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Sunday, October 31, 2010

TOP 5 MOMENTS IN PRAGUE!!!

More overdue pictures, here.  The trip to Prague was amazing and we had such a great time there.  That said, Eastern Europe is scary, partly because we expected it to be scary and partly because we got yelled at a couple of times.  So, on to the pictures!

Picture 1: Karlovo Most (Charles Bridge)

For starters, Czech is a very different language from any that I have ever heard before in my life.  Sometimes, I thought it was Italian, and then I would swear Russian and suddenly German...then there were the times they were talking or I was reading and I was like WTF does this even mean?  It was fun to learn some random words like: rodina=family, tuky=fat, and most=bridge.  This bridge is one of those must sees in Prague and I can vouch for it, it is so beautiful and, as April would say, memorable.  There are tons of people on it, but it's cool because you are hearing so many different languages and seeing so many different styles and cultures all on this one bridge.  There are tons of things that you are supposed to rub for good luck or good grades or so that you will return to Prague, but we didn't do enough research on that, so...we just rubbed them. :)  This picture is taken from the top of the guard tower and is my favorite view of Prague.  I have a postcard hanging in my new room that is this exact scene (with some more sun).  In the distance you can see the Prague Castle and the huge St. Vitus' Cathedral.  This was another very magical place for me that I could spend hours just looking and people watching.

 Picture 2: The Escalators 

In this segment I am going to talk about both the escalators and the public transportation in general.  Riding on these escalators was one of the most trippy things I have ever done.  Why?  They are very steep and very very long, but it is not just that, the advertisements are crooked.  It feels like you are falling down the rabbit hole or something and you don't know if you're standing straight or you're bent and then you look over at the other people and you think they are all on their knees or maybe leaning way forward for no reason.  It's just very disorienting.  Whenever we rode one I always felt like I was going to fall.  Here is a video that kinda shows what I am talking about:
Now, the crazy public transportation.  We could not travel without something terrible happening to us.  When we first arrived in the country we showed them our tickets and we must not have gotten the right stamp and the woman was very mad about that, but she let us go.  Then, we were trying to go from our hotel to Charles Bridge one night and we met even more interference.  You see, the price for a single trip is pretty expensive, so the girls decided they were going to skip buying a ticket.  Why?  They're cheap.  Well, sure enough the ticket people were waiting when we got off the train.  Initially, I thought they were just poor people trying to get my attention because he was talking in Czech and let's face it that means nothing to me.  Then he said "Ticket Control" and my heart sank. Braden and I had bought a day pass because it was date night to the Hard Rock and we knew we were going to get our use of it, so I showed that to the man.  The girls, however, were not so lucky.  Oh wait, yes they were.  Apparently Braden and I are suspicious because he only checked ours.  So, needless to say...when in Prague, follow the rules exactly when it comes to their trains.  There was also the Kutna Hora incident that will be addressed in a later blog.

Picture 3: St. Vitus'

This church was huge.  I have seen a lot of churches and they get boring, for sure, but this one was SO big.  When I looked it up later, it turns out that it isn't actually all that big in comparison, but the way that it is presented makes it just appear to be one of the biggest places on Earth.  It is on top of a mountain overlooking all of Prague, you can see it from almost everywhere in Prague and the outside is beautiful and ornate.  This is only one picture of this magnificent structure.  There is more on my facebook or you can always look up St. Vitus' Cathedral in Prague to see some professional pictures and maybe an aerial shot, too.

Picture 4: Prague by Night

All the books say that you need to see Prague from the Karlovo Most at night.  All the books are right.  This was for sure the highlight of our time in Prague for me.  The view is absolutely amazing no matter which direction you are looking.  Even just staring at the river and the lights bouncing along with the rapids created by the dam could take hours.  It is just the most wonderful place in all of the Czech Republic in my opinion.  Look at more of my pictures or again, please, google this and see the amazing sights.

Picture 5: Our Hotel
Of all the things that make a trip really great, a friendly and personable hotel staff can really help and Gastone and Christina fit that description to a "T".  The very first day we arrived, we wanted to know what the best way was to get to one of the sights and Christina took us to her map and walked us through exactly what we needed to do, gave us some history of the place we were going, and then told us what we should do after we are done.  She then told us that we did not need to take the tram, we are young and not lazy.  She was right.  Every morning, except the Kutna Hora Incident, we had breakfast provided and made for us by Christina herself.  Her toasties were one of the highlights food-wise of the trip.  She would exclaim, "It's a must" whenever she asked if we wanted a toasties, she already knew the answer.  These two really made the stay in Prague great, and I would highly recommend Aparthotel City 5 to anyone travelling to Prague and staying more than just the weekend.  We had a kitchen, private bedroom, bathroom, and dining room table, it was just perfect.

Next up in the Travel Series....The Kutna Hora Incident.

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