Prague + Back to the States

So to round-off my semester in Copenhagen, 2 of my friends and I took a 5 day trip to Prague on a $50 round-trip ticket (gotta love it) and I have to say that it is definitely one of the greatest cities I have ever visited. It has everything you could ever want! It is truley a tourist's playground as 70% of those employed in Prague work in the service industry. They have insane amounts of tourist sights to see on top amazing architecture in general.

We took two walking tours while in Prague from "Free Prague Tours" which were about 3 hours each and they took us around both the east and west banks of the river that runs through Prague. We got to see Prague castle, the old City Hall, the new City Hall, Charles Bridge, and various other churches/chathedrals. The best part about the tours though were the tour guides! On the first day we have a cinical college age girl who swore up and down that Czech people have no values, they don't care about anything, and everyone gets divorced at least 3 times in their lifetime (they have a 75% divorce rate). Needless to say she was very entertaining. The girl on the second day wasn't quite as entertaining but definitely equally as knowledgeable.

The bar/food scene also must be mentioed (maybe even moreso than the touristy stuff). Depending upon where you are - you can find a large traditional czech mean ie potato pancakes, three different cuts of pork, three slices of bread, and the best saurkraut you've ever had for 6 bucks. And with that you can order a .5 liter of beer for a $1.25. AMAZING! That was even in one of the more touristy areas. When we ventured outside of the city center we found a la carte meals for 5bucks and beers for 50cents.

In general, the people on Prague are the nicest people I've met in Europe, as a whole. Maybe it is because they're so dependent upon tourism to survive or maybe it is just their good nature - either way they're very helpful with just about anything!

Before I post some pictures I want to give a shout-out to my new best friends who are still in Copenhagen. Jeffrey, my Dutch compatriat, Phillip, "ze German!," Julian, "the Frenchman," Josh, the New Yorker, and of course my fellow GLOBERS Daniel and Weck. We all lived in the same apartment building over this past semester and grew to be really great friends. Definitely is one of the greatest part of being in this program - the bonds and networks that grow.

I forgot to share one story about Prague that you may either find offensive or really cool. So... On Easter Monday, to elebrate Jesus's rising, the young men of Prague break into the houses of the young women (literally... if your door is locked they have the right to climb up a ladder and break in the window) and then chase these young girls to beat htem with a stick. Once thr girl has gotten beaten, she has to give the guy a handmade egg that took her about 3 hours to make. To top it off, when all the girls go to school the next day, they compare marks... and the girls without marks are considered to be ugly and unpopular. Basically, it's not only okay to beat girls in Prague, but it's encouraged!

Picture time! These aren't in any particular order.

These are the guys minus Julian. (From the Right) Josh, Jeffrey, Moi, Daniel, Phillip, Weck - this was the morning that I was flying out.

The Cathedral on top of Prague Castle. This was our crew for the day. We met Yui Chi (we dubbed in Luigi) on our tour that day. To the right of him is Meghan, a girl from UNC who was studying in Lund. To the right of her is Josh and Weck.

This was the day that we left Prague... it had snowed quite a bit. Doesn't it look like how you imagined Eastern Europe?

Prague Castle

Charles Bridge from the island that is partly underneath it.

Europeans seem to have a fixation with peeing statues... They're peeing on the Czech Republic.

Another shot of the Cathedral at Prague Castle - notice the Christmas Tree - they had elaborately decorated ones all around the touristy areas.

This is the well where they used to burn witches ie Protestant women back when the Catholics were in control. It is supposedly haunted by these witches and if you touch the stones around it you will be cursed with negative energy. (Interestingly have of our group was seperated from teh guide right after visiting this sight - BUT - this lead to us meeting Luigi!)

One of the cathedrals in the center square of Prague - Amazing architecture.

One of the bars we went to the first night - They had 8 in-house brewed draughts. Wheat, Sour Cherry, Dark, Vanilla, Coffee, Banana, Nettle, and Light.

FYI - I'm home now! And will be until the 30th! Hope to see a lot of you guys!