Saturday, September 1, 2012

Prague, Czech Republic!


Well I’m down to my last few hours in Europe, so I figured I’d try to get this done before I leave otherwise it probably won’t get written. I’ll try to keep it short.

Last weekend a bunch of went to Prague for two nights and it was quite the weekend. My luck of everything going according to plan with public transportation finally ran out. What was supposed to be an 8 hour travel day on Friday turned into a 12 hour travel day. It was a long day that began shortly after 5am. I was travelling with Marc and Sean, we took many trains followed by a 5 hour bus ride from Munich to Prague. On the plus side I was able to pick up a shot glass in Munich since I forgot to do so when I was there before.

We finally arrived in Prague shortly after 6pm and met Breagh, her friend Jean from back home, and Carolann. We got some Czech money and found the apartment that I had booked. It was a pretty nice spot with beds in 4 different rooms, 2 full bathrooms, a full kitchen (with a dishwasher), and a living room. I wish we had more time to enjoy the place, but we had a lot to see in a short amount of time. After getting ready five of us headed out to do a pub crawl while Sean waited to meet Laura and Sara who had done a tour of a former concentration camp. The pub crawl began with an hour of unlimited beer, wine, and shots, including absinthe. This led to a very fun night, although some details are a little hazy. We even met a couple who also live in Fredericton; it really is a small world.




The next morning, we all went on the free walking tour of the city. The guide was a little too enthusiastic to start off the tour, but it got better as it went on. We had over 40 people in our group which was really too many, but we learned a lot about the history of the city and the country. Here are some of the pictures from the tour.


 









After the tour we walked across Charles Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world, to the side of the river where Prague Castle sits. We stopped at a great medieval pub on the way up the hill for a beer (I think I ended up with two), and the continued making our way up to the castle. We were able to walk though the courtyards and the church for free, it seems more like a small town than a castle it’s so expansive.
















We headed back to the apartment where we got to sample the free beer, it was nicht so gute, as they say in German, so we went across the street to the St. Christopher’s hostel where we had supper. We decided to do the Clock Tower Bar Crawl that night. There were 7 of us that went out, the night started out with 2 and half hours of unlimited drinks which took their toll on some, but I think a good night was had by all. We met lots of interesting people and a couple crazy people.





The next morning we picked up some souvenirs before trying to get to the train/bus station to get the bus. We ended up having to full out run to get there in time, but we made it! It was a great final weekend with the other Canadians, Prague is a beautiful city and I definitely plan to return someday, there is much more to see.

That was very brief, but it’s after midnight and I don’t want to miss my flight tomorrow. I missed my train this morning, but that was okay, missing my flight isn't really an option. I think I’ll try to write one more blog once I get back home to wrap up this incredible summer!