Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Frozen Toes, Captivated Eyes... PRAHA

This past weekend was spent in one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. After a 12 hour bus ride through the night next to a stranger... (might have bobbed off onto her shoulder a few times),  2 incredibly full but wonderful days of exploring, and another 12 hour bus ride back, I have finally caught up from my exhaustion and am able to reflect upon one of the greatest places I've ever seen.

Prague (Praha as they call it) is absolutely breathtaking. The city, being one of the few to survive much of the devestation of WWII, has copious amounts of beautiful and incomparable architecture. After enough time to brush our teeth and get some breakfast, we headed out for day one of our tour of Old Town visiting Old Town Square, the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, the Astronomical clock, and the Jewish Quarter. All the history was fascinating. Unfortunately, I think I only digested about half, considering I spent the majority of the time focused on trying not to slip on the icy stone that covered the city, doing little dances in an attempt to warm up my frozen toes, along with an occasional count to make sure all 10 still felt attached... My main goal on my trip to Prague quickly became to leave with all limbs still intact and not frost bitten. I even got a little hot wine, a Prague delicacy, circa 11am in an attempt to warm up, hoping it would take effect in multiple ways... unfortunately I'm not as hardcore as I'd like to think I am throwing the cup away after about one sip... guess morning drinking just isn't my thing.
After our tour we stumbled upon a little bakeshop with delicious cookies and cappuccinos which revived us just enough to press on through the evening with dinner and a pub crawl. Can't say that I've ever gone out in three pairs of pants, 2 pairs of ski socks, and about 5 various shirts/ sweaters before.
Nothing like a little hot wine to start the morning off right..
Old Town Square
Old Town Square
Astronomical Clock


Day two was spend touring "new town", Charles bridge, the John Lennon wall (my personal favorite... considering what a color freak I am... I was completely captivated), and the Castle. Then after dinner in a quaint little Czech restaurant, despite our exhaustion and the 3 degree weather, we pressed on to the grand finale of the trip.... Traveling back in time into a room filled with high-waisted white-washed jeans, 90's haircuts, and awkward dance moves... I went into a state of pure bliss when we entered into Lucerna, an 80's and 90's dance club (it was almost as good as a Sigma Chi basement dance party with the Civilians). With big screens playing music videos of everyone from Michael Jackson to ABBA I couldn't decide whether it was more entertaining to watch the videos or the people dancing to them around me, but either way it made every minute of my toes being numb totally worth it.

All in all, I LOVED Prague and was sad to have only experienced it for 48 hours. It was just enough time to make me fall in love but force me to want to go back! Despite the long trip, we made the most of our time trying to get the total Czech experience... too much meat, bread, cheese, honey cake (a Prague delicacy and new dessert favorite), Pilsners and hot wine later we ended the trip satisfied with all we squeezed in.

Charles Bridge
View from Charles Bridge of the Castle
Charles Bridge
John Lennon Wall


Cathedral at the Castle

PS. Happy Valentine's Day!.... "All you need is love"

Ciao!
Mollie

1 comment:

  1. I love these photos, especially the wall!
    Wish I could come visit you girls!

    ReplyDelete