The Fairytale City of Prague
We arrived in Prague an hour late because the air space around Prague airport was cleared for the Russian president who was flying in to sign the treaty with Obama. Leaving the airport we saw airforce one! You could tell immediately that the US president was around when there were police on every single corner, tanks surrounding the US Embassy, and helicopters with spotlights flying in circles. Thankfully we only had to deal with it for a day!
First night in Prague: We got into the airport around 6:30 so it was still light out. We decided to head out an get dinner and the light in the sky was just incredible. Everything looked fake with the sun reflecting off the colorful buildings. It was very cool. We got to Old Town Square with just enough time to hear the astronomical clock strike 7!
Old Town Square and the Easter Festival: Old Town Square is beautiful. I think it looks like one of those fake little villages at Disney World. Seriously, it is unreal. From the astronomical clock and horn blowing to the horse drawn carriages it couldn’t feel more like a fairytale. There was a fantastic Easter festival in the square all the days we were there. There were adorable little girls doing traditional dancing, a blacksmith, street vendors, those amazing Prague pastry cookies, and so much more. We couldn’t get sick of walking through it.
Our 6 hour tour of Prague: I think one of the best parts of this tour was our guide because she was so weird it was hilarious! Some of the things that came out of her mouth made me die inside they were so ridiculous (hilarious at the same time). It certainly made our 6 hour tour interesting! We got to see all the big sites of Prague – the Charles bridge, the Prague Castle, Old Town Square, and the Jewish Quarter. We saw the coolest sculpture of books in the municipal library. We had a traditional Czech lunch – I had Goulash and dumplings (It was surprisingly good!) with our guide and then headed on our boat ride!
The boat ride: The boat ride was equally as hilarious as our guide. The station where we caught the boat was even more Disney World like with sailors playing their accordions. There were some very sugar high Czech children that would not stop trying to press buttons and run around the boat (it was a small boat…) and our captain seemed like he was ready to throw them overboard. He was making jokes to us in English about the children, as they did not understand. It was quite funny. The tour finished with him asking me and Caroline if we would take his number and making jokes that he can cook and he is a good catch (mind you, he was saying this in front of all 15 people on the boat loud enough for everyone to hear).
The View of Prague Castle: Prague Castle from lesser town, Prague Castle from old town, Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge… doesn’t matter its still beautiful!
Horse Drawn Carriage: Since Prague is Disney World for adults we just had to take a horse drawn carriage ride. It is a great city to have a carriage ride minus the cobblestones, which make the carriage a bit bumpy. We did it at dusk and were wrapped up in blankets… it was adorable.
Dinner with Larissa: We got to see another good Tufts friend who is studying abroad in Prague! We went to her favorite place to go out to eat – a full day breakfast place that has blueberry pancakes! We ended up sitting there for a long time reminiscing about freshman year and all the funny stories we had in our dorm (we all lived in the best dorm- Miller Hall shout out).
Delicious Prague Cookies: Basically warm bread with sugar on them and they are fantastic….
The Astronomical Clock: Not only did we watch it do it’s thing 3 times we also walked to the top! The view of Old Town Square was fantastic. Everything looks even more fake- like a little model city with fake people. We were up at the top when it struck noon and we got to see the trumpet player first hand!
