PRAHA

Two weeks ago, I traveled a little further from Paris to Prague for the weekend. Again with my friend Alex, we headed to Prague to visit her best friend from home, Jane, who is at NYU in Prague for the semester. I knew very little about the city besides what I learned while flipping through the guidebook my host mother gave me (It was from when she and my host father went to Prague…in 1988). The trip started out on the wrong foot as I was left off the flight list, frisked, and searched but after that the trip went smoothly and it was a quick flight to Prague. Jane met us at the airport and we made our way back to her apartment. We woke up Friday morning ready to explore, and we grabbed a croissant as we headed to the Old Town Square in the light snow. We got there just in time to see the astronomical clock change and hear the trumpeters play. The astronomical clock was made in 1410 and has an astronomical dial, an hourly clock, and a calendar dial. We then walked along the Charles River to have lunch at Café Louvre. Despite its French name, I got a sampling of Czech food with a very creamy pasta dish. As we walked along the river we passed the theatre where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni in 1787. After lunch we took the tram across the river and walked up to Prague Castle. We were too late to go inside the Castle, but we went inside St. Vitus’ Cathedral and saw King Wenceslas’ tomb. We also walked down golden lane where Emperor Rudolph kept his alchemists who tried to turn metal to gold. Our next destination was the John Lennon wall. It was a little difficult to find and we passed the right street a few times before we found it. The map from my communist guide saved the day. The wall was originally used for students’ grievances during 1980’s, but still remains today constantly changing but overall continues to represent love and peace. We spent a while reading the different messages on the wall before walking across the Charles Bridge and heading back to Jane’s apartment to take a quick rest before dinner. For dinner we had typical Czech cuisine, which consists of a lot of a lot of meant, cream, cranberries, dumpings etc. I had a chicken vegetable rice dish that had a lot of paprika and we all shared a bottle of Moldavian wine and potato dumplings.

Old Town Square

The Astronomical Clock

Alex and I in front of the Astronomical Clock

View of Prague Castle

Estates Theatre

View from Prague Castle

Back of St. Vitus Cathedral

The Golden Gate of St. Vitus Cathedral

The Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

Love Padlocks on a bridge near the John Lennon Wall

John Lennon Wall

From the Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Czech Food

Saturday we woke early to heavy snowfall. Prague is almost all cobblestones so this made for a day of sliding around the city. We headed to the Museum of Communism, which is a small museum that displays the history of communism and focuses then how the Czech people were affected by each issue. It was very powerful to see the videos of the protests on the streets we had just walked on and hear the testimonies of the people who had been punished for their resistance to the communist regime. We then returned to Prague castle and had a little different view of the city now that it was covered in snow. We walked through the castle, and my favorite part was the window where the second defenestration of Prague took place (defenestrate is my favorite word). After the castle we explored the touristy shops and looked at all the garnet and amber jewelry, Prague’s big items, before eating dinner and returning to Jane’s.

Inside the Museum of Communism

Another view from Prague Castle

Window where the Second Defenestration of Prague took place

View of the Snowy City

Sunday we experienced a czech brunch, complete with comfort food of bagel and cream cheese (which does not exist in Paris). We then went to see the dancing building (also known as Fred and Ginger) before heading to the airport. Despite the extreme cold, I had a fantastic weekend in Prague. It is a beautiful city and very different from Paris. I am glad that we got to experience Eastern Europe in the right way: with snow. Thanks for hosting us Jane!

The Dancing Building (also known as Fred and Ginger)