Prague

So we arrived in Prague, and the first order of business was to get some Czech currency. We didn't even know what it was called, and we definitely didn't know we'd be needing thousands out of the ATM. The exchange rate is about 26 crowns to 1 dollar. This made it really difficult to try to keep track of how much we were spending, but we were careful.

We took a cab to our hostel, which was in a great location. It was called Prague Square hostel, and it was just around the corner from the first thing we went to see in Prague, the Astronomical Clock. It dates back to 1410 and is really impressive. Looks like it came out of a Harry Potter book. In the same square as the clock, there is a really cool cathedral that doesn't look like most European cathedrals from the outside. It has all these cool spires on it. It was getting dark, and we thought a cool way to see some of the city was to take a horse-drawn carriage ride. We did. It was cool.

Prague is also supposed to be one of the most haunted cities in the world. I can see where people get that idea, because it's kind of a creepy city in a good way. It's more like...spooky. I've noticed the statues around Europe vary by region. In France they're smooth and very romantic-seeming, in Austria and Germany they're overly muscular (seriously, it's funny) and in Prague they were scary! Some have sunken faces, long dark robes, and somber looks and poses.

Our first night in Prague, we went on a Pub crawl organized by the hostel. It included one free hour of drinking at an Irish Pub. All the drinks you want for an hour. You can imagine. The rest of the crawl was actually sort of disappointing, the bars weren't that great.

Our second day in Prague was a big day of sight-seeing. We trekked across the city to see "Prague Fortress", the historic center of the city. We crossed the river on a really cool bridge, the Karlov Most (Charles Bridge). It dates back from...a long time ago. And it has really cool sculptures on it. Prague is a beautiful city, and one of the best views of it isn't from way up on the hill that Prague Fortress is on, it's actually from the bridge. We stayed there and enjoyed the view for a bit while listening to a musical group.

When we got up to the fortress, there was a ceremony going on with military guards and a pretty big audience. Apparently the Czech President and the President of Slovakia were meeting. We didn't know why, but later on we figured out that it was actually Czechoslavak independance day. I don't think we actually saw the President though.

Even though it was cloudy, it was a good day. We got some food and then we found a band covering the beatles playing in the square with the astronomical clock. It's kind of weird to hear "I wanna hold your hand" in the shadow of a very scary-looking cathedral in the middle of Europe, but we had a great time. I think some of our best group pictures came from Prague. I'll try to get one up soon!

That night, we shopped for a bit along a big boulevard that was reminiscent of Michigan Avenue, just not as big. More festivities for Independance day there. I bought some gloves at the H&M there because I was cold, haha. It was pretty cold there.

To cap off our visit to Prague, which by the way is the nation with the highest alcohol consumption per-capita of any other country, anywhere, we went to a club. It was pretty cool. Not as good as Madrid or Paris, but better than many places. The club was just south of the famous bridge, and was a good deal. It was a low cover with free coat check and cheap drinks. We didn't stay too late though, because our train to Berlin the next day was leaving before 8:00.

So we got to bed, and the next morning was a long walk through the rain to the main train station. The three guys (Eddy, Victor, and me) had the first train and the girls had one about an hour later. We had to text the girls to tell them not to walk, since ours was miserable and the train station was hard to find. They got a cab, which was a better idea. The train station in Prague is terribly inconvenient and hard to navigate if you don't speak Czech. We were very happy to make our train (with mere minutes to spare) and get moving. The train ride was even more beautiful than the bus ride a few days before. It followed the river through hills covered in trees transitioning from green to reds and yellows. Little villages perched on the hillside looked like they were going to fall right into the river.

In Spain and France, I've taken several train rides, and not once was my ticket or passport checked. From Prague to Berlin, my ticket was checked no less than 4 times and they checked passports shortly after the border crossing. The police who checked passports were really friendly though! All the Germans we met were like that, which made our stay in Berlin very pleasant...