15-June: 1st Day in Prague

Yesterday, we arrived in Prague and headed towards our hotel.  It is actually a pension, more like a bed and breakfast.  It is a very nice change from the crappy hotel we had in Berlin.  The bathroom is actually inside the room this time and we don't have to share it!  We are on the top floor of a building and have windows that open up to the sky.  It gives us a nice breeze and fresh air.  Prague is actually pretty small, much smaller than I was expecting.  Our hotel isn't in a great location, but some of the main tourist locations are only a 5 minute walk away.

After taking a break at the hotel after our 5 hour train ride, we went out to dinner at a Japanese/Chinese restaurant... it was not very good.  We had really great Chinese food in Berlin and we're let down at the place we chose here (picture here is from Berlin).  We didn't mention this in the post about Berlin, but the Chinese restaurant there served a small glass of mango nectar after dinner.  It was different, but actually very good.  In Prague, we were served a shot of some weird liquor... we were hesitant to try it, but Tres did, and it was not good.

After that, we took a walk around the city.  We started out heading for the Jewish Quarters since we stay right in them. First, we found the Jewish Cemetery which has really old graves and a great number of them too....the headstones are really close together. Prague, for those who do not know, was intentionally "saved/set" to be a memorial to an "extinct race" during World War II according to Hitler's plans. So most everything here has been well preserved, specifically synagogues and other Jewish things.

After touring a little of the Jewish area, it became dark (once again, it doesn't get dark here until at least 9:30pm) so we headed towards the Charles Bridge (a huge tourist attraction) yet the bridge wasn't too packed with people so it was very enjoyable.

Once we crossed the bridge and viewed the gates and statues, we walked up to Prague Castle and viewed the city from there. It was a very nice view at night and there weren't many tourists there either since it was at least 10:30pm. We took a scenic route back and stopped along the way at a WWII memorial to take a break from walking. It's so nice in Prague because we don't really feel too unsafe. The most unsafe we've felt has probably been in Paris and a little bit in Berlin, but other than that the other cities, including here in Prague, feel pretty safe (of course we watch out for pick-pockets and other tourist traps, so don't worry).

Our night ended once we got back to the hotel and after we checked in with our mommies.

Today started out with a fantastic breakfast of breads, yogurt, granola bars (that we took with us for the day's trip) and some yummy coffee. After we fueled up for the day, we headed towards the Communist museum and Winceslas Square. The Communism museum was neat and filled with memorabilia from the Soviet Regime and occupation of former Czechoslovakia. There were massive statues of Lenin and Marx and a few statues of Stalin and other important Communist figures withing Czechoslovakia. Meghan was kind of disappointed with the "Interrogation" room/information because it only gave a small description of the show trials which occurred during the Soviet occupation, such as the Slansky trials. Such trials claimed the lives of numerous innocent people and greatly disturbed/effected the lives of others living under Communism in the East.

After the Communism museum, we went to Wenceslas Square which is where numerous demonstrations, including the infamous Velvet Revolution, have taken place. There was a giant statue of St. Wenceslas and a dedicated memorial to the two young anti-Soviets who claimed their own lives by self-immolation. We also grabbed lunch at Wenceslas Square, Tres getting a Kielbasa sausage sandwich and Meghan getting a fried cheese sandwich.....yes it was strange and no, she does not desire to have another one.

When we finished lunch, we headed out across the river towards the newer part of town and the Castle. There was a great conglomeration of gardens and such which we hiked through in the Mala Strana region across the river. We climbed up a small foothill and captured great views of the city, Castle and other hillside regions. At the top of the hill, we came upon a beautiful monastery, Strahov Monastery, and took a walk around the campus of the monastery. Then we hiked downhill towards the Castle and explored that area. The Castle is the largest castle in the world, but there really isn't anything spectacular about it other than the sheer size of it. There is a gorgeous church inside of the Castle realms which you can see pictures of in our album.

It took a while to view the Castle grounds and the areas around it, but once we were finished, we explored a few stores around the area. One of the stores was an antique store where Meghan bought Tres original collector stamps from the Third Reich and where Meghan bought some original photos taken during the 1968 Prague Spring (a MAJOR revolution....worth a "Google" if you get a chance). However, we didn't have any luck finding unique items this time. We may go check out a market tomorrow that they have to see if we can find any other treasures ;)

Our tummies started rumbling once we headed back across the river towards the older city. So, we went to a restaurant suggested to Meghan by one of her professors back at UNC. The food was AMAZING, and we didn't expect anything less since the suggestion came from an actual Czech, not only her professor! Tres had rump steak with fried potatoes and apricot-jasmine mousse and Meghan got the grilled turkey and "genuine Prague ham" skewer with fried potatoes and some apples stuff (that was quite strange...or rather yucky). We finished it off with a shared rice pudding with small pieces of apricots and caramel as well as a cup of "chocolate" a piece. Now let me tell you....this "chocolate", while it was hot chocolate, was nothing like the Nestle instant packs or nothing like the kind you make with Hershey's cocoa powder....it was straight pure chocolate with whipped cream topping! And man, it was AWESOME!!! We both agree that the food here, with the exception of our bad Chinese/Japanese experience, is much much better than anywhere else we've been to....even Brussels!

We both had such full tummies after this meal that we decided to head back to the hotel and call it a night (early, believe it or not!). On the way, we saw the Dancing House, a type of "modern art"... odd, if you ask me. When we got back to the hotel, we had to wash a few clothes, watch the Brazil-North Korea soccer game, and write the blog entry for the day/upload photos....so now we're actually calling it a night around our normal time of 1am. Hope everyone is well (and Obama does something about this BP ordeal...Meghan's anxiously awaiting his public address and hoping for good things to come out of it). Anyhow, have a good night all! =)