Date: May 16th, 2023
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Today I woke up feeling a bit worse than usual. So I got dressed, all packed up, and went to the lobby to eat breakfast. Luckily, I ran into my teacher and I was able to ask if she had some medicine that I could take to help me feel better. Thankfully, she did and I was able to take some. Anyways, today was another travel day. It was unfortunate that I was starting to feel so sick, but I was very excited about the destination. While it’s the last unique place that we’re visiting since we’ll be in Vienna for one night before catching the plane home, this was the place I was most excited to see: Prague, Czech Republic.
I slept on the bus ride there since it was so long. It was a little less than a five-hour drive. And since I was still feeling under the weather, it definitely helped to get some rest. Though I still didn’t have my voice back yet. That was a little frustrating. But oh well.
Eventually, we made it to Prague! We kind of lucked out with the hotel location this time. We were very much in a city and we were right next to a big tram station. Additionally, there were a lot of little food places and even a mall right next to us. Though I think what stood out the most was the McDonalds and the KFC sitting right next to each other down the road. And they were pretty popular too!
In Prague, I lucked out again and managed to get another single room. This was especially nice since we were going to spend three nights here. Anyways, I dropped off my bags really quickly, freshened up, and went back downstairs to the lobby. We were going to have a walking tour of Prague and I was really, really excited about this. We were going to start by driving around some of the city in a bus, and then we were going to get off and walk around some of the older parts of the city. And can I just say- Prague was easily my favorite destination of the entire trip.
Walking around, we got to see so many historic landmarks and old churches, and beautiful statues. Everything was in the similar baroque style that I’ve been seeing throughout the other locations we’ve visited but Prague had some elements of Gothic architecture in there too that made it so beautiful. Plus there were hints of art deco style here and there too. We passed by old hotels that were still in use and old markets too. We crossed over a bunch of bridges with my favorite one being St. Charles Bridge with all its statues. We also got to see St. Wenceslas Square and his statue. I know about him because of his Christmas song but I never knew where his story came from! Turns out he’s a really big deal in Prague because he was the king of that region for some time in the past! And we even got to see the Jewish Quarter- a part of the city that was historically known for having a high Jewish population. Here are a bunch of pictures of places I saw throughout the day!
But the best part of all? It was seeing the astronomical clock!
The Prague Astronomical Clock is this large clock attached to the old town hall in Prague's Old Town district. It’s well over 500 years old at this point and it’s still working today! The astronomical clock doesn’t just show the time too. It also shows the zodiac signs, sunset time, lunar phases, and more! There are also little moving figures that you can see turn in a circle on the hour. They appear behind a little window inside the clock. I believe there are twelve of them and they’re supposed to represent the twelve apostles too! And to signify the hour, there’s a statue of a skeleton on the clock that represents death. He rings the bell he holds in his hand to count the hours. How cool is that!
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the clock go off. We had a lot more walking to do after all! So after we visited the Astronomical clock, we continued our tour- passing by a bunch more places like a memorial to Franz Kafka and the Lennon Wall! Though eventually, it was time for our tour to end. We had been walking for a while. And I have a feeling we didn’t even see most of the city yet! But we were all a little tired and getting kind of hungry so it was time for dinner.
We all kind of broke off and did our own thing so I ended up joining a big group of people along with some of my friends and ate at a nearby restaurant. The food was okay but man the prices in Prague felt way cheaper than everywhere else! Felt like I was really getting a good deal on dinner! Anyways, once we finished dinner my friends and made a quick pit stop at the hotel to change into some warmer clothes and head out once more. While on our tour, our tour guide mentioned something about a light show that was supposed to be really really big! And so, I and a bunch of undergrads all went out and took the train to a nearby park where the light show was supposed to happen!
It was a little bit intimidating getting there at first. The roads and parks and public spaces in Prague are NOT that well lit so it was a bit scary at first. But we followed the flashing lights for a while and found where the light show was happening! And let me just say- it was very underwhelming. About ten people were there (including everyone I went with) and it was very quiet and very empty in that park. But it gave us a quick moment to laugh and reflect and laugh about all the fun we had on the trip. We even laid down for a while on the grass and just watched the lights go around and around and around and around. It was really nice.
Though at that point it was getting kind of late so I decided to head back. I was joined by one of the older undergrad students and we walked back to the hotel together. It was a really easy walk so that was extremely nice. And we got to see some more of the city on the way too! Once I was back at the hotel, I got ready for bed. I was pretty exhausted from today and I was still feeling a bit sick so I figured I made the right call. It was time for me to get to bed. And this time, I had nothing to worry about! Prague will be here when I wake up! Very excited about tomorrow! I know it’ll be great!
Anddddd that's it for now! Thank you so much for tuning in! Until next time!
-DD
Picture Sources (in order of appearance):
Prague Opera House - My photo!
Hotel Meran - My Photo!
Charles Bridge - My photo!
Lennon Wall - My photo!
Art Haus at night - My photo!
Me at the Astronomical Clock- My photo!
Astronomical Clock - My photo!
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