Thursday November 13th- Prague

I was up bright and early, thanks to hostel roommate, but it was okay because it gave me time to get up and leisurely get ready and make myself some tea. I went out in search of breakfast and ended up getting lost and seeing lots of Prague. Eventually I found a 6 floor Tesco (a grocery store, but not typically 6 stories, my flatmates were astounded) and got breakfast. Then I made my way to Old Town square which is kind of the center of the city, and the biggest tourist area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town,_Prague It was a beautiful day, cold, but clear and sunny.

Old Town is absolutely beautiful, and Prague is actually just architecturally spectacular. There are a couple of really old churches and then the most popular part, the astronomical clock tower. "The oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Orloj. (go check out this wikipedia page, if only for the pictures of the clock, it's so beautiful) Every hour, on the hour, dozens and dozens of people gather around to watch it ring.

I wandered through the square and then decided that I should do one of the many walking tours offered, because there was no way otherwise that I would have any idea what I was seeing, and I really didn't know anything about Czech history. I found a tour company and signed up, it cost me 300 Czech crowns… their money system was really bizarre and hard to figure out after trying to convert everything to British pounds. The walking tour was really amazing. There were 3 other people on the tour, a older married couple from the States (who lived in Seattle for about 10 years) and another guy originally from New Zealand, but currently living in London. The tour guide was a younger woman who was so smart and knowledgeable. I would never have learned as much about the city had I not taken the tour, and it was also a good way to have some company while exploring the city. We walked all of Old Town, the Jewish Quarter, parts of New Town, across the Charles Bridge (their most famous bridge, which is saying something since the rive runs right through the city) and up to the Prague Castle and the Old Cathedral. The view from the Prague Castle was so fantastic, you just see out and above the entire city. And because it is such an old city, the buildings are all pretty similar is height, so it was very picturesque.

After the tour I wandered a little on my own, shopped a little, and got completely lost trying to find the hostel again. I was back at the hostel around 6:30 or 7. My flight was leaving at 6:00 the next morning, and because I wanted to make sure that what had happened before (the missing of the flight) didn't happen again. The hostel had a guy who, for a better price than the taxi, would drive people to the airport. So I said I would like to do that and he asked me what time I wanted to leave, and when I said 3:45 he gave me the weirdest look but agreed. I got to the airport around 4:05, was checked-in, through security and at my gate by 4:15, ha… Oh well. I had a book to read, so it was all good.

The food in Prague was really good, and pretty inexpensive (compared to England). For breakfast I had a cheese roll, lunch I went to this little off-the-main-street bagel place that the guide recommended and had borscht (a Russian beet soup), although when the waiter was telling me about it, I had no idea what he was saying. It was quite tasty. Then for dinner I had some sort of eastern European dish with meat, cucumber salad (although this reminded me of Israeli food) and pita bread. I don't know what it was, but it was so so delicious! It was a good food day. I found out later that the place I had lunch was one suggested by my tour-book, but I didn't know that when I ate there… crazy!

Next up: Two days in Paris