Greetings from Prague! I stayed in Prague for my second trip during my midterm break (I got 2 full weeks off from classes other than my two midterm tests at Bocconi) from October 31st through November 4th. Rachel Towe was my host this time around (shoutout to Rachel for always reading my posts!) and we were joined in our adventures by another Tulane friend Sarah. Prague had been on the top of my list (I would have considered studying there if the b school had an option), so I was super excited to see what all the hype was about. Simply, I see why my dad says its one of his favorite cities in Europe. Thursday: I arrived in Prague late on Thursday (Halloween day) after taking my second and last midterm. My flight had a transfer in Dusseldorf which I was slightly nervous about since I didn't want to be stranded there, but everything went smoothly! Once in Prague, I took public transport over to Rachel's apartment where we relaxed and I ate egg rolls for dinner before heading out. We went on the drunken monkey pub crawl which was pretty fun! The pub crawl included unlimited drinks for the first hour and then one shot at each of the stops once we left the starting bar. The crawl was pretty fun and a fairly good deal. We also got free drunken monkey headbands! The only downside was that it was extremely cold out on Halloween and we were running around without real jackets. After our last stop on the crawl, we got drunk food at burrito loco. Burrito loco is a Prague fast casual "Mexican" restaurant. It was honestly pretty terrible, but since we were drunk and I hadn't had "Mexican" food since being abroad it was wonderful. (I put Mexican in quotes because it was not really Mexican food other than the fact that it was a burrito. We then took an uber back to Rachel's apartment to sleep for the night before our Friday day trip. Friday: On Friday we took a day trip to Kutna Hora to see the famous bone church and explore a Czech town other than Prague. The train from Prague to Kutna Hora was an experience because there were little to no seats and the train company oversells tickets. Luckily, we managed to find seats since the ride wasn't that short. Once we arrived at the Kutna Hora station, we had to take a shuttle to the main town area. In the main town area, we went straight to St. Barbara's Cathedral. The cathedral was large and grand on a hill overlooking the rest of the town. While walking around the cathedral's interior, we ran into one of Rachel's professors. He was giving a tour in Czech so we couldn't join in, but it was super funny to see her professor out giving a tour. Once we explored the church interior, we went back outside and enjoyed mulled wine and a light pizza lunch on the hill overlooking Kutna Hora. The view was lovely and the wine warmed us up. We then walked back over to the bone church which was on the outskirts of the main area of Kutna Hora. The bone church was weird, underwhelming and overwhelming, and a perfect spooky experience for halloweekend. It's called the bone church because around 50,000 skeletons were used to create decorations and furnishings including a chandelier. The pictures below speak for itself. The experience was pretty wild. After the bone church we took the train back to Prague and relaxed at Rachel's for a bit before having dinner and going out for the night. Rachel had made reservations for all three of us at a bar called Anonymous Bar. Prague's night scene is a little different in that for most of the big bars you need reservations in order to get in. Anonymous Bar was a lot of fun and the different drinks all had different experiences that went with them. I took one for the team and got the drink that is served with the famous guy fawkes masks and polaroid photo. The drink was not something I normally would have ordered (it had scotch and I was not really a fan), but definitely worth it for the experience. Afterwards, I ordered the drink in a weird looking tiki glass that tasted much better. Another one of the drinks came with an anonymous bar post card that they mail for you. Overall a very fun and cool experience. Saturday: It was raining and kind of gross to start our Saturday so we went to the Museum of Communism to get out of the weather. The Museum was full of information and well done, but being abroad we were not prepared for the amount of reading and facts that there were. Honestly, it was exhausting. After the museum we walked towards the old town square and bought "grilled cheese" for lunch at the outdoor fall street markets. "Grilled cheese" is in quotes because it was quite literally a piece of cheese that was grilled then put on toast with a garlic butter spread. Delicious. Then we headed towards the old town square where we saw the astronomical clock before walking into the Jewish Quarter for trdelniks at Rachel's favorite place. If you don't know what a trdelknik is, its a roasted "chimney cake" that is coated in sugar and filled with either ice cream or other fillings. I had mine filled with nutella. The most amazing dessert that is not actually from Prague or Czech but is an abroad Prague staple. They are now popping up all over the world (I saw signs for them on instagram at the Bryant Park Christmas Market) and I HIGHLY recommend trying one. When fresh, they are the most wonderful treats ever. After our trdelniks, we crossed the Charles Bridge and czeched (lol) out the John Lennon Wall. Unfortunately, the wall was being revamped because the public ability to paint on it had gotten out of hand. The wall opened about two weeks after I visited and looks great though. I did see the trees that artists had painted in front of the blocked off wall which felt very fitting. After the wall, Rachel took us to a garden that she had wanted to visit. It was called Vrtbovska Zahrada and we ended up czeching (lol sorry) it out the last day of the season. The garden was very pretty and had a really beautiful view of Prague from the top of the hill. For dinner that night we had arepas at a place close to Rachel's apartment. They were very tasty! Sunday: Our Sunday started early with brunch at Sweet and Pepper Days. The restaurant was recommended to us by a local that Rachel worked with and it definitely did not disappoint! American esque Brunch was basically non existent in Milan, so I loved any chance I could get to eat tasty eggs. I had a pumpkin eggs benedict with bacon, spinach, and hummus. So good. I also had a pear mimosa which was very tasty and unlike any other mimosa I tried before. After brunch, we went over to the Prague Castle. We spent a while walking the grounds and enjoying the castle's scenery. The weather still was not that great, so after walking around outside at the Castle for a while, we decided to relax at a cat cafe. I was extremely animal deprived so I greatly enjoyed having some hot chocolate and cake while watching cats roam around. One of the cats even cuddled up on my lap for the period we were there. We then went back to Rachel's apartment since Sarah was leaving that night. Rachel and I enjoyed a quiet night afterwards, going to a pottery paint place across from her home and eating pho and eggrolls for dinner. Monday: I got up early on Monday with Rachel so we could go out for breakfast before her classes. For breakfast we went to Marthy's Kitchen which is a well known breakfast spot. I had an everything bagel (!!!!!) with grilled goat cheese. I missed bagels so so so much, but I decided to have a bagel with different toppings so I wouldn't be disappointed if it wasn't great. Spoiler, it was super tasty regardless. After breakfast, I left Rachel and headed towards the old town square. I had some time to kill before my free generation tours walking tour of the old town Prague area and the Jewish Quarter so I went to the Andy Warhol exhibit at an art museum in the town square. The museum was very enjoyable. I especially liked the items they displayed related to Warhol and his family in addition to his more famous prints. After I took the walking tour. The tour was pretty great considering it was free, but after the wonderful experience in Budapest, it came up a little short. It was a beautiful day, however, and I loved walking around Prague in the sun. After the tour, I went back to the Jewish Quarter myself since I wanted to learn more, see more, and actually go in to the Synagogues. The Jewish Museum is actually a combo ticket with access to 6 different sites. These sites are the Maisel Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Klausen Synagogue, the Ceremonial Hall, and the Spanish Synagogue. The Spanish Synagogue was being refurbished so I did not get to go inside, but the exterior was really lovely. The Pinkas Synagogue is where the Holocaust Memorial for Jewish Bohemia victims is located. The entire interior is filled with the names of those who perished from the area. It was incredibly somber, but affective in exemplifying the scope of what happened. I also went in to the Old-New Synagogue which is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It was super important to me to experience as much Jewish history in Europe as I could while abroad, so I am incredibly grateful that I got to explore the Prague Jewish quarter to end my trip. After I went through all the sites, I walked back to the old town square to see the view from the top of the astronomical clock tower as well as watch the clock tower go off. Lots of people consider the display of the clock tower disappointing, which its not a fireworks show, but honestly I enjoyed seeing it happen as well as seeing everyone look confused at the fact that "that was it." Afterwards, I got another trdelnik and walked across the Charles Bridge one last time before heading back to Rachel's to grab my stuff, say goodbye, and go to the airport. Best Moment:
My favorite moment would have to be exploring the Jewish Quarter on Monday. It was incredible to walk around Prague in the sunlight. Also bagels and trdelnik. Need I say more.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorStill me! Danielle!! Archives
October 2019
Categories |