Jackie and I spent Easter weekend, the first weekend of our Spring Break, in Prague! We have had several friends who have been already and I have wanted to visit Prague for a few years now. So, when we found 2 for 1 plane tickets we thought it would be the perfect start to our Spring Break!
Random anecdote: While going through security in Orly Airport on our way to Prague, a French woman in front of me held up the line because she hadn’t put her liquids in a plastic bag. Most of her liquids were less than 3oz. but she had this one bottle of lotion that she knew was larger than it was supposed to be and tried to argue that it wasn’t all of the way full so it was ok. When the security officer didn’t accept that excuse she begged him saying it was her favorite and that she couldn’t throw it away. He eventually just let her through with it… something I noted because it would never have happened in the U.S.
In Prague, we were able to stay with our friend Zach who is studying there for the semester. He lives with four other people in an incredible apartment close to the center of the city. The apartment is so big it even has two pull-out couches, perfect for visitors ;-) Zach was a really, really great host and took it upon himself to show us all around his city, something we didn’t expect him to do. Foster, Jackie’s friend from High School who also goes to AU, was in town for the weekend as well so it was one big AU reunion. It was really nice to see both of the boys and feel connected to AU all the way in Eastern Europe.
On Saturday, we took the tram up to the Prague Castle. It is still used today for government matters but has held the offices of kings/Holy Roman Emperors/presidents since the 9th century. From there you have an incredible view of the city (see picture below). We also visited St. Vitus Cathedral, which was one of my favorite cathedrals I have seen so far. It was very light and had beautiful stained glass. We had lunch at a bagel place (my first bagel since January!) that is run by Americans and had so many vegetarian options I couldn’t make up my mind (something I don’t run into too often in France…). We spent some time in Old Town Square where the large Easter markets were bustling with people and spent the afternoon in a beer garden overlooking the city.
On Sunday, we visited the Jewish Quarter of the city. Very few Jews are left in Prague; in fact, Zach showed us the one building they still congregate in. I was really disappointed with what they have done with the Jewish Quarter. While they have done a great job at preserving the five or six synagogues in this tiny quarter of town, they have also turned it into a major tourist trap. You have to pay to get to see anything, and it’s not cheap either! We did pay the money to go into the Old-New Synagogue and I’m glad we did. It is the oldest working synagogue in Europe.
When the Czech Republic was communist, the communists inflated the money really high. Therefore, when I took out money at the ATM, I took out 2,000 crowns (the equivalent of $100). It was really funny to be holding bills of 1,000. Prague is also a fairly inexpensive city. One good example – a pint of beer is $1.50 U.S. dollars!
Prague grew on me as the weekend went on. Many of the people I know that have been to the city raved about how beautiful it is. We did have incredible weather, 70s and sunny all weekend. However, the city doesn’t have the same charm to me as Paris or Amsterdam. Having Zach show us around made it better. Jackie said this and I agree: Prague would be a better city to live in than to visit. I felt safe and much calmer than I do in Paris. However, unless I wanted to eat at the amazing bagel place every day, there is WAY too much fried food in Prague for me to survive! I don’t know how they eat that stuff all the time…
The edge of the Prague Castle from the Royal Garden.
The view from the Prague Castle. In the distance, you can see the TV tower that we visited on Sunday. Just below the TV tower are the towers of the church in Old Town Square.
The Prague gang! Foster on the left, our tour guide Zach in the middle and Jackie.
A beautiful stained glass window in St. Vitus Cathedral.
Me in front of the John Lennon Wall. The John Lennon is a random graffiti wall with all kinds of portraits, song lyrics and other tributes to John Lennon.
Our Prague jumping picture on the Charles Bridge.
The river from the Charles Bridge.
The Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral from the Charles Bridge.
Old Town Square! You can see the Easter Markets in the front of the picture. The tradition at Easter in the Czech Republic is to paint eggs with incredibly beautiful patterns. I bought one for my host mom and my sister.
The other tradition on Easter Monday is for the boys to go around with specially decorated sticks and slap the girls on the backside. The girls are then supposed to give the boys chocolate eggs...
View of the city from the beer garden.
The Prague TV Tower. The Czech artist David Cerny (a contemporary, interesting artist) installed these large babies on the outside. The babies have coin slots for faces... it was interesting.
When the people of Prague wanted to clean up the slums of the Jewish Quarter they bulldozed this section of the city and put in a large Parisian style boulevard. It was really out of place but pretty all the same. It is also where you could find all of the designer shops - how appropriate!
The Old-New Synagogue of Prague. The oldest working synagogue in Europe.
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