Our second required excursion was to Prague, Czech Republic. Prague was never on my list as a place to travel but I was looking forward to going nevertheless. I had no idea what to expect except that my cooky Literature professor (the only American professor I have here) continuously raved about the city in class, telling us how astoundingly beautiful it is. Honestly, nothing could have prepared me for the beauty that is Prague. Every single building looked like it was out of a fairy tale. There's good reason for this; Prague was one of Hitler's favorite cities. Therefore, unlike many European cities, it remained pretty much unscathed during WWII.
One our first day in Prague, we were taken on a walking tour of the city. I was lucky enough to be placed in a group with Dulcia Meijers, the head of the program here at the castle. She is an art historian and one of the most popular teachers here and since I don't have class with her, I was so happy to get to experience Dulcia. She took us from St. Wenceslas Square to the Old Town Square and then to the Charles Bridge.
St. Wenceslas Square
One of the most popular tourist sites is the Astronomical clock located in Old Town Square. The clock was constructed in 1410 and is the third oldest Astronomical clock in the world and the only one still working. I had no idea how to read it, but it was definitely interesting to look at. Every hour at the top of the hour, the bells would ring and the clock would become almost a cuckoo clock, with figures of the apostles that come out of the windows above the clock face. A few of my friends happened upon the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the clock on Saturday night. They witnessed a fantastic light show with projections of the construction of the clock on the tower. Here's a link to a video that my friend Lanna took of the show: Prague Astronomical Clock Light Show
Astronomical Clock and Bell Tower
Close up of the clock
Building in the Old Town Square
Old Town Square
Vltava River from the Charles Bridge
After the walking tour, we were given free time to get dinner. Since we were staying in these awesome apartments, we had our own little kitchens so a group of us decided to go to the grocery store and make dinner. We had spaghetti with tomato sauce, bread, and sausages. It was delicious and just what we needed after a long day of traveling followed by lots of walking.
On Saturday, we walked from St. Wenceslas Square to the Prague Castle. According to google maps, this trip takes about 35 minutes walking. What they don't tell you, is that it is uphill for most of the way. We were exhausted after our climb but happy to be at our destination.
One of the many steep streets we climbed.
One of the highlights of the Prague Castle is St. Vitus Cathedral, a Gothic cathedral that took about 600 years to build. It is a very impressive structure, and one of the first true Gothic cathedrals I think I've seen. We were able to climb the bell tower (288 narrow, spiral steps!) which offered an amazing panoramic view of Prague and the river. The inside of the cathedral was even more impressive, with huge stained glass windows and beautiful statues.
Front facade of St. Vitus Cathedral
View from the Bell Tower
Gorgeous rose window
The sunlight made the stained glass even more beautiful
I found St. Elizabeth! (Bottom middle)
I have to take a minute and apologize to Liz, because I forgot to take a picture with the creature for you in Prague. I'm sorry! I hope you're not to disappointed. Love you!
After the castle, we were given a lunch break and told to meet back in Old Town Square in a few hours. Johnny had told me about a John Lennon wall that he had seen on the walking tour and he knew it was nearby the castle. So we set out to find that and food. We were successful in both endeavors. I loved seeing the wall. It began after John's death when a group of students wanted to express their feelings towards his murder. They asked some monks at a monastery if they could use a wall of the monastery to paint a memorial to John Lennon. The monks said yes. However, Prague was still a communist country at the time so the government was not pleased with the memorial. Several times the government painted over it and the students repainted it until the government finally gave up and let the students have their memorial. Now, anyone can write or draw whatever they want in memory of John on the wall. I didn't have any supplies with me, otherwise I would have added something to the wall. But I was happy with a picture of it.
After seeing the wall, we stumbled upon an open air market full of sausage stands, pastry stands, everything delicious. That provided a cheap, quick lunch for us. When we finally made it back to Old Town Square to continue our day, we were frustrated to find out that we had to walk all the way back to the castle. Needless to say, when we arrived we were exhausted. Our tour of the art museum at the castle involved most of us giving up and sitting on the floor as we listened to our guide tell us about the paintings. It was a long, tiring day. But the best was yet to come. OSA (the Office of Student Affairs/the coolest people at the castle) had organized a three course dinner for us at a local restaurant for only 7.50 euro each. The food was delicious and very much needed after all our walking.
Monday was by far the most important, most meaningful day of the excursion. We were taken to the Terzin Prison and Ghetto outside of Prague. Words can't even explain the emotions we felt at these places.
Labyrinth of tunnels in the Terezin Prison
Prague was an amazing trip and definitely the most beautiful place I've ever been. I would love to go back one day. It was definitely my kind of city, cheap, beautiful and full of art and theatre.
Stay tuned for my next entry: Spring Break: Spain (Barcelona, Marbella, and The Rock of Girbraltar!)
