Long overdue blog post. Last weekend, April 26-29th, I "Prague-crastinated" [in Prague], putting off my two final papers, and thus, I have procrastinated on writing this blog post.
Prague was AMAZING!! We found probably the nicest hostel in the area: Rickey and Hannah booked a couple's room, and I booked a room with 27 other females, which upon arrival, I found was in the basement of the hostel. As I descended into the darkness, my nerves got to me. I walked in at 5pm and all the lights were off because people were already sleeping/napping, and as I looked for bed A (we had assigned beds), I could not find it. I saw a girl sitting on her bed, so I walked over to her, hoping she spoke English. She did, and this nice girl named Jess helped me find my bed. I had the worst location: the corner top bunk right next to a backpack locker, so I had trouble climbing the ladder to get up and down my bed, and a girl from China and her friends were below me, crowding the space, so I had to approach them and politely ask them to move, but they didn't know English, so it was awkward.
As I sat on my bed, I freaked out over the following:
-where to put my stuff. All the lockers were taken.
-I did not bring a towel, and the towel I bought from the hostel was one-size only and way too small.
-More than half of these girls did not speak English
-the bathroom had no soap
I Facebooked Lauren and my friend Cat from home, venting to both of them, and wondering why I had picked this room as I could have gone for an 8 person mixed gender room. They both comforted me, and finally I fell asleep (at 1am because peoples' lights were still on...). The hostel turned out fine in the end, as I got used to it. I can now say I am the only one in my group of 13 people to experience this type of hostel with 26 roommates. Everyone else has been staying at B&B's or hotels. Hannah and Rickey were in my hostel as well, but they booked a fancy couples room that was probably the nicest room I've ever seen.
Day 1: 4/26/14
Our shuttle driver from the airport was so nice! He warned us of pickpockets and changing money on the street, all the necessary precautions, etc. We saw him multiple times during our stay, which proves how small Prague is. After arrival and freaking out over my room in the hostel, we went to The Lemon Leaf for Thai food. We were all pretty tired after so we walked down the harbor a little and then went to sleep.
Day 2: 4/27/14
We went to some outdoor market and Rickey and Hannah bought chocolate fruit on a stick. I bought some chocolate rum balls that were okay. Rickey saw some lady rummage through a garbage, pull out a beer, and pour it into a coffee mug. Gross. We stumbled upon a Tim Burton Museum (so cool!!) and also saw the Astronomical clock, pictured below.
We walked over Charles Bridge and saw the Lennon Wall!! Street performers sang "Let it Be" by the wall, and even though they messed up the words, my heart still melted. It was a dream come true to be there.
Next, we ventured to the gardens below the castle, and walked up some very steep stairs to see the view. We went into a Starbucks cafe to re-energize, and my name was spelled wrong: You may now call me "Kery". We stood at the outside of Prague Castle, which was absolutely beautiful.
Later, we went pedal boating. Rickey and Hannah pedaled while I sat in the back, not having to do any work. Sorry to rub it in, guys. Kevin helped steer the pedal boat. (Yes, I did bring a minion to Prague with me. I think I'm gonna do that for the rest of my travels.)
For dinner, we ate at the Dancing House, which was super fancy. Their menu was limited, and I felt bad because we were underdressed, but their fish and chips were really good. My big mistake of the night was walking into the men's bathroom. The symbols were different!! Whoops...
When we arrived back at the hostel, I talked to Jess, who was leaving back for England at 3am. She studies psychology, and even though I'll obviously never see her again, it was nice to actually get to talk to one of my hostel-mates.
What I learned from day 2: I need to stop ordering still water, because they charge more for still water than for coke.
Day 3: 4/28/2014
We walked over to Wenceslas Square to do some shopping, but all the touristy shops are the same, and they all have glass items and the typical Prague keychains and sweatshirts. We couldn't go in them anymore after Rickey almost broke a glass bowl on the first day, because we were on their wanted list. Joking!! But really Rickey almost broke one but it was all good. Whew! We stumbled upon a Lego shop that had a "museum" in the basement, so we saw a lot of cool lego buildings and figures. It took me back to my Harry Potter lego stage when I built a whole Hogwarts Castle when I had pneumonia. Here is a lego penguin:
We then walked up to the Little Eiffel Tower (as we called it, but I think it's called the Petrin Lookout Tower). The hike up was enough to make me so tired, as it was hot outside and I am waaaaay out of shape (have only run twice with the running club in Ireland).
Later, we ate at the Zofin Garden Restaurant, which had a random kid playground and a trampoline outside, so it was a little weird.
I ended the night at my hostel's bar drinking a mojito by myself, and listening to live music at the La Loca Music Bar and Lounge.
Day 4: 4/29/13
On our last day, we woke up and ate chocolate croissants at our hostel's breakfast. I must have eaten six. Rickey and Hannah went to go get those fish pedicures where the fish eat the dead skin off feet, and I took pictures of them, and ventured down the streets to the touristy shops. We went to the Duplex Restaurant which is also a club, and we had to ride the elevator up to get to the food. In the elevator, I looked up, and there was a mirror above us, so it looked like we were hanging upside down like vampires. Freaky. After lunch, we went looking for a bathroom in the underground of some place, and as Hannah and Rickey walked in, an old lady came out of nowhere and started screaming at them in czech. She screamed for two or more minutes, and we realized it was a pay-to-go bathroom, but I think she was also screaming at us because Rickey had spaced out and walked into the girls' bathroom.
We then hopped on our flight back, and as we say at my camp, "a good time was had by all." I'm gonna miss the weather of Prague, but now I am back in Dublin for the last month of my abroad experience and I am sad just thinking about it. To add in, I DID miss my roommates and friends, especially you, Paul (maybe).
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