Czech me out!

Don't get too excited! About 18 Czech Krowns = $1 US Dollar

We were surprised and happy when we got to Prague and the weather wasn't too cold. This is probably the last "cold" place we're going to visit and we're beyond happy that we finally get to have Spring! Moms and Dads, you may have another box coming soon. The only thing that kinda stinks about Prague is that the weather is basically always rainy. We're completely okay with it, though, because it's way better than the weather being rainy AND cold, like some of the other places we've visited!

We went on the free walking tour this morning so that we could get a good feel of the city. Our guide wasn't as entertaining as the other ones we've had, but he was informative. The tour started in the Old Town Square so we got up in time to have a nice American Starbucks breakfast before meeting up with our group. The first stop was the Astronomical Clock, which is on a big tower in the square. It is sort of hard to describe, but basically it counts regular time, Hebrew calendar, Zodiac, Czech calendar and so on and so forth. Every hour from 9am to 9pm, the clock comes alive and chimes and has these 4 little guys that shake their heads and has some saints that poke their heads out of these little windows. Also, there's a guy at the top of the tower that plays a few notes on his trumpet and then waves at everyone. It sounds cool, but it really isn't that big a deal. If you go to Prague, don't go too far out of your way to be there on the hour. It's cool enough just checking it out anytime you're going through the square.

On another note, apparently Spring is springing here in Prague because they had a neat festival taking place in the square. There were all sorts of different vendors selling their wares and even a big stage where they have live entertainment every night. It's a really fun and festive atmosphere and only about a 5 minute walk from our hostel! (Katie took this picture, by the way, and is very proud of it!)

After learning all about the different buildings in the square, we went to Wenceslas Square, which is actually a rectangle. Go figure. It is really long and at the top of it is the Prague National Museum. There are lots of shops and restaurants lining both sides of the square. In front of the museum, there is a plaque marking the place where a young man named Jan Palach committed suicide by setting himself on fire protesting the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring on January 16, 1969. What a way to go!

Most of the rest of the tour was looking at some cool buildings that all mean different things in the history of Prague. This tour was a lot different from the other ones we've been on because it seems like most of the information we got was from post-WWII because that's when Czechoslovakia came into existence and then they didn't separate into the Czech Republic and Slovakia until January 1, 1993. Many of the buildings were really, really old, but most of the information seemed quite new. We didn't walk past one single building that could be described as boring. Every single one is beautiful and as different as it could be from the ones preceding it. Here are some lovely photos taken by your talented photographer of the day, Rachael Koplin!

An example of Cubist Architecture

In the middle of our tour, we had a lunch break at a restaurant that we'd already heard about called Bohemia Bagel. (Thanks to Jennifer for the tips on our hostel and Bo-Bagel!) This place was just the thing we needed! Bohemia Bagel serves American-style breakfast all day long as well as an extensive menu of other delicious offerings. As we were both in dire need of hash browns (or ketchup with a side of hash browns, as Rach prefers), this place was like an oasis in the desert! We have now been back there four times in a day and a half. When the tour ended, we considered immediately beginning another tour of the Prague Castle, but at that point it had started raining again so we decided against joining another 3 hour tour. We went back to one of the places we visited on the tour, the Pinkas Synagogue. It is no longer used as a synagogue but as a museum to commemorate all of the Czech Jews who died during the Holocaust. There is a ticket you can buy called the Jewish Museum Pass that gets you into all of the synagogues and memorials in the Jewish Quarter. For the first time ever, Katie and Rachael split up! GASP! The shop displays of shelf after shelf of beautiful gleaming bohemian crystal had gotten way too much for Katie to bear, so she decided she had to do some shopping while Rachael got back to her roots. A couple of hours later, Rachael bumped into Katie as she was paying for some amazing purchases and we had dinner together on the patio of a restaurant right in front of the Astronomical Clock. We enjoyed our meal, but couldn't push the thoughts of some amazing ice cream sundaes we had seen earlier from our minds so we figured we probably needed to indulge. Yum!

After our delish dessert, we did a little window shopping before heading back to the hostel. Rachael decided to go on a pub crawl with some new hostel buddies while Katie opted to catch up on skyping her peeps and hit the sack early. Don't worry, Moms and Dads, Katie wouldn't have let Rachael go out unless she was sure she'd be okay. And she was!

XOXO K&R