Praha ha ha ha! {A Weekend in Prague}

This past weekend (February 22-24) I was privileged to go on the ISC (International Student Club) organized trip to the beautiful city of Prague!  Here is the run down on my weekend: 

We were supposed to meet at 8:00 a.m. at the main station in Brno.  A big group of us met in the lobby of our dorm and headed to the train station together.  You can imagine the looks on the locals' faces when a giant group of foreigners with suitcases take over the bus.  

We met the student leaders of the trip and headed to the train!  Once inside the train, the challenge was finding a seat.  We walked through the first train car...no seats.  We walked through the second...no seats.  We walked through a third...no seats.  The next train car we came to was first class.  There were plenty of free seats there!  We didn't see anyone taking tickets, so we went ahead and sat down.  We were lucky enough to enjoy the luxurious first class  of the train for a good 3 or 4 minutes before getting kicked out.  It was nice while it lasted and was at least worth a try.  We ended up finding random seats here and there, but weren't able to sit together.  That was fine though, because most of us wanted to sleep anyways.  

I wanted to stay awake for a little bit at least so that I could gaze out the window.  At first, we went through a beautiful snow-covered forest with very steep hills.  We also went through quaint little villages.  It was a wonderful first European train ride!  

We arrived in Prague around three hours later.  We groggily stepped out of the train and into the Prague train station and walked about 15 minutes to our hostel.  Our hostel was called "Hostel Elf" and it was pretty nice.  We dropped our bags off and headed to lunch.  I can't get over how cute the restaurants are here.  They are just like something out of a movie.  I had the traditional Czech meal of beef and dumplings.  I have to admit that I did not like it near as well as in Brno!  Score 1 for Brno.  

After lunch, we went to meet our tour guide in the Old Town Square for a 3 hour tour of Prague.  This day was part 1 of 2 of the coldest days of my life.  I don't think it had started snowing yet at this point, but oh boy was it about to!

On the way to meet our tour guide...first views of Prague!

Our tour guide was actually from America and has been living in Prague for a while!  He had so much cool information for us and presented it in a fun way.  I wish I could remember all of the history about this town, but I am really bad at remembering details and it was too cold to concentrate.  

Jan Hus memorial.

The Astronomical Clock!

Prague is truly an amazing city due largely in part that it was virtually untouched by the war!  Hitler actually really loved this city and wanted to preserve it...what a kind man! Ha.  Prague was definitely not entirely free of the effects of the war though.  The picture below is of the astronomical clock tower along with a piece of a red wall.  The piece of the red wall used to extend towards the right, but was destroyed during the war.  

All of the above mentioned, is in the Old Town Square which is so amazing!  Here is a video of a band playing in the square and a panoramic view of the square to help give you a better idea of it:  

(also this is on Sunday when the sun finally came out!) 

Next, we headed over to Josefov, the Jewish Quarter.  Many Jews living in this ghetto were deported to Terezín, north of Prague, and then later to Polish death camps.  The strange thing is that many of the artifacts in the Jewish Museum in Prague were brought here from all over Central Europe on Hitler's orders.  He wanted to create a museum dedicated to the soon-to-be extinct Jewish race.

I think this is the Jewish Museum...If not, then it is one of the Jewish synagogues.

The next thing we saw was The Old Jewish Cemetery that is above ground, which goes against Jewish law.  It was the only spot they were given to bury their dead though, so they were forced to use it.  It is a very small cemetery and I don't remember the exact number of how many are buried there, but it is a shocking amount.

The Old Jewish Cemetery 

We saw several other things, but were pretty frozen at this point.  We convinced our tour guide to let us stop inside a coffee shop and warm up for a bit!  This was a fantastic idea because we got to warm up, I had some delicious hot chocolate (they only have real hot chocolate here, not the powdery stuff like at home!), and the best part: they had PEANUT BUTTER cookies.  I, of course, had to get one because anything peanut butter is hard to come by here.  I experienced peanut butter food insecurity, for my fellow health science majors. ;) 

After warming up a bit, we braved the cold and continued with the tour.  I don't think I have pictures from the remainder of the tour due to the fact that I could not risk my fingers falling off from getting out my camera any longer.

The tour was very informative and everything we saw was beautiful, but I think we were all very happy for it to be over.  It is also hard to concentrate when it is so cold and hard to see the beauty of the city when you have to look down at the ground to try to block your face from the snow and wind.  We went back to the hostel and relaxed for a little while and then ordered pizzas.  So many pizzas!  I think there were like 30 pizzas for 40 people or something crazy like that!  It was my first experience with pizza here in Czech and it was very good!  I had what I thought was pepperoni pizza, but it turned out to be salami and jalapeno pizza which was amazing!

Later, we headed out to a pub where I enjoyed a nice vanilla milkshake!  :)  It was $7 and I think only got 2 sips haha, but it was still good.

The other Megan and I with our $7 milkshake. 

Saturday was Prague Castle and Charles Bridge day!  It snowed SO much this day, but made me feel even more like I was in a fairy tale!  It was so beautiful!  

A snowy Prague castle up on the hill!

In the castle courtyard.

One of the cathedrals in the castle.

Part of the Prague Castle.

One of the entrances to Prague castle.

I have a lot more pictures of the castle and of Charles Bridge that I will add on facebook, but they are not cooperating with going on here for the moment! :)

In between the castle and the bridge, we took a lunch break which was much appreciated!  I had some delicious hot chocolate again.  I'm not sure what the total hot chocolate count was for the weekend, but it was quite a few!  I ordered beef goulash with potato pancakes and it was so good and warm. :) After we finished eating, we had to put all of our snow-soaked scarves, hats, coats, and gloves back on!  I think wet winter attire probably defeats the purpose, but oh well, we survived!  

Later, we went back to the hostel and rested.  Some of us decided to go to a gyro place down the street.  I went with a soaking wet head from my shower and no make up, but it was definitely worth it.  So good!

Much later that night, we left for the biggest club in central Europe (5 stories).  It was not very impressive, but I can at least say that I went.  There was also an ice bar inside which was kind of cool, literally.  Everything in the room was made of ice, including the chairs and the cups.  We stayed out much later than I am used to, but it is not exactly safe to leave by yourself at the time that you want!  A few of us ended up taking a cab back to the hostel at around 4:00 a.m. Yawn. So late (or so early, I guess).  

We had to wake up a few short hours later to pack our things up and be out of the hostel by 11.  We had some free time for a few hours before our train left.  I went with a group of people and we walked around like zombies for a little while and stopped and sat down several times.  We were supposed to meet back at the hostel at 3, I think, so we started to head that way.  Well, after several cups of coffee and water that morning, I really had to go to the bathroom.  

Bathrooms are hard to come by in Czech Republic.  You can not find them just anywhere and you cannot just walk into a random restaurant or store and expect to use their restrooms.  The group I was with was waiting at the bus stop for our bus.  Up until this moment, my motto had been "stay with the group no matter what".  Well, having to go to the bathroom very badly makes one not make the best judgment calls.  So I made the impulsive decision to walk off and go find a bathroom by myself.  I knew what bus I needed to take to get back to the hostel so I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal.  There was a giant mall across the street that seemed like an obvious and easy choice for a bathroom.  This mall was 5 stories I think.  I was running around desperately looking for the wonderful letters, "WC" (the sign for bathroom).  Several different floors later, I thankfully finally found the WC. 

 After I left though, I had no idea where in the mall I was.  I couldn't even remember how many stories I had gone up or down and it all seemed like a huge maze.  I knew I wasn't anywhere near the entrance I came in, so I decided that I should just try to find any exit.  I finally found one and when I stepped outside I thought I knew where I was.  Well, I didn't.  I walked down a street where I thought the bus stop was, but it wasn't it.  I tried not to panic too much because I knew that wouldn't help anything.  I did know though that I needed to find the stop fairly soon because our group was leaving from the hostel to go to the train station in 30 minutes.  I love Prague, but I really didn't care to be left in the city by myself that day.  I eventually found the bus stop much to my relief.  Thankfully, the bus I needed came after only a couple minutes of me waiting.  I didn't know the exact stop to get off at, so I needed to be on top of my game of keeping my eyes peeled for the little hostel sign.  I, of course, was praying the whole time asking God to guide me back to the hostel.  A few stops later, two of the student leaders of our trip got on the bus!  I was so happy to see them because they knew the stop we needed to get off at and it meant that they hadn't left for the train station yet!

We were one stop away from the hostel, when the bus ticket checker (not sure of their official title)  came on the bus.  Let me preface this by saying, that this is a very rare occurrence that they come and actually check bus tickets.  In Brno, I have a transportation pass so that is all I have to show the checker if he comes on the bus or tram.  In Prague, we had 24 hour bus tickets that we are supposed to put in the machine and it stamps a date and time on it.  Well, after all the craziness of being lost, I completely forgot to stamp my ticket.  I didn't figure it was that big of a deal because I obviously had a ticket with me.  Apparently it is a big deal.  The checker was very rude to me and asked me for my passport and ordered me to get off the bus with him.  The leaders said not to worry, because they would explain that I was a student and it was an accident and that I had a ticket and if he had a heart, then he should just let it go.  I was frustrated, but not too worried because I remember my tutor saying that in Brno, if you get caught without a ticket (or without a stamped ticket, in my case), then you might have to pay something equivalent to $2.  

After getting off the bus along with some other tourists who got caught as well, the checker examined all of our passports.  He then said, "1000 korun from each of you!"  1000 korun is equal to about $50.  I finally broke down and started crying at this point.  My leaders tried arguing with him to convince him to change his mind.  The other people who got caught, flat out didn't have a ticket so it sort of made sense that they had to pay (the price was completely unreasonable though).  It did not make sense though, that I would have to pay the same price as them since I had a ticket.  

Unfortunately the (real) tears and explanations did no good.  The guy was a complete jerk and was threatening to call the police.  My leaders told me to go ahead and just pay him.  As much as I didn't want to pay $50 for an innocent mistake, I really didn't care to be arrested either.  With tears running down my face, I handed him the money.  I was upset, but at that point, I was really ready to go back to the hostel and then get on the train back to Brno. 

We walked the 30 seconds to the hostel (that is how close we were) and then headed to the train station.  I walked the 15 minute walk to the train station without a coat and was still hot from the stressful events of the last hour.  I was so happy to get on the train.  It was pretty full and the leaders told us to just find a seat and not try to sit with a group.  I found an empty seat in one of the cabins and there was a very nice older couple sitting next to me.  They didn't speak much English, but they were so nice and the man helped put my bags up for me.

I got up to go to the bathroom as soon as I sat down because I wanted to sleep the rest of the way with no interruptions.  It was very crowded in the hallway and when I came back I could not find the cabin that I was in.  I walked to the end of the train car and did not see my stuff or the people in my cabin.  I turned around to go check again and the sweet man is standing outside of our cabin waving to me!  I told him thank you and apologized and just told him that I had a rough day and left it at that.  I then sat down and ate my chocolate bar that I had in my bag.  My dad laughed when I told him that part and said it sounded like a commercial haha.  It really was good for the soul at that point though!  

Much later, I got up again and walked around and realized that pretty much my entire group was either sitting on the floor or standing in the hallways because they didn't have seats!  They had way overbooked the train.  I felt so bad for them, but selfishly kept my seat because it was the best thing that had happened to me all day.  I listened to music the rest of the way.  My iPod was on shuffle and the most perfect songs kept playing.  Songs about how the Lord is always with us and about praising Him in the midst of trials.  I was feeling so refreshed and just thanking God that nothing worse had happened and that I was on my way home.  Then, "Somewhere Out There" came on, which is my parent's song.  I didn't even know I had it on my playlist.  A few tears slipped down my cheeks as the song sung about being far away from the ones you love.  Next, "Today Was a Fairytale" by Taylor Swift came on and I laughed at the irony haha!  

We finally pulled into Brno and I was so so so happy to be be back at my new home where it is easy to get around, things are cheap, and where there are no tourists!  When others in the group found out that I had a seat, they said things like "you are soooo lucky!".  Oh yes, my day was soooo lucky ha.  If they only knew!  It was also raining when we got back and I did not care one bit that I was getting rained on because rain means that it has to be a little warmer!  

What. a. weekend.  Despite a rough ending, I absolutely loved Prague and had a wonderful weekend!  I am really excited to go back and visit when it is warmer!

 Even though I did not consider myself so lucky on that last day, I am actually beyond blessed and very thankful for all the Lord blessed me on this trip (& every day)!