prahahahaha! aka prague

so the first stop on our  bus2 alps northern loop extravanganza spring break trip was to prague, aka praha. firstly a little eductaion.

praha comes from the word prah which means threshold in czech. the way this city got the name threshold was that one of the princesses long ago was a clairvoyant and she could see that the man whom she would marry was sitting awaiting for her on a threshold. so she sent out her men to go find this person. she gave them some details(like the city where he lived) and the fact that he would be waiting on a threshold. well they did not believe her, but low and behold there he was, waiting on a prah for the kingdom. so they named the city where he was waiting praha. o and the city where he was waiting was to be the new capital and become the most prosperous city(which it did).

but anways. prague was absolutely amazing. when we all first woke up from the 16 hour bus ride, we were some where still in the mountains and it was snowing!!! well we got into our hostel, which was really nice. had a yummy breakfast(amazing scrambled eggs) freshened up and went out for our walking tour of prague. we went to the old city center and saw the old clock tower, which on every hour puts on a little show for you. its like a huuge old cookoo clock, there are little figurines that dance around, a rooster crows and then at the very end, a live man on the top of the tower sounds the horn. it was a fun way to start off the tour(especially since it was rainy, windy and cold, but not horrible) so we walk around prague see the new town center(more modern) then cross the river to see the jewish quarters. at the entrance of the old jewish ghetto they have a statue of kafka(b/c he was jewish) and on the tile surrouding him is the shape of a beetle. i really enjoyed this becuase metamorphosis is one of my favorite books. it was the first book that really challenged me to understand what else he was saying, and i got really into figuring it out. we walked around the old jewish quarter than walked over to the river where we could see the charles bridge and the castle. it was here that we ended to the tour and went to lunch.

for lunch we had the traditional czech food varnishka! we had no clue what to eat so we asked our tour guide, kate, what her favorite food was, which she said was varnishka. so we trust her, get to the resturant she suggested and order. now let me tell you....soooo goooood. it was steak covered in the sweet tangy savory gravy, with sweet cranberrys and whipped cream on top. with czech dumplings(which is basically like a very moist and yummy bread). least to say i became a proud member of the clean plate club that day. we also ordered the traditoinal pilsner beer and enjoyed a very much needed heavy lunch.

after lunch we walked around a bit then headed back to the hostel where we gathered to go on our first bar crawl. this one was one of my favorites of the trip. we went to like 3 or 4 different bars and for the first 1 and half had free drinks. it was here that we had our first(and only) absinthe shot. abinsthe, contrary to many americans beliefs does not make you hallucinate, you have to do something special to it to do that, otherwise it is just a very strong alcohol. and let me tell you, it doesnt go down easy. but anyways we hoppped from bar to bar(the first was was called church! represent london what what?! lol) but ya it was a really fun first night on the trip.

the next morning we got up and went on a little tour wiht our awesome guide leaders before heading to the castle tour. we saw the peeing guys statues(which is litterally two guys peeing, facing each other) than we headed over to the john lennon wall. here i got a little emotional. i was tired and whenever i see the beatles i think of my family. and there it was the perfectly spray painted picture of the yellow subamarine, which is by far the most important beatles song to me. so after taking some awesome photos and writing the opening lyrics to hey jude on the wall we went to charles bridge.

charles bridge is named after king charles, who everone loved(there is also a charles university) it is the oldest bridge in prague and has survived like everything. it is now only a pedestrian bridge and is lined with a tone of statues and of course vendors selling stuff. after walking over the bridge(and seeing the absinthe museum) we met up wtih our tour guide for the walking tour of the castle of prague(which is massive!)

see upcoming post for more prague shannanigans