Europe - Prague - Day 13

The gem of our trip was saved for last. Prague is a city of rich history and culture..haha, who am I kidding. We went there because it is a party town.

Our final destination of our European Sampler was finally upon us.

The second that Miguel and I pulled into Prague, we knew we were going to have a good time. People come alive when they are in Prague. The streets are filled with tourists (Mostly Brits looking to drink the town out of alcohol). I feel bad for the locals. I am sure they live across the Vltava River to get away from it all.

We were very excited to explore Prague. We heard so much about its intricate alleways of restaurants, bars, and boutiques smushed between centuries of history. However, they managed to take some of that history and capitalize on it in the form of crystal. It is the Bohemian capital of crystal. The competition is so high, that we did not find a single place brave enough to advertise their shop as having the best crystal in town. The closest we got to a shop being gutsy enough to trump the competition had an awning that read, "Probably the Best."

The daylight was leaving us quickly, so we had a lot of city to explore before party time. Prague is known for Wenceslas Castle, the Astronomical Clock, and many political and liberal movements. Just go check out wikipedia. :)

I have to say the points of interest that really make Prague intriguing require a couple good library books and off-season trips to Prague. So, I won't bore you with the details of the Astronomical Clock. Except to say, it's so complicated that the maker became disgruntled and broke the clock, leaving prague without the use of their town center timepiece for over 100 years! Nobody could figure out what he did. Those crazy Bohemians.

Moving on...

The night activities started to begin, so we checked into our hostel.

Let me just say this...hostels are not what I thought they would be. The hostel that we stayed in was more modern and hip then most hotels in the States. Not that I have much experience with hotels in the States.

The coolest thing about the hostel, was the lounge area where everyone meets to see what the plan is for the night. We gathered a decent size group in the basement when one of the employees came down to see what we were up to. Vlad became our official tour guy. Prague became our playground, Vlad was our guide, and we walked the streets like a bunch of elementary school students on a field trip. haha, I love hostels. Or was it Prague that made the hostel experience so great? I don't know, but I am willing to find out again.

Vlad had a direct path to the "Largest Club in Eastern Europe". It was a Monday night, so by the time we go there, we didn't have the feeling that we were in the largest club. Anyhow, our hostel group was more than enough to fill the club with a party feeling. We dealt with the neon lights and techno as much as possible and headed back to get some rest for the next day we had to explore Prague in its entirety.

King Wenceslas had a routine route that he would walk during parades and festivals. The route is used today as a great way to see most of the city and its numerous historical buildings, statues, and bridges. The Charles Bridge, if you are curious. Miguel and I spent most of the day on and off this route and finding ourselves walking into the Wenceslas castle. This monsterous castle sits on top of a hill overlooking Prague providing a wonderful view.

We got as much of a feel for Prague as time allowed. It was time to make that final drive back to Germany, because our trip was officially over.

The European Sampler was draining, nonetheless. However, it was worth every moment. To this day, I still have very fond memories of the trip and continuously remember them when I want to get away from work on a cold, snowy day.

I can't wait to develop more European memories to accompany the ones that I finally have now.

Miguel, we finally did it.