PRAHABA

As with all of my weekends in Europe, this weekend was not restful and relaxing, but hectic and exhilarating from dawn until, well, dawn again because there wasn't much sleep involved.

Thursday after my last class a group of ten people in my program urgently made our way through the crowded transportation system in Budapest to the bus station, and boarded the 3:30 OrangeWays bus to Prague. We were all excited to make it to the station on time, however, we were all less than thrilled with the six hour ride. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the Hungarian suburbs and countryside were at sunset. Everyone slept for most of the ride, until we stopped in Bratislava, Slovakia. I've been told that Bratislava is a lovely town, however, the general consensus of the Americans on the bus was, judging by the bus station that didn't have running water, Bratislava still appeared war-torn. What made this even more bizzare to us was the fact that Slovkia is on the Euro, but Hungary and the Czech Republic aren't.

We arrived in Prague behind schedule and sleepily made our way to The Chili Hostel, which is where we spent the our weekend. This required walking through the outskirts of Old Town, which was beautifully illuminated. All of the streets and side walks were cobblestone, and all of the buildings were fabulously maintained. We mosied to the hostel and checked in. Once we all freshened up, we realized that we had completely skipped dinner and we were all starved. Now, by this point, the time was quickly approaching midnight, and no restaurants were open, save one: KFC. As much as I hate to admit this, my first meal in Prague was indeed chicken tenders and french fries from KFC, and the worst part is, it was delicious and I don't regret our decision at all. With full bellies and heavy eyes, we quickly found our way "home" and drifted off into peaceful slumber.

We rose early the next morning and were bursting with energy. We grabbed breakfast and coffee and headed to the Old Town Square to meet in front of the tourism office for our "New Prague" Tour. This tour is part of the "New Europe" series which are a set of three hour walking tours around major European cities. The best part is that they are founded on the belief that people should enjoy their trips no matter their budget, so the tours are free! The guides work on a tips only basis, which isn't obligatory. We received a fabulous tour of most of the tourist sites in the city, ranging from the Jewish Ghetto, to the famous Clock Tower, and various pedestrian only streets. Because the tour was free, admission into any sites was not included, but it helped us decide what we wanted to see as well as getting us oriented with the city.

After the tour, we went to lunch at a micro-brewery (apparently Prague is well known for it's beer), and then we went to the Communism Museum. The museum was very enlightening about the various political changes and their impacts on the Czech Republic. If someone had lived in Prague his or her entire life since 1919, then he or she would have lived in seven different countries without ever moving from the neighborhood in which he was raised. There were also Communist propaganda posters, as well as modern anti-communism posters. My favorite showed a group of women running and said, "Like their sisters in the West, they would have burned their bras, if there were any in the shops."

After wandering around the city a bit more, we decided that we were ready for dinner (walking all day had made us ravenous). We found a very authentic Czech restaurant, and I had the most delicious food! I had grilled chicken that was stuffed with salami and delicious cheese! Also, the ambiance of the restaurant was great. Everyone around our group were all locals, and being as loud as we were, which is very rare. After dinner, we wandered around the city, and ended up in one of the largest clubs in central Europe. It was five stories tall, and each floor played a different genre of music. We spent the majority of the night on the "Oldies Floor" where they played a variety of American music ranging from "Rock Around the Clock" to Back Street Boys. When our feet hurt too much from dancing, we found our way home, because we knew that we were going to have another early start.

Saturday morning came far too early and was as busy as the day before. We all had our breakfast and coffee, and wandered across the river to see the palace and the Lennon wall. We crossed the Charles Bridge which is the main entrance to the castle and in modern times is a major tourist attraction. There are artists, musicians, and pickpockets all around this beautiful structure. We climbed the hill to the palace, and were amazed at how beautiful Prague was from such heights. It seemed like every roof was the same shade of orange-red, and the city was sprawled out in all of it's glory. Although we were slightly confused about which of the beautiful structures was in fact the palace, we admired building where construction began in the 11th century. We walked down the opposite side of the palace through gardens and parks, and finally found the Lennon wall. The Lenin wall is an "underground" tourist attraction that is definitely an acquired taste. It is a large wall of graffiti, but is all John Lennon quotations. Our group even did our own graffiti and signed it. It was such a contrast to the rest of the city, and ironic that a place so affected by Lenin's communism would have a wall with the same name devoted to free expression. The rest of the afternoon was spent going back up to the castle, and a visit to another microbrewery for dinner before we left to go on a bar crawl. Sleep came easily that night, which was good considering Sunday would be a full day as well.

Sunday morning meant checking out of our hostel and running around the city with our bags. First we went to Mass, and then another local place for lunch. Then we hiked across the city to see the Jewish memorials and the clock tower. Every hour, on the hour, a clock from the fourteenth century has a "play" in which the twelve disciples walk by and the greedy shake out of fear of death. It was very neat to see, but something that only needs to be witnessed once. We walked to the Jewish Ghetto and saw the synagogue where names of all of those in concentration camps are engraved into the walls and where there is art work from school children stating how they felt about the Germans and the Holocaust. The only thing sadder than this was walking through the cemetery where headstones were stacked one on top of the other because the city did not allow the Jews to have more room to bury their dead, and so they were forced to use the same three acre lot for hundreds of years.

After this somewhat depressing day, we were thankful to board the bus back to Budapest. The trip was fun, but we were all thankful to get back home late in the night to start a busy week of school! Unfortunately, my camera broke, but I'll upload my friends' pictures later so that you can see everything that I'm talking about! I'm spending this weekend in Budapest (thank goodness), so there will be more posts on the normal life of an amerikai deak Budapestba (an American student in Budapest)!