Once making our way through the terminal and taking out thousands of koruny (yes, thousands - the current exchange rate is about 18 koruny to the USD and 25 to the EUR), we finally made it outside to buy our bus tickets - did I mention how cold it was?!!
As we attempted to keep warm while waiting for the bus, a rather sketchy looking guy walked up to a man standing not 10' away from us and decided that he was going to take the magazine that the guy was clutching. At first we thought that maybe he was attempting to pick pocket the guy, in a very obvious way, but no, he just wanted the magazine. It got even better when the guy with the magazine starts all out fighting the would-be thief and attempts to punch him in the face. Luckily, the bus then shows up. Now, you'd think it would have ended there. Nope. The guy with the magazine gets on the bus towing his so-called attacker who is still trying to steal said magazine. I kid you not, the two kept fighting it out, both physically and in Czech, for a good 10 minutes. Nobody really knew what was going on, but the people sitting next to us assured us that this was definitely not normal. Finally, after a couple of stops and a passenger from the back said something, the bus driver got up and kicked the failed thief off.
Welcome to Prague!! (Suffice it to say, despite the entertainment, Megan and I were glad to have Tom around.)
We finally made it to our hotel around 2a. Normally we would have crashed immediately, but we were all starving by this point. So after dropping off our gear and bundling up a bit more, we ventured back out to the only place that was open - McDonald's. Definitely not our first choice, or proudest moment, but we were starving and beggars can't be choosers, so we didn't complain, for the most part. Having refueled, we parted ways with Jack, he was staying at a hostel nearby, and went back to the hotel to sleep.
Saturday morning we all got up around 9a following about 6 short hours of sleep. The three of us got ready and went upstairs for breakfast (nice perk of our hotel was the complimentary breakfast - good, hearty way to start the day and save a bunch of money, relatively speaking anyway) before meeting Jack in the lobby at 10a.
A brief side note, three of my roommates had been to Prague the weekend before with Bus2Alps (1 of the many tour companies around hawking their wares), so they had shared their new found knowledge and we were more than happy to take the free advice.
With that being said, we decided to take advantage of one of Jasmine's recommendations and made reservations for a free tour (yep, free - the best price!!) of the city at 10:30a. We rolled into Old Town Square fashionably late only to find that we were early. In other words, we still had to wait another 10 minutes or so. No worries, Old Town Square is rather captivating.
Oh and, of course, there is a Starbucks. (Italian coffee far surpasses Starbucks. I know that's pretty sacrilegious for a Washingtonian and former partner - too bad, its true. I will admit that I miss the size of Starbucks coffee though, there is something to be said for a big cup of coffee - yep, definitely miss that.)
We were all quite impressed by the tour - the guide seemed to know his stuff, helped that he is clearly quite interested in all of it. From Prague's bloody history (and more broadly, the Czech's) to Kafka, we all agreed that we left with a far greater understanding and appreciation for the city. Good advice, Jasmine, thanks!!
After the tour we decided to head back to Old Town Square for some food. It was Saint Martin's Day on Friday (don't ask me about him, because I don't know), and there were a bunch of vendors set-up as a festival of sorts apparently. Tom and Jack both got some more hot wine (we all had one on our tour - warm & yummy!!) along with potatoes with lots of meat and sauerkraut, and a cheese sampler. Megan and I both got a Trdelnik, a pastry with sugar and walnuts that's wrapped around a 2-3' long skewer and cooked over coals - delicious!! We also decided to share a grill cheese, cheese wrapped in some sort of dough that is then grilled and served on a slice of bread - it looked kind of like a baked Brie. I think we both agreed that the Trdelnik was better, but the grill cheese was good too, tasty smoked flavor.
Having satisfied ourselves enough to be able to wait for dinner, we decided to go exploring - Tom had a building he wanted to find, which turned out to be Milunic and Gehry's Dancing House. But first, Jack discovered his intrigue for all things Kafka on the tour, so we stopped in at the Kafka Bookshop so that he could pick up The Metamorphosis. We poked along on our walk ducking in wherever we wanted and just enjoyed the city. We tried on silly hats, found the Museum of Torture, and the Chocolate Museum, all before finding Tom's elusive building. Success!!
At this point we decided to go back to the hotel and rest for little while before dinner. I'll admit, I totally passed out (with the constant sounds of CNN in the background). Eventually we ventured back out into the cold and found our way back to a place that we had scoped out on our walk earlier. Tom and I both had a beer (Pilsner Urquell, of course), we were, after all, in Prague - they take their beer very seriously. We all wanted to try the local cuisine, which turns out to be a lot of meat, so Tom had the Pork Neck, Megan and I split the Beef Goulash and the Old Czech Plate (more meat, dumplings, & sauerkraut), and Jack also got the Old Czech Plate. All in all it was quite tasty!!
After dinner we sought out this place called The Beer Factory in Wenceslas Square. It is a bar where all the tables have beer taps in the middle of them so that you can pour your own drinks. Of course, your only option is Pilsner Urquell, but that's ok, it's a pretty cool idea for a bar.
Sunday, our last full day in the city, we decided to go to Prague Castle. It boasts amazing views of the city and, I believe, currently houses the head of state. Within the castle complex is Saint Vitus' Cathedral - an absolutely incredible gothic cathedral.
The one major mishap of the trip was when Megan and I went into the cathedral and proceeded to lose both Tom and Jack. We searched for them for a good 30-45 minutes before we finally decided to call it a draw. None of us were going to use our cells as we get charged an arm and a leg when we're out of country, so we figured that since we're all adults we'd just head back to the hotel and leave them a note.
We headed back down the hill towards Charles Bridge and, succumbing to the urge, stopped at Starbucks. Given how cold it was outside, let me tell you, that chai tasted amazing!!
Megan and I finally made our way, with our Starbucks, to the Charles Bridge - the final thing we were told was on the top of the list of things to see in Prague. It spans the Vltava river and was built under King Charles IV. Currently it hosts numerous artists, vendors, and too many tourists. Too bad we added to it, but we had to see it. The bridge is rather impressive and also hosts some pretty impressive views.
Having conquered the main sights, we decided to head to U Fleku, a restaurant that Tom had patronized last year and couldn't wait to go back to - we figured there might be a slight chance we'd find them there. Alas, they were not there, but we were successful in finding the restaurant and figured we'd probably come back for dinner (we were right!).
We managed to make it back to the hotel and by this time were in pretty dire need of an afternoon snack, so we quickly dropped them a note and headed back to Old Town Square where we picked up some food. We did a little bit of shopping on our way back and then decided to stop in at Starbucks again as we had a bit of time to kill until we told the boys we would be back and our hotel didn't have wifi. If nothing else, Starbucks is good for free wifi!!
When we finally managed to make it back to the hotel Tom was already there relaxing in front of CNN. So we hung out until Jack showed up and then headed out to U Fleku for dinner. Another traditional Czech meal, but this one seemed a little cooler. Not only is the setting really cool, but as soon as they seat you there are two waiters that come by: one is carrying a tray of full beer steins and the other is carrying a tray full of shots - as I said before, they take their beer seriously (and apparently their liquor, too). This time Tom had the Pork Knuckle (he was all about he pork) along with the Beer Cheese that he'd been telling us all about for a couple months. Megan and I split a bowl of soup and another plate of meat and dumplings. (I don't remember what Jack had.) A successful, tasty meal and we managed to fulfill Tom's request for U Fleku. Winning!!
After having satisfied Tom's U Fleku desires, we decided to go back to the hotel and play card games. Sounds boring, I know, but when you throw in a bottle of absinthe things get a little more interesting. Tom had purchased a spoon earlier in the day and we stopped on the way back for the necessary liquor and sugar cubes. I will admit that I was the quote unquote stick in the mud and didn't play along (I'd tasted it on Halloween so I wasn't at all curious and just wasn't in the mood), I played photographer instead, but it was fun to watch and we did have fun playing games. The shots were accepted with varying degrees of distaste, but all in all had little side effects - with one exception.
Tom got a little messy with his first pour (can't blame it on the absinthe) and spilled, but Jack was more than happy to clean it up!
We were lucky enough to have a lazy morning on Monday as our flight didn't leave for Rome until 2:45p. Uneventful trip home, but as always it was good to be home.
Thankful for a great weekend in Prague with even better friends!! Trying to soak it all in, I know these experiences and times with friends are what I need to remember and hold on to.
Parents come in tomorrow - very excited to see them!! It's been a rather trying month, so it'll be good to get some family time. Looking forward to showing them around and seeing Rome through yet another lens. So here's to a safe flight for my parents and that everything is going well back in the States.
I love and miss you all!!
Ciao, ciao!!
