Czech Me Out In Prague!

From the start Prague was a whole new world. There's an entirely new language that isn't readable like German, the money is completely wonky, and it's an entirely different place from Spain or Germany. I realized about 20 minutes before my bus got in that while Czech is in the European Union, they are not in the Euro Zone. And all I had a wad of Euros that were going to cost me an insane amount to change them to Korunas. I found a cash machine and pulled out that I thought would be just enough to make it from the bus station through the metro to the hostels so I could look up the exchange rate and figure out how much I needed. For you information, one euro is about 25 czk, and one usd is about 20. So 400 czk is only 20usd. But to a little white girl who only knows usd, Loonies and Euros, seeing something marked 600czk is pretty intimidating. I managed to get it together and I slowly wasn't so shocked every time something was marked 600czk.

In Berlin, I had taken a free tour that really was free. And I had a really good time, and found everything to be incredibly helpful and interesting. Plus the guide wasn't bad to look at or listen to for three hours. Hoping to have similar luck in Prague, I did the same free tour with the exact same company. Unfortunately, it wasn't as interesting, and a tour through one of the most romantic, beautiful cities was more like a long, cold lecture  that didn't lend helpful insight to Prague at all. BUT I did get my footing around the city and some good pictures, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I also went to castle hill where the Prague Castle is located. I had a great afternoon watching the guard changing, seeing the big cathedral and walking around the old town. It's a very different  part of town from where I stayed which is  a little more industrialized. So it was fun to see the difference. I also saw an exhibit of the art Nuevo artist, Alfons Mucha. He was born in what would be today the Czech Republic and Prague has adopted him as part of their tourist scheme. I'm a big fan of his work so to see some of his smaller pieces and more realistic pieces was fantastic. 

One of my last days in Prague I went and visited the Jewish quarter of Prague. There I visited multiple synagogues, a ceremonial hall and the Jewish Cemetery. This neighborhood in Prague was one of the only ones to survive Hilters destruction, and while they had some damage, for the most part the majority of the buildings remained intact. The reason Hitler let this one slide? He wanted to make a museum of the extinct race. 

In one of the synagogues which has been transformed into part of the Jewish museum, there is an exhibit of children's drawings from Terezín concentration camp. The drawings were of all kinds of themes, life before, life in the camp, and what they hoped for for the future. Over 8,000 children under the age of 15 went through Terezín, only 242 remained alive till 1945. The majority were deported to Auschwitz. It was an incredibly moving, and difficult exhibit to walk through. But well worth the experience. 

On one of my last Days in Prague I scaled one of the many spires in the city in an old belfry and got a great view of the Prague fog and some of the skyline.

Overall, Prague was a gorgeous city with very interesting history and culture. I'm so glad I got to experience a country more on the Slavic side. I'm excited for my next two cities, and I'm excited to be returning to Seville in less than ten days! This break was a major stressor for me during fall semester, and to think that I accomplished this trip and so much more traveling solo makes me very proud of myself.

My body and mind have dragged me through Europe, fed me weird food, slept in rooms with strangers and been my only traveling companion for the past month or so. I accomplished this, and I will accomplish so much more. Watch out world; this girl's feeling independent  and confident in herself. 

All my love,

XOXO