So we got to Prague on
Friday night and this time getting to our hostel involved some steep inclines
which we were not at all happy about. But, once again, thanks to Zach and his
navigation skills we got to Prague One Hostel safe and sound. We liked the style
of the place right away. It was a lot smaller than the Wombats Hostel in Vienna
but it had much more of a homey type feel. No WiFi was available in the rooms
to promote more interaction between travelers in the common rooms! Pretty cool
idea. When we opened the door to our room Zach and I were both shocked at how nice
of a place it was. Couch and kitchen in one section and the bedroom and patio
in another, in addition to a bathroom and shower of course! Sweeet! We could
for sure get use to this.
We didn’t have much
energy from the train ride, but the hostel staff told us that they were making
FREE dinner for anyone who signed up that night so I mean of course we were all
in for FREE dinner and did that instead of going to find something on our own.
One of the guys ended up making a soup with beef, vegetables and some spices
that gave it a nice kick. Super yummy! That way we also got to meet some other
travelers right off the bat!
We did find a cocktail
bar, Anna’s Bananas, down the street that we stopped at after dinner though.
They had soooo many cocktail choices! I got a mojito and a Bahama mama which
was like coconut, fruit juice and rum. I don’t remember what Zach had but I
know he liked them!! So we chatted and enjoyed our drinks before heading back
to hit the sack.
The next day we got up
bright and early, which has been my job for the both of us I might add, and we
headed to the city center to explore. We loved the city right away. Cobblestone
streets, colorful buildings that made me feel like I was in a doll house, and
lots and lots of Christmas spirit even though it had already passed. The
Christmas market there, for me, was one of my favorites! With a HUGE and colorful tree in the middle of
the town square with music, lights and of course a ton of little stands selling
anything you could think of! Also in the town square is the famous astronomical
clock! Which was made in 1410, making it the third oldest astronomical clock in
the world! On the hour every hour a window opens at the top of the clock and
what is called the “Walk of the apostles” takes place where small statues of
the apostles rotate through the window for everyone to see! It was pretty cool
and was very popular going off the huge crowd of people that waited to see it
every hour.
We next headed to the
Charles Bridge! Which is the most important connection between Prague Castle
and the city's Old Town. It’s a huge bridge with people selling artwork, jewelry,
and other crafty handmade things! Along the bridge there are a bunch of statues
as well. It was very medieval feeling! Zach actually ended up finding a guy who
drew some really impressive pictures of Prague right there along the bridge! So
we ended up talking to him for a while and went back the next day to buy it! Zach
has gotten a painting or drawing from almost every country he’s been to! It’s
such an amazing collection that he has started! For lunch we went to a
recommended place walled Koala! Zach had a kangaroo steak with a dark cherry
beer and I just had chicken haha. But Zach liked the Kangaroo steak a lot!
That night we had a
free dinner again of shepards pie at the hostel and then went down to the
hostel bar in the basement to have a few drinks and meet people! The hostel’s
bar was literally just a cement basement with a built in bar, hanging Christmas
lights and some chairs and stuff. It reminded us both of a house party at
college haha. Perfect! We chatted with a few people and had some drinks then we
all went out to a techno club! Zach and I danced our butts off! (so happy I
found someone who likes to dance almost as much as me) Techno music is kind of
hard to dance to though because it’s like the same beat for every song. The
tempo changes a bit but it like all sounds the same haha so by like 2:30am we
were zoned out and decided to hike back to the hostel. On our way home we
walked past KFC….yes. So Zach got some special box meal with a burger, wings
and chicken strips and I just got strips! Along with that we got the dipper box
which comes with three different sauces. There was a white sauce which we
thought was probably mayo but I tasted in and holy crap it was our good old
friend RANCH!!! Neither one of us had found any since we’ve been abroad so you
can imagine how excited we were. Damn did that KFC taste good!
Sunday we did some
more exploring and went to St. Vitus Cathedral, which is the burial place of
the former Czech kings and a home of the Czech Crown Jewels. It’s gothic architecture
again which we both have really grown to love while being here in Europe! Just
really cool and intense looking.
We also hiked the
stairs to a viewpoint overlooking the city, which I think has been totally
worth doing in every city! They all look so different from so high up.
On Monday we went to
Berlin for the day which I’ll do a separate post for.
Tuesday was New Year’s
Eve! Zach and I had originally planned to go and see a few more things during
the day but that plan changed real quick. We went out to breakfast at a BAGEL
place in the city and decided that we really had zero motivation to do anything
at all so we settled for heading back to the hostel to watch Harry Potter all
day before getting ready for the night! It ended up being a great and relaxing
day J
The hostel had planned
a New Year’s event for the evening for anyone who wanted to that was staying at
the hostel! For 50 euro they made us dinner, we had 3 hours of free drinks at
the bar, they took us to a firework show and then to a club! Sad to say that I didn’t
make it past the 3 hours of free drinks…
Ill back up a bit though. So dinner was wonderful! Salad, pasta, Shepard’s
pie, mashed potatoes and some kind of lasagna! We were stuffed! Next came the 3
hours of free drinks… so I started with vodka Fanta which was 80% vodka thanks
to the bartender who went a little overboard. Anyways we were having a really
fun time talking to this girl Leesha who we had met. She is traveling for a
year around Europe and asia!! NUTS! We also met some girls from Argentina!! So
of course I chatted with them in Spanish for a while! But yea we were all
laughing planning a dance off between me and Leesha for that night at the club
and whatever else. So I finished my drink and then decided to order another
one. My bad luck because it was the same bartender so I got another 80% vodka
20% fanta drink which put me right on my ass. I was in bed before midnight and
I’m still really disappointed about it :/ Mostly because Zach was feeling fine
and he had to miss out on everything because he was being a good boyfriend and
stayed with me instead of going out for the rest of the festivities… ugh! I
guess it happens though.. Nothing I can do about it now.
Anyways you can guess
how I was feeling the next morning… like crap. I had a hung over day full of
headaches and stomachaches… Luckily we didn’t have anything planned that day
besides a long train ride to Warsaw Poland, our last destination before heading
home.We are basically just going to Poland
to see the Auschwitz concentration camp. It’s unfortunate that it’s our last
stop but we both are really interested in seeing it and learning more about it
after talking about it all throughout grade school and what not.
Hope everyone had a
great New Years! Can’t believe we are almost done traveling. AH!
Rachel J
