowns...  This threw us off for a minute but then we just decided to call an über and that worked perfectly.  The driver spoke a bit of english and got us to our Airbnb without any problems.  We decided to sleep in a bit the next day since we had been up so late.  Once we got up though we headed into town and we got there just in time to see the astronomical clock go off.  

After watching the clock go off we went for food.  My first meal in Prague was a dish that had potatoes, sauerkraut, and pork all mixed and cooked together.  The food was delicious but it was very filling and the sauerkraut became overpowering after a while.  This was the first time I actually could not finish my food while abroad.  I only mention this because typically I eat all of my food and then whatever food my friends have left.  I am the designated food disposal of the group.  After lunch we headed to a museum that had a Dalí and Warhol exhibit.  Each exhibit had a short history of the artists and then multiple of their works on display.  Between the two artists there are some very iconic pieces and it was really exciting to get to see them.  At the end of the tour I had a shirt printed by a person working at the museum, thus purchasing my first souvenir of the trip.  

It's difficult to see in the photo but the design is greyish-purple and green.  What made me decide to buy this is the fact that someone was printing them by hand and also each design comes out differently.  I had told her I wanted purple and green and she had already been working with pink earlier that day.  These colors came together with mine to make my own color scheme.  After we left the museum we headed to the Prague Castle.  This journey ended up being a bit of a hike and none of us were really wearing the appropriate clothing.  We ended up with some amazing views of Prague at the top though and got some exercise, which is always good.  The castle was a little disappointing just because we had just visited the Hofburg in Vienna.  The Hofburg was one of the most ornate and elegant buildings I have ever seen so it made the Prague Castle seem a little bland.  The architecture of the castle and especially the cathedral that sits in the middle are fantastic though.  

After heading back down from the castle we went to have dinner by the Vltava River.  The food at our dinner was amazing and the scenery was even better.  The restaurant was right on the water and was open air so there was a very clear view of the water and the surrounding area.  We had a great meal and then went to hang out on the Charles Bridge for a bit.  The sunset is supposed to be beautiful while on the bridge but sadly there were too many clouds for us to enjoy it.  After getting dessert we headed back to our Airbnb.  

This is a traditional pastry found in Prague called a Trdelník.  The outside is coated in sugar and cinnamon and then they put ice cream in the middle.  This is probably one of the best things I have ever eaten.  The next day we had another slow start.  We went into town to store our bags at the bus station so that we would not have to haul them all day.  After that we went for lunch at a café.  Lunch was fine, that is until it decided to start pouring.  Luckily we were able to get inside and finish our lunch without getting drenched.  After lunch we toured a chocolate museum, this really just entailed us eating a lot of free chocolate.  We did get to watch how they make one of the hard candies that they sell out of the main store though.  

We watched as they crafted a massive blob of flavored sugar and then when they stretched the whole thing out and cut it into pieces they produced these small candies.  The candy blob had been crafted in such a way that all the pieces combined to produce a pineapple in the middle.  This was a very kool process and it was really fun to watch.  After this we headed to the airport and had our final dinner in Prague.  Prague was definitely an adventure and I am really glad I got to go.  It was a little stressful at times since it was so different from the countries we had been to previously but I really enjoyed it.