…the
day started the best way possible….sleeping in and then skyping my friends from
back home who were walking the night away at Relay for Life, Boise State
University….so sad that I couldn’t be there, but thank you to all that walked
and to all that made me feel and seem, really, that I was there J…what
you all did made me so happy and thankful for the amazing friends that I have
been blessed with….
…afterwards,
when Nat woke up we headed back The Globe, the restaurant from the night
before, for an American brunch….it was much needed and so darn good J….country
fried steak and eggs….yum yum yum….after a nice leisurely brunch, we were off
for another day of good sight seeing….first stop on the agenda, The John Lennon
Wall….
…this
took a bit of finagling to find….but along the way we did have some adventures,
like discovering the marathon that was going on in town that day, and! Believe it
or not, we found scarves along the way….im not sure if I have said this yet in
the blog, but I am getting a scarf from every place that I travel to for a full
day (aka I didn’t get one in Brussels, wish I had though)….they were all so
gorgeous in Prague and really the Czech Republic in general….but then after
walking in a few more circles, we found it…..and it was so so cool, now I don’t
really know the history behind it, but it was this really cool section of was
that has layers and layers of writing on it….some people names and hearts, or
places others are from, or quotes, lyrics and sayings….so so cool, I could have
sat there for hours reading it J I totally loved it….
…afterwards,
we both needed a bathroom and had a bit to burn before our city tour, so we
ducked into a restaurant….after about a half hour we were off again…this time
to the old town square to meet up with our tour…
…we
were using the New Europe – Sandman’s tours…the same company I took a free tour
with in Paris….and of course again they did an amazing job….our tour guide was
really entertaining too which was awesome….he started by bringing us to a spot
near our starting space and sat us down and literally just told us a 10 or 15
minute history of Prague, and it was really cool…at certain parts he would stop
and tell us that that part would be another story later…it was really
interesting and super informative….im telling you people, if you travel abroad,
take the free tours!!.....so we started at the astronomical clock and let me
just tell you that this thing is so freaking cool! This clock was built
hundreds of years ago in 1410, it’s the 3rd oldest astronomical
clock in the world and the oldest one still working….when the architect who
designed it, finished it, the nobility blinded him and cut out his tongue so
that he could never make another one!....so its really cool because there are a
series of dials….on the largest part of the clock face is the stationary clock
face with a picture of the earth and local view of the sky, during the day the
sun that is on the end of one of the hands is above the “sky” and the moon that
is on the other hand (this moon also spins to represent the phases of the moon
correctly, I know crazy) is above it during the night…there are roman numerals
around the outside to show the Central European time….then inside that there is
another moving circle with zodiac signs….then around the outside there is a
calendar too, with days of the week, months, days of month, and even the name
days (a czech thing, you have to name your kids this, if you want a different
name you have to petition its, and everyone gets a “name day” basically a
second birthday!)....i certainly cant tell you how it all works, but right now
it is actually an hour late, because the mechanisms are so incredible that they
still don’t even really know how it all works so they cant adjust it to
daylight savings time…
...then we went to Wenceslas Square and Gunpowder Tower….then
stopped for lunch…a really cool part of these free tours, they usually will take
you to a café or market or something about halfway through the 3 hour tour for
you to use the bathrooms and grab something to eat, well on this tour they took
us to a restaurant where they had a few specific meals that we ready for us already
so that we could eat in a short period of time, if we wanted, it was really
nice! So we were able to get some lunch and they we were back out for touring
around the Jewish District and then Charles Bridge….another fantastically
packed tour, but I learned so so much, I loved it! Great way to spend a few
hours, and you learn and see all the big attractions of a city in one fell
swoop….and get your bearings a bit along the way, truly an awesome thing, so
glad I was told about these J
…after the tour, we were tired but it was too early for
dinner, so we walked around, grabbed a snack and decided to go up the
Astronomical Clocktower…so so so cool I totally loved it J…then
again I just really really like panorama views….we were going to go up the even
taller tower, a bit on the edge of the city center, but the day was hazy and
foggy so we weren’t sure how far we would be able to see there….here we saw the
whole city up close and personal J….so awesome….afterwards we were off again, back to
the hostel to drop off some treasures, and use the wifi to catch up with Nat’s
friends….we made a plan to go see them later and we took off to dinner…
….we went to a cool Microbrewery in a club right in the
bottom of the building that Natalie used to live in….it was really neat, they
handed you the drink menu and in it were the 6 on tap, that they made
themselves, and when you were ready you just said what number on ta you wanted…..really
good too….we also got great food….some classic goulash with dumplings….good
classic Czech food….loved it, perfect comfort food…..it was really cool to be
there with her, in a place where she and her study abroad friends used to come
get drinks…and think to myself that, if she hadn’t chosen to study in Prague with
USAC she may have never chosen to study with USAC in the first place and
certainly never have the great time there that she did…and then she wouldn’t have
chosen to come back and we may have never met….interesting the way that life
works out sometimes…..
….after dinner we went over to a friends for a couple hours…and
later it was back to the hostel to head to bed…we said goodbye to Prague for a
day……the next morning would be out of the hostel by 8:30am to go catch a bus
(and I literally mean, catch) to a
smaller town 3 hours south, Cesky Krumlov…..
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