Ahoj Praha !
Today had a fun-filled journey lead by an energetic guide, Karel.
Taking a trip back into medieval times, our first stop was the famous Prague Castle. Unlike most of the other royal palaces we have seen on Eurotour, we only toured the outside. Nevertheless, the gardens were majestically enchanting.
Along with Karel's signature catchphrase, "Let's Go !", we were off to the cathedral. With "shmoleys" of history just within the art of the doors, it was a foreshadowing of the rest of the cathedral, and also the entirety of Prague. Inside the cathedral, we saw about a dozen gorgeous stained glass windows, numerous statues, and even a silver-plated tomb. Needless to say, it was ah-mazing.
After a short walk through the beautiful streets of Praha, we arrived at a lane of old houses turned into shops. We took a break in one of these houses that had been turned into a medieval museum. With attractions such as armor, a torture chamber, and crossbows, we were fascinated. Right before a much-needed lunch, we took a quick stop to watch the changing of the guards at the castle. Accompanied by fanfare and the like, it was like stepping in a time machine.
For lunch, we all went to a traditional Czech restaurant called Lokal. Some of the typical (and delicious!) foods we ate included roast beef, goulash, and, of course, dumplings. Afterwards, many of us sampled a Czech dessert called a "cinnamon tower*" (*fake name). Everything was nothing short of delightful.
As we reconvened after lunch, the weather had a change of heart and we experienced some light rain. However, a souvenir shop was more than happy to sell us slightly overpriced plastic ponchos.
A surprise hippie moment awaited us as we stumbled upon the super chill John Lennon wall. We took a moment to listen to his song "Imagine" as we took everything all in. It was a brief yet beautiful moment. Continuing on, we took a walk throughout a park. Along with a small band of great street performers, we saw a temporary gallery of Nicholas Winton. Long history short: Sir Nicholas Winton (1907- ) arranged for over 650 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to be transported and housed with adoptive families in Britain during WWII in order to save them. He was very successful and is known today as "The Schindler of Britain." This exhibition was super interesting.
Next, we took a stroll over the famous Charles Bridge. Even though we had already walked over the bridge the night before, it was a completely different experience during the daytime. Today, we saw many vendors and watched a jazzylicious band called J.K. Novak and Bridge Band. They were awesome. From there we walked to the old Jewish ghetto from the Second World War. It remains intact today because Hitler had originally planned to keep it as a museum of sorts. We saw the oldest synagogue in Europe and heard tales of Gollum the mud monster that helped the Jewish people during ghetto times.
We wandered over to a beautiful plaza where the Prague orloj (Prague astronomical clock) is. We learned about its colorful past including the clocks symbolism, legends, and history. From there we "bid adieu" to our wonderful guide Karel and made our way back to our lovely Hotel.
A couple hours later we ate a great dinner at the hotel then took a night stroll through the illuminated streets of Prague.
As we lay in our cozy beds we reflect on this incredible adventure that has been the past 18 days. We have learned more about Europe and each other than we could have imagined. We want to give a colossal "thank you" to our cool coordinator Raphael, our shuper chaperone "Jamón" (Ramón), and our lovely Monitor Luca. You guys have been the bomb-diggity-dawg-dot-com of leaders and we cannot thank you enough. Eurotour 2k14 forevzz.
With love,
Tessa Kelly (California) & Pauline Sherry (Colorado)
No comments:
Post a Comment