Spring Break: City 5 of 6
Hostel
After Berlin, Allison and I split off on our own to Prague while many of the others from our group went to Switzerland. We stayed at Hostel Santini, which I’m pretty sure used to be a hotel renovated into a hostel. It had a great location just down the hill from Prague Castle and close to the Charles Bridge. A great thing about this hostel was that even though we signed up for a room with about ten beds in it, the room was actually divided into thirds so we could close doors to separate things up. I slept in a part with just four beds. All ten shared one bathroom, however. A negative resulting from the hostel being a renovated hotel was that there weren’t plugs near all the beds. There were a few on the walls so I’m pretty sure everyone was able to charge their stuff (better than Amsterdam) but it would have been nice to have one near the bed. Also, some girls thought it was okay to turn the light on in the room at 5 am to pack up instead of just using their phone lights. They said, “just a minute” when we told them to turn them off because people were trying to sleep. I feel like I could write a piece on hostel etiquette and its importance.
Photo of Hostel Santini I stole from the internet
Activities
It was Easter time when I was in Prague so the main square, called Wenceslas Square, was decorated with ribbons and people were selling painted eggs. I’m pretty sure there are usually booths set up in that square but everything was a little extra special for Easter. Allison and I walked down here to see the Astronomical clock and get some food. We spent a lot of time in and out of cafes because the weather was super cold and kind of rainy.
Astronomical clock
We also walked across the Charles Bridge, which was extremely crowded and probably better admired from one of the other bridges that crossed the river. It was cool to see the neat statues that lined it, though.
View of Prague near the bridge
View of the bridge at night
Allison and I walked around the Prague Castle, which had a great view of the city. We didn’t take any tours but we used an app called Triposo, which has maps and information about the sites in whatever city you’re visiting. I love the blue-colored domes in Prague.
St Vitus Cathedral near Prague Castle
Cathedral from the back
The view
The view, featuring me
On our last day, we met up with Hallie, another girl from USAC, and went to the John Lennon wall. It was colorful and cheerful and I wrote my name in tiny letters with a ballpoint pen (it was all I had!). We also went to a Thai pedicure place and Allison and I had are feet cleaned by fish. Yup, it was pretty weird. The fish ate the dead skin from our feet (and I had a lot) and they tickled me between my toes. The Thai women who worked there were not amused by our giggling. Someone should tell them to lighten up.
John Lennon wall
They loved me
Food
The food in Prague was cheap, which is wonderful. A lot of traditional dishes included some kind or meat and potato dumplings. I can’t remember the names of anything specific but I did get a big hunk of meat from the main square (recommended by Kristen). It was a fun experience. I also tried this Czech cinnamon pastry called a trdelnik. It’s cooked on these rollers over a flame. They are really yummy.
Hunk of meat
Trdelnik
Nightlife
We were in Prague in the middle of the week so nightlife wasn’t super prominent while we were there but Allison and I decided to visit the five-story club to see what it was like. There weren’t a lot of people (pretty sure this was a Tuesday) but the first floor had an ice bar that was a little bigger than the one in Barcelona with less tasty drinks. The other floors had space for dancing but not a lot of people were out.
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