Czech us out!!! Adventures in Prague

Praha, city of Bohemian crystal and beautiful architecture.

We arrived in Prague (Praha) at night on Saturday and we had no trouble finding the hostel. Sir Toby's, the hostel, was very cozy and relatively new. We all shared a big bunk bed room and I think we enjoyed having fluffy pillows to sleep on!!! In the morning we were welcomed by a fairly good amount of snow and a delicious Kc 500 breakfast (around $5).

So our "day trip" to the heart of Prague began with a tram that took us to Wenceslas Square, the main street in central Prague. We decided to walk away from the gorgeous building that houses the National Museum and head in the direction where the major shopping area was. By following almost a straight path we bumped into the first famous Prague landmark: The astrological clock. This clock, about 3-4m tall tells not only time, but also the position of the moon in relation to the sun and the astrological sign we are currently in. Continuing on we ran into the Rudolphine concert house and off in the distance we could see our main objective: the Prague Castle and its imponent St. John's Cathedral (I believe that is the name, but I apologize if it is not). This Cathedral is now a kind of museum.

The trek uphill, yes it was a trek indeed, was very cool since atop the hill we coud see all of Prague. The cathedral has a high Gothic style and it is very majestic. After walking aroung it we came to the main palace gates where we saw the changing of the guard at 1PM. It was not as exciting as we thought, but it was very rhythmical. We then crossed the Charles bridge into the mainland and waited in the shopping district until the afternoon. I went to a DaVinci exposition and saw many of his inventions as models. I think it was worth the admission price of Kc 280 for students (~$11).

We had the rare opportunity to pay Kc 500 (~$25) to go see the Prague philharmonic string ensemble play at the Rudophinum Hall. It was amazing to hear Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nacht Musik (A Little Night Music)," Schubert's "Ave Maria," Offenbach's "Can Can," and Strauss' "The Blue Danube Waltz," among others. The ensemble performed flawlessly and the show they presented was very entertaining and enjoyable.

The next day the snow fell nonstop, which made us take refuge in Cafe Heaven until it was time to go back to Berlin. I did buy a special gift for my special someone!

So in conclusion, Praha, the city of crystal, granate, and amber welcomed us and allowed us to spend a wonderful time. The experience we had at the Rudolphinum is unmatched and I think we did a very good job of Czech-ing Prague out!!!