Prague is absolutely beautiful! It really is challenging not speaking any Czech though. Many people speak a little English...but many people don't. The weather has stayed beautiful, it's a lot warmer than I thought it would be.
On Wednesday Estefi and I had a lazy afternoon and evening, since I was tired from waking up so early and traveling. We had dinner with her apartment mates (two juniors from Vassar) and two other juniors from Vassar also on the film program who don't live far away. We tried some Becherovka, a Czech liquor that tastes very cinnamony.
The next day I planned to walk around the Jewish quarter in the morning before meeting up with Estefi, but alas, it was a Jewish holiday, so I saw some of the synagogues from the outside. I walked around Old Town Square, where there's a famous Astronomical clock. I walked to the Prague City Museum, where there is this amazing architecturally correct mini model of Prague that this guy made in the 1800s. A lot of the buildings in the model are not standing anymore. They had the model on display, and they also had a 6-minute 3D movie of a flight over Prague filmed using this little model, so you could see architectural details up close. And of course it had very dramatic music accompanying it.
After that I met up with Estefi and we walked to Vysehrad, a park up on a hill. From there we could see the Prague Castle and the river and the Charles Bridge. It was an amazing view. After climbing lots of staircases up to this park we decided we deserved a treat, so after our walk home we got some ice cream at a cafe near her apartment. Then we took a nap and waited for Caitlin to arrive.
Once Caitlin got here, we went for dinner near the center of town at a restaurant that had an outdoor seating area with an accordian player. We got traditional Czech food (a meat platter sampler, potato pancakes, and dumplings, with Pilsner Urquell beer to drink and strudel for dessert) and then walked across the river to a jazz club that's on a docked boat. (It's actually called Jazz Dock.) We stayed there for a bit and then came home and slept very soundly.
Today we're going to more of the big sights, including Prague Castle, and maybe even paddleboating along the river!
1 comment:
Sounds like you're having a great time. I might have to go to Prague. I would love to see the astrological clock. Too bad you couldn't get into the synagogues in the Jewish quarter...it's Succoth! Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Post a Comment