We made it to the Czech Republic! I wasn't sure what to expect when we got here, because all I've heard about Prague is that people like coming here to party because it's cheap. So I just figured it was party central (which isn't really ma thang). I was pretty pleasantly surprised when we took a pretty cool walking tour and learned more about the history and culture of the place. Did you know that the Czechs were the first to be occupied by the Nazis and the last to be liberated (by themselves!)?! I SHOULD have known that, but for some reason my brain just glosses over the Czech Republic when it comes to modern history. Our guide mentioned that often when people come to Prague, they take one look at the language and think "...nah, I'll just speak my own language" because it looks so different and we tend to view the country as something so totally foreign and exotic. I can definitely relate to that and I know I was guilty of this. But, regardless, we had a great time even if we felt a little uncomfortable!
Cheap beer
In the Czech Republic, they take their beer seriously. So seriously, that if you go to somewhere in the country and say that you don't like their beer, they'll kick you out (well, this is according to our walking tour guide). In Prague, beer is literally cheaper than water. In fact, we were at a restaurant once and a beer was 38 Kç (about 2 dollars CAD) while the water was around 50-60 Kç. Pretty crazy to us, where water is (or WAS) deliciously fresh and abundant. However, we did take this opportunity to try some pretty good beers, including Pilsener-Urquell. We had this beer at restaurants, at a burger pub called the Tavern, and even on a peddleboat on the Vltava River as the sun went down and the city lit up. I'm pretty sure the last ones were a little more expensive, at 60 Kç (dang tourist traps), but still not as bad as at home. Needless to say, ice cold Czech beers were a perfect introduction to Prague, especially considering the next point.
Hot hot heat
Holy mother. Up until now, we hadn't experienced warm weather, at least not warm weather in continuation. There were a few warm days, like in Brighton and Berlin, but nothing that screamed SUMMER as much as it did in Prague. And let me tell you, it was ROASTING. It's very humid in Prague, so the word I would choose to describe the heat would be "sweltering". And swelter we did. Every day, we tried to get out and see the city, but every day the heat would beat us down. Our solution was to get outside for at least a few hours, return to the hostel and indulge in a cold, cold shower, relax a bit, and head back out for dinner and evening festivities. We found this was a good way to get the most out of the day while also not driving ourselves into the ground or heat exhaustion.
Astronomical clock
Perhaps the coolest thing I have seen on this trip. Maybe not ever, but definitely on the trip! The astronomical clock is approximately 600 years old and is HELLA accurate. It has kept in perfect time with the following: time, day, month, harvest phases, zodiac signs, positions of the sun and moon (in relation to Prague), and PHASES of the moon. For 600 years. And it is accurate. Have I mentioned that it's the coolest?! It had two dials, the upper dial has the 4 fears (vanity, greed, death, and something to do with being led away to the Ottoman Empire?) while the bottom has the 4 virtues. Every hour on the hour, Death (in the form of a skeleton) pulls a cord to ring the bells as his head falls to his chest while the other 3 figures turn their heads to avoid the gaze of death (because no one wants to die amirite?). The ringing is supposed to be a reminder of our mortality, which is interesting when you remember how old the clock itself is.
Memorable things we did
1. Fishing (with our feet)
So, Prague has a lot of Thai massage places. Like, a WHOLE lot. They're everywhere in Old Town Square and the surrounding areas. Normally I wouldn't blink an eye at these places because anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a fan of other humans touching me, at all. But of course one thing in particular drew us in: tanks of wittle fish that nibble on your footsies to get rid of dead skin. Sound weird? Well, it WAS weird, but we HAD to try it even if it was a total tourist trap. We managed to haggle the price down from 600 Kç per person to 400 Kç (awesome) and we were set! Our feet and calves were washed and rinsed and in we went! At first it was the weirdest sensation - little tiny mouths nibbling away at your toes, under your foot, and all the way up your calves! It tickled, no lie. But after the first 5 or so minutes, it was so relaxing.
2. Prague Castle
The Prague Castle wasn't my favourite, but I feel like I have to mention it. It's the largest castle complex in the world at 70,000 square meters, and is quite beautiful. We couldn't afford to pay for access to all of the areas, so we just paid for the next best, which gave us access to the Old Royal Palace, Basilica of St. George, the Golden Lane, and St. Vitus's Cathedral. The churches were quite beautiful and St. Vitus's was huge, ornate, and intricately designed with gorgeous stained glass windows. The Royal Palace was kind of "meh", as the information boards were quite bland and if you wanted to learn more interesting stuff (I assume), you had to pay a lot more or an audio guide. This is probably why I didn't really like the Castle, but I'm sure the whole thing is quite interesting if you pay for it all. The Golden Lane was kind of cool - it shows the homes/shops of people who lived in the castle grounds, but these were built INTO the Castle wall, so were quite small and cramped (although perhaps people back then were also smaller?). Maybe as much space as a first year dorm, the biggest being possibly double that. Examples of people who inhabited these were seamstresses, blacksmiths, and even a psychic. The upper floor of the wall was where soldiers would keep watch for enemies over yonder.
To finish off, a cool fact about the Castle is when the Cold War ended and the Soviets were booted out of the Czech Republic, the Rolling Stones added a tour date last minute in Prague. They were previously deemed "rotten junkies" by the Soviets, and their performance was one of many to symbolize a once again free country (the Czech Republic has been occupied SO many times that our tour guide's friend's grandmother had never moved in her life, but yet had lived in 6 different countries). The slogan of the 1990 performance was "the tanks roll out, the Stones roll in"...and the Czechs LOVED it. In 1995, they were back in the city and I believe it was Mick Jagger who told the President Vaclac Havel that they needed to "Taj Mahal that shit up", the latter referring to the fact that to couldn't see the beautiful castle at night. Now, the Czech Republic has a country to rebuild after WWII and the Soviet occupation - they're mr so concerned with making their Castle look pretty. SO. The Stones donate an elaborate lighting system to Prague so that they can illuminate the Castle at night. Pretty crazy!!!
3. Peddleboating
The whole time we were in Prague, we saw people in rowboats and peddleboats on the Vltava River, but we couldn't figure out where they were getting the boats from! It wasn't until our very last night that we decided to go for it and get a peddleboat ourselves for an hour at dusk. It wasn't too expensive and we bought a couple of beers to take on the water with us. It was so fun! I had never peddleboated before, and doing so on a river in a place with so much history, as the sun went down and the city lit up, was an unforgettable experience. Also unforgettable were the swarms of bugs that fly around the water at this time. Literally MILLIONS, flying into you from every direction. One even flew into Megan's full beer! Luckily, they weren't biting bugs, but I swear I could still feel them hitting me as I went to bed that night.
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