Prague: A City Invaded by Nazis... Communists... Tourists

Prague was pretty chill. But before we talk about that... some answers...

1) They speak Czech in the Czech Republic (go figure?!) Also, while the Czech Republic is part of the European Union, they do not use the euro. This is a good thing to know before you go into a country and are told that your train reservation is 232 dollars... [insert blank stares and gaping mouths from Britt, JD, and Ashley] CZECH DOLLARS... (which is actually only 9 Euro). So maybe we should have done a LITTLE research....

2) JD was able to follow his nose to bread dumplings, goulash and 'traditional goodies'. He doesn't want to talk about the dumplings, but the goulash was delicious! He ate Czech food uninterupted by tiny bugs trying to fly into his mouth, nose and eyes; instead the bugs decided to attack our tour guide, who also happened to be wearing a yellow shirt. Side note: don't wear yellow shirts in Europe.

3) Ashley became very excited to see that there were boat tours as boat tours must equal water. However, these boat tours took place on a river... therefore her bathing suit may remain the only piece of clean clothing she owns. Ashley tried some Pilsner's in Prague (the Czech consume the most beer per capita, over 3 litres per week for every man, woman and child... she has a long way to go).

4) Britt was able to take 167 of photos of the Charles Bridge. During the day, at dusk, and at night, its beauty was captured fully. She still has hair gel, however even the amount of hair gel Britt uses in a day could not protect against Prague's wind! This time her hair complaints were not part of her hair dysmorphia... Pouffy - for REAL!

Where we stayed: In a beautiful two level, two bedroom, fully furnished apartment right behind Old Town Square - close enough to hear the Astonomical Clock chime astronomically! This sounds lovely, right? Ashley: This place is awesome, I was a little sketched out but look how nice this is! Britt: Where is the fire alarm? We have to go back and ask if there is a fire alarm. We need to plan a fire route. JD: My room is haunted, it's a really weird shape. I think the bathroom is haunted, look how small the shower is, it's like a little person lived here. Needless to say, we survived ghosts, the place didn't burn down and we all managed to shower.

What we ate: Bread dumplings, boiled sirloin, goulash, traditional goodies and other non-Czech food including salads, sandwiches, pasta and burgers (we know, we aren't very original with this section).

What we drank: Beer and absinthe (in the form of drinks and icecream).

What we did: Dodged tourists, change exchange places and souvenir shops a LOT. Prague seemed like the place to be, attracting tourists from all over the world. Us and our fellow travellers did a walking tour of the city where we saw the Old Town, the New Town, and the Jewish Quarter. We also did a castle tour where we saw the district around Prague Castle, the Castle itself and St. Vitas Cathedral. Czeched out a LOT of views. We drank in a beer garden overlooking the city and spent time gazing at or across Charles Bridge. Our most common view was of the Astronomical Clock, which we saw strike the hour at least four times. After this masterpiece of ancient technology strikes, a trumpet player emerges at the top of the tower and plays a tune. This elicits clapping and cheering (every hour, ON the hour) from hoards of tourists. It's hard to explain the cheesiness of this cheering, ask us to see the video when we get home!

Lessons learned: If the hostel description says 'apartment style', it may actually be an apartment. The Czech people don't mean to be mean, they've just been through a lot. Absinthe is gross. If you're in Prague and feel like you have to drink it, don't get it in a mixed drink. That will only prolong the pain.

Best tour guide slip up: "And then as St. Nicholas plunged towards the river, just before he hit the water he was saved by five Asians... asians, wait, I mean angels."

We have now arrived safely in Vienna and met up with the one and only Alice. She has already determined the best schnitzel in town and made us reservations. For that and for an opera at the famed State Opera House... we can't wait! Some questions for Vienna:

1) Will Alice think JD, Ashley and Britt-isms are crazy? Or will she break out in her own random song, dance, and sounds to contribute to the bunch?

2) Will any of us understand what the opera is about?

3) Will we fit everything from the 'top 10 things to do in Vienna' list into two days?

Stay tuned!

Our Motto: Ask the Dust.