Live. Laugh. Travel: Back to Prague

This last weekend I was able to return to the beautiful city of Prague! We left early on Thursday morning and I can honestly say that the highlight of the several hour train ride was that the guy sitting across from me looked like the old man from the movie ‘Up’, suspenders and everything. I tried to be sneaky and take a picture of him but he kept glaring at me any time I raised my phone higher than my lap so needless to say I wasn't brave enough to take one.

Being back in Prague was great! I love the personality of the city and there is so much to do and see that will quickly occupy your time. This time around I finally got to see the Lennon Wall, a long stone wall that is covered in art and messages of love, hope and encouragement for all that read them. There are so many reasons as to why I love this place, and not because it looks pretty. This wall used to be a thorn in the side of communist regime in Prague because the youth of the city would come here to write their disagreements with the government across its surface. Every so often the authorities would come to paint the messages over, but within a few days the wall would be covered again without fail.

Another thing I learned in Prague that day is to always make sure you know where you are going. Major landmarks are a great thing to memorize because I, and the people I was with, got lost twice in one day. The first time we were trying to find a specific restaurant that a few people had been to the last time we were in Prague and they kept drooling over descriptions of this crispy duck meal. We ended up walking the same few blocks for probably twenty minutes until we found it. This is also the time that I found out that Czech waiters don’t have to be nice to you like the servers back home do. Our server was a total jack ass, excuse my language. He yelled at me for trying to order something and even talked me out of ordering more food. Who does that? Yeesh. The second time I got lost my roommate Kait and I were trying to find our hostel and it got a little too dark, and the streets and buildings all looked a little too similar so we decided to go back to the main square, get a coffee, and wait for everyone else. So mom, dad, friends and family, be glad I didn't get totally and completely lost in the red light district of Prague, which is where we had accidentally been wandering for over half an hour…. Oops.

On a happier note, we went back to Prague Castle and this time I got to go inside the church, St. Vitus as well as the castle itself. The inside of the church is absolutely beautiful. There are some parts that are extremely old and some that are relatively new because of the random halts in construction. We learned that the main hall that we saw inside the castle held tourneys and little shop stands where people who came to visit the king could shop while they waited in line. There was even a specific entrance for the knights in the tourneys to bring their horses into the hall. Yay for bringing pets inside! We also got to see the changing of the guard ceremony which I thought was pretty cool, but I like the whole traditional pomp and circumstance thing sometimes. I also ended up being that annoying tourist that is 5’10’’ and still pushes their way to the front to see better. Yup, not sorry. After the tour of the castle a few of us climbed further up the hill and went back to the monastery I mentioned in my last post. This time we ordered the pivo (beer) and food and it is safe to say that I am in love with this place! I had a chicken steak with mashed potatoes and vegetables that was to die for and for desert I shared a plate of pancakes with caramel beer ice-cream and whipped cream. It was so delicious I never wanted to leave.

Back in the main square when I was walking around shopping with some of our group I stumbled upon a shop called Manufaktura. Everything in this shop is from the Czech Republic and made by Czech people. A lot of the pieces sold here are handmade too which I thought was really cool. I ended up getting a coffee cup with a bag of loose tea, a really neat steeper and some pretty rock candy. Some of us want to go back to look at more of their cosmetics and bath salts.

And now for pictures!!!

Me standing in front of the Lennon Wall!

Yes I am nerding out here. Shout out to the Whovians and the "Bad Wolf"

;)

Thought this part of the wall was cool and I loved the message.

The changing of the guard at Prague Castle. They even had their own band!

The outside of St. Vitus church.

A sneak view of the Wenceslas chapel inside of St. Vitus. In the Christmas song there is mention of a door with seven locks, inside this chapel there is a door with seven locks that leads up a flight of stairs to another door with seven locks, and behind that door are the real crown jewels of Bohemia and the Czech Republic. How cool is that?