Where to begin? Prague was amazing! I guess I will start at the beginning (for it's a very good place to start). We (myself and ten other BSM students) took an overnight train train to Prague that left at 8pm last Wednesday and got in during the wee hours of the morning (4am). We preceded to walk a long ways to our hostel to find out when it opened (which it didn't until 7). Fortunately we were traveling lightly and decided to make the most of our time, so we took public transit back into the city and headed toward the Charles Bridge. Since we were there at 6 in the morning or so, we had the bridge all to ourselves, which was awesome. After enjoying the view, we went in search of an ATM to withdraw money and then findvsome breakfast. Unfortunately, nothing opened until 7, so we were stuck wondering for a while.
Once we had some food in our bellies, we headed back to the hostel to drop off our bags. Of course it was still too early to check in, but they let us in to the luggage room. Then, we headed to the Old Town Square. Here we saw many beautiful sights, like the Old Town Hall (with the astronomical clock), the St. Nicholas Church, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, and we briefly explored the Jewish quarter. On our way there, we passed a market (definitely aimed at tourists), and had a good chuckle over some of the shirts they were selling (such as one saying "Czech me out!"). We watched the Astronomical Clock strike 11am, which is a big deal because it is the oldest working astronomical clock in the world (dating back to the 15th century) and also has magnificently sculpted moving figures of the Apostles that date back to the 18th century. The hour is also accompanied by a fanfare played by a bugler in the top of the tower wearing medieval garb.
Then it was time for an early lunch, after which we headed back to the hostel to check in (yes, this does make the third trip there within about 8 hours). I was in a room with 7 other BSM students. We did really well with selecting the hostel (well, we got lucky because we chose the cheapest option with high ratings on the website we used to search). Our room was really nice and the beds were quite comfortable. Plus, for only about $20 a night each, we got free wi-fi, a very good free breakfast, a private bathroom, a kitchen (which we didn't use), and small sun room (perhaps the term "nook" is more appropriate). Now the group split up: some wanted to stay and nap, but others decided to head out and explore some more (I was in the latter group). Since we had a couple of huge Beatles fans in the group, our first stop was the John Lennon wall - which is essentially a graffiti tribute to John Lennon. It changes frequently, so different tributes overlap and make a beautiful collage of lyrics, pictures, and song titles. We left our own tribute (in pen because that was all we had) that said: "sqaure root(-1) all the people -BSM 2011." Hooray for math jokes (the square root of -1 is "i").
Once the Beatles fans had their fill, we explored Old Town a little more and eventually made our way up to the Castle. We were only there long enough to enjoy a fantastic view of the city and watch the changing of the guard before another student and I left to attend a concert in the St. Nicholas Church. The concert featured oboe, harpsichord, and organ. It was very good, but we had difficulty staying awake (something about only getting an hour or so of fitful sleep the night before). This was especially difficult during the oboe and the harpsichord, the organ did a better job of keeping us up.
One of the BSM students has a friend who studied abroad in Prague, so we took her recommendation for dinner. However, the place is very popular and was very busy, so they couldn't seat the 8 of us that had come. A couple of BSMers were willing to break off, and we eventually got 6 of us seated. The suggestion was a very good one. I even tried rabbit for the first time. Surprisingly, it did NOT taste like chicken. Instead, it tasted a lot like turkey, but it was very good. Since we had a late dinner and all of us were tired, we headed back to the hostel once again to call it a night. After almost no sleep the previous night and walking around all day, we all slept really well.
It now occurs to me that this post is fairly long already, and I have only covered the first day. So, I think I will call that good for now and blog about the rest of the trip later. Besides, I have to get ready for my first math class in Budapest!
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