This past couple of days my friend Caitlin and I went to Prague, Czech Republic for a trip. We got to fly a real airline to Prague because none of the cheap airlines flew there so even though it was a little expensive it was so worth it because we had plenty of room and got a meal and everything. I arrived in Prague late Friday afternoon and checked into the hostel. Next I walked to Old Town Square, which is where everything happens and is a site in itself. The square was full of all these vendors because it was the last week of the Easter festival, which was really good because we were able to browse different Czech arts and crafts and get some traditional food.
After walking around the square I climbed the Astronomical Clock, which has become a symbol of Prague. The clock was built in 1338. Every hour the clock rings and 12 apostles circle the clock while a skeleton is ringing a bell to symbolize how short life is. Also, there is another part of the clock that is a calendar board of astronomical signs. Finally there is a wheel with 365 names and to this day when a child is born they must be named after the name on the wheel. That night we went to this restaurant in the square for dinner.
Astronomical Clock
The next morning I woke up and went to Bohemian Bagels for breakfast, which basically became my sanction for my time in Prague. Then I headed to the square because I was going on a free walking tour through the New Europe tour groups. I would recommend taking this tour to anyone who is in a city where the company offers tour because it was the best tour I ever took, paid or free. The tour took us to St. Nicolas Church, Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, which is the main church in the square, the statue of Jan Hus, who can be considered the founder of Protestantism, Wenceslas Square, and so many more places.
Our Lady Before Tyn Church
We also saw this statue of Kafka, who is a famous author born in Prague. After the tour we went to some of the churches and such because we did not have time to go inside them during the tour. One of the churches had this dead arm hanging on a chain. The story behind the arm is that a robber tried to steal this piece of jewelry off a statue of the Virgin Mary and she grabbed his arm to stop him and the only way to free him was to saw off his arm. After this I just walked around for a bit and did some souvenir shopping and even bought myself a ring. That night I went to another Czech restaurant and had beef goulash, which was delicious. The night I meet up with kids who are studying abroad in Rome who were also visiting Prague.
The next morning I again went to get a bagel and just hung out around Prague before going on another New Europe Tour but this one was of the Prague Castle and we had to pay a small fee for it but it was totally worth it. The tour took me to the Hradčany and Mala Strana neighborhood of Prague. I saw another St. Nicholas Church, which was built by the father of the person who built the other church on the opposite side of the Charles River. Also, I went to the Domecek, which was home to the Nazi secret police and there are still conspiracy theories about the police still being there. I also saw the Wallenstein Palace, which a duke spent 7 years building and was only able to live there for 1 year because he died and there were also really pretty gardens. Next I saw the Loreto, which is named after the town in Italy that is suppose to have the house of Jesus, which was moved there from Israel. The building is named this because the Czechs constructed a replica of the house in Prague in hopes of converting people to Catholicism. Also, I passed “Mozart’s house”, which was not actually his house but the house that was used in the film Amadeus. Finally, we made it to the Prague Castle, which is the oldest medieval castle in the world. The castle is still where the president of the Czech Republic lives when he is in the country. The castle is also home to St. Vitus Cathedral, which is the part of the castle that took the longest to complete and was not finished until 1929, meanwhile the castle began construction in 870 AD. After the castle tour I went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner and then headed to bed.
St. Vitus Cathedral
The next morning I went to the Jewish section of Prague. The Czech Republic has a high Jewish population so this section of Prague has many historic buildings. I bought a ticket that would gain me admittance to all the various sites in the Jewish Quarter or Josefov. First I went to the Spanish Synagogue, which was done in a Moorish style. Next I went to the Pinkas Synagogue, which now houses a collection of art done by Jewish children while they were in the concentration camps. The next synagogue was the Old-New Synagogue, which got its name because of the misinterpretation of past languages. This synagogue is the oldest synagogue in the world and services still occur there today. Lastly, I went to an old Jewish cemetery were over 10,000 bodies were buried but because there was only limited land the cemetery was built up so some of the graves have up to ten people under the gravestone.
After touring the Jewish section of town I walked across the Charles Bridge, which has become another symbol of Prague because King Charles built this bridge in the same place that several bridges before had fallen but because King Charles figured out mathematical the perfect day to start construction on the bridge this bridge has managed to survive hundreds of year. I walked across the bridge to go to lunch in the Mala Strana area and then went to got check out the love locks and Lennon Wall. The love locks are padlocks put on a bridge to symbolize a couple love for each other. The Lennon wall may look like a bunch of graffiti but someone painted the face of John Lennon on the wall and it is suppose to represent the peace that will be brought upon the Czech population when the country is free from communism. Following this I went back to the hostel because it was raining and for diner tonight we went to this really good restaurant that was right next to our hostel.
Lennon Wall
On my final morning in Prague I got one last bagel and then just spent the morning walking around Prague. Actually completely without planning I ran into Loyola kids who were studying abroad in Ireland who were also visiting Prague. After chatting with them I was finally able to go into the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, which every time I had visited before it had been closed. After seeing the church I headed back to the hostel to get my bags and headed to the airport. Prague was an amazing trip especially because I had enough time to see everything while still being able to enjoy the city.
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