Prague, Czech Republic

Well this post is a little delayed since we went to Prague (in the Czech Republic) last weekend, but better late than never, right? We started the weekend early- leaving Friday night around 9:00 PM. To be honest, I didn't know a lot about Prague, so I wasn't too excited about our long night of traveling. Luckily we had another sleeper train, which always makes the ride go quicker!

We arrived in Prague around 11 and we were ready to see what the town had to offer! In order to navigate our way around the city, we bought a weekend pass for Prague's "light rail" system. This ended up being an extremely easy and efficient way to navigate the city. After wondering around lost for a while (this seems to be a reoccurring thing for us) we were all sweaty and ready to shower at the hostel. Unfortunately, we couldn't check in until later, so the three of us girls had to get ready in the lobby's water closet (literally the size of a small closet). Extremely tricky, but like we kept saying, "It's just part of the experience!". Once we finished getting ready, we let our bags in the hostel's luggage room and headed to Prague's "black market".

The square in which the black market is located reminded me of a Farmer's market with all of the various booths. However, when you stop to look, the sales people whisper "Louis Vuitton" and take you into these hidden entrances. Behind the entrances there are back rooms filled with stolen high-end, designer items. It was definitely a creepy and cool experience that we definitely took advantage of (spending a little too much money!).

After a long day of shopping, we headed back to our hostel for a nap. When we opened the door, we got quite a surprise. What we thought was a "4 person, private room" ended up being a giant room with eleven beds, with only four made. A little weird, but it actually ended up working out nicely, as we had a kitchen and bathroom to ourselves. Our other "roommate" (an older middle eastern man) was sleeping by the time we got back, and left early in the morning, so we were basically alone in our rooms. He did, however, leave us a 1/2 full bottle of Vodka with the note, "Happy Drink. Bye..." a nice gesture, but we decided to play it safe, and steer clear.

Our company at the restaurant

Once we were rested and refueled, we decided to go to the restaurant next door for dinner. Not only did it have great food, but it had great company... First of all, the food. For my meal, I got potato gnochi with cabbage and sausage. It tasted just like spaetzle with sauerkraut and bratwurst mixed in-- yum! Something to try when I make it home (wink wink, mom!). Now, for the company. Turns out the Czech, mens futbol (a.k.a. soccer) team was hanging out at the restaurant after their game. Since it was a small restaurant, a large team, and we were the only other people in the restaurant, we got to talking to them. It was entertaining since they spoke very little English. One guy understood "Minnesota" and "Ohio" when we told him where we were from, but kept referring to Iowa as "farm".

Amy, Hailey and I ready to hit the town

After saying goodbye to out new friends, we decided to go out and see Prague's night life. The big attraction is "the biggest club in central Europe"-- a five story night club with each floor being a different genre of music. The interesting thing is that all of the music in the club (and the rest of Europe for that matter) is all "American" music & sung in English. I don't know if I would enjoy listening to music if I couldn't understand it, but hey, whatever floats your boat! Overall it was a very fun night with a lot of great memories!

Sunday morning we were up and at 'em early as always for our usual hostel breakfast. From there we walked around the new and old squares of Prague. They were both very pretty and the sightseeing was a great way to spend our morning before catching our train.

This adventure home was a little different as we took a bus on part of our trip instead of a train. It was a two-decker bus with roomy seats so I can't complain. Plus I can now say I have traveled Europe by "planes, trains, and automobiles"!

By the time we got home I was exhausted so I went to bed early to get ready for yet another week of camp! Just 2 short weeks and I will be home in the good 'ol USA! Sending my love to all of you back home! :)