Off to Prague!

Friday, May 17 (Day 11)

This morning we woke up at the usual time and had “exciting breakfast” - Rachel and I had both saved snacks from the day before to have for breakfast. Rachel had a yogurt for herself, and I had a chocolate muffin. Neither were that great, but it's the little things, isn't it?

Lilo wished us a great weekend, and we caught the bus, train, and U4, getting to the institute early.

Class today was good – Christine gave her presentation on Beethoven, Dr. Riesinger explained the superiorities of Viennese education, and we learned a lot about a great composer. We took a walking tour as a class, since it was beautiful outside. Dr. Reisinger (Wolfgang) showed us both historical sites (one of Beethoven's many apartments, a Haydn apartment, etc) as well as little-known corners of Viennese culture. He pointed out the Universität Wein, showed us back to AAIE, and went his merry way, wishing us a great weekend in Prague.

I had a quick lunch from the sausage stand while we waited for the bus, and I read my book.

We loaded into the bus around 1pm do drive the 5+ hours to Prague. We stopped halfway through to use the bathroom and buy sugary snacks and drinks to get us through to dinner.

We arrived in Prague, where we picked up the indomitable and ever-adorable Dana (pronounced like Donna), who would be our tour guide for the Czech Republic. She spoke to us on the bus as we drove through the city, giving history and other information about both the city and the Czech Republic itself.

We had dinner as a group in the “St. Norbert” monestary. After dinner (at which we all tried and disliked the meat patte, but enjoyed the chicken) we departed with Dana for our walking tour.

Initial thoughts on Prague: generally not favorable.

1. There is a TON of graffiti, covering almost every free inch of every building. We're sad about the lack of respect for older buildings.
2. Communism feel. All the buildings, though colored differently, look kinda similar (at least driving into the city). Although it wasn't that late in the evening, there were very few people on the streets or in the hotel.
3. It just kinda feels dirty all over.

I'm hoping that this first impression is a reflection on a less-beautiful part of town, rather than the “real” Prague; We're hoping that the beauty and history of the city are 

easier to see during a sunny day.

Dana showed us the Prague castle, as well as the church inside, which were both beautiful. We also saw the Golden lane, named for the alchemists that lived there, trying to create gold. 

It was also the home of Franz Kafka.

We photographed the cathedral, for which Doc advised us to lie down to take the picture.  

We returned to the hotel, where many tried and failed to get wifi. Audrey and I had a soda and headed upstairs to bed.