Prague, Czech Republic (Praha)

The beautiful medieval Prague comes close to being my favorite city in Europe, although I really do not have favorites because I like all the cities I have been to for different reasons as they are all diverse. Everything was amazing I explored old town, the Jewish quarter, the little quarter and of course Charles bridge and the area of the Prague Castle.

The history is very interesting with quirky little facts about each building; however, I only discovered a few stories as it would be impossible to hear the entire history of Prague in 4 days. I had a very great time walking round especially because it is not so easy to get lost in this city relative to previous cities on my trip. I heard about a vegetarian restaurant called "Clear Head" (English translation) which was amazing!!! For the first time in Europe I felt like I was eating in a restaurant back home with salads that actually contain vegetables in them (and not only iceberg lettuce) vegetarian entrees, and great freshly squeezed juices. I ate there every night I was in Prague and for the first time I felt like I was receiving nutrition from the food I ate. Oh, the glass of vanilla soy milk was amazing as I actually forgot what soy milk taste like (it had only been 6-7 weeks).

Throughout my stay I took 2 day trips to nearby towns to check out other castles. The first trip was to Kunta Hora to see the church with human bones from around 40, 000 people on display. I know it sounds morbid but this church did such a beautiful job displaying the bones, creating designs hanging from the ceiling, including a chandelier. There was a detailed display of the crest of Prague made from the human bones as well as rooms with pyramids of bones stacked to the ceiling. Sculls were displayed on pillars which surrounded the crypt where the most important and rich corpses lay. Like I said it seems morbid but when you are there you cant help but think how beautiful it is.

The other day trip was to Karlstein were a beautiful "fairy tale" castle is among a forest and along a small river. It was so beautiful and relaxing to enjoy the views from the castle walls and walk around the forest for awhile. I wish I would have been able to plan my day better so I could have stayed there longer but a couple events lead to me having a later start to my day than planned.

I joined a couple of people I met from the hostel to a nearby club called Mecca and danced until 3:30 in the morning. It had a great ambiance with really good techno music in one room and pop music with a techno twist in another. It was really fun as this was the first dance club I went to Europe. This resulted in me waking up a little later than planed.

The other event which delayed me was being sold a ticket to the wrong destination. I went to the ticket office the morning before with my Euro rail timetable with the train departing from Praha and going to Krakow, Poland by night train circled. I also stated (in English) I needed a train from Praha to Krakow, Poland for the next day but apparently I was sold a ticket to Frankfurt, Germany instead. I don't get it! I could not have spelled it out for her any more than I did. I told her verbally were I needed to go and also showed her on paper with the time and destination circled. I did not notice the ticket was wrong until the next morning so the ticket office would only reimburse me 50% of my ticket. I was so frustrated because they were so unhelpful even though it was the mistake of the agent who sold me the ticket and when I asked for a manger they kept telling me to go upstairs but the manager (who is supposed to be available 24/7) conveniently wasn't. I dealt with the situation for an hour but when the manager was not to be found I gave in taking the 50% refund so I could reserve my train to Poland and catch the next train to Karstein. It was such a mess and what I believe to be a scam to screw travelers over and receive more money. If that is not the case then there are agents working for the train station who do not have half a brain cause I could not have spelled it out any clearer where I needed to go than I did.

Well, my stay in Prague was amazing and I could have stayed longer to stroll around the parks and gardens some more but I am now off to Poland as I am getting close to the end of my Euro trip.