Pope Benedict XVI, Nora, and I. . .

My roommate, Nora, and I arrived at our modest hostel in Prague Friday evening (perfectly centered in the middle of Old Town Square!) just as Pope Benedict XVI landed there in all his pageantry. Apparently, someone let him know we were coming. Unfortunately, the Prague Castle was closed due to his visit, but never the less we saw every other inch of this breathtaking city.

First and foremost, Prague has amazingly delicious and inexpensive food! We spent the first night eating in the middle of Old Town Square, watching the busy streets and tourists snapping photos. In the middle of Old Town Square, we claimed as our own the local kebab stands, where the food and the atmosphere were both delicious!

Saturday we conducted our own casual tour of the city. We started walking through Old Town, visiting the Black Cathedral, nearly hidden by more modern buildings, and the Astronomical Clock, which dates back to 1410. Though the clock is stunning, it becomes quite unusual as every hour, a skeleton pulls the doors open for statues of medieval figures to pop their heads out of windows… Nora and I were a bit disturbed until we started walking down the shopping boulevard, where we felt right at home (of course)! Next, we visited the Jewish Quarter with the Old-New Synagogue. The area was full of life and character, busy with street venders and tourists. Following the Jewish Quarter, we stopped at the Czech Senate to see the stunning gardens. What a spectacular setting to conduct business! From there, we ventured near Vltava River with the Charles Bridge. Charles Bridge is a famous as once being the only means between Old Town and the Prague Castle. Linkin Park and Kanye West have even filmed music videos there. Today, the bridge is known worldwide as a place for musicians and artists to gather and perform.

After enjoying local music, we hiked up to Petrin Hill and the Mini Eiffel Tower, overlooking the entire city. The area rests behind the Strahov Monastery, famous as a center of learning in the ancient city. The views from this place are beyond beautiful – in the pictures, you can clearly see Prague Castle, the Black Cathedral, Loreta, Charles Bridge and other landmarks.

Since the Prague Castle was closed for the Pope, Nora and I visited the next best thing – Prague Castle Vineyards! For both of us, this was our first wine tasting. And no better place to start than overlooking the entire European city and largest castle in the world! Later in the evening, we attended the Prague Underground Bar Crawl (actually recommended to us by a professor and fellow Furman student)! One of the workers is actually from Greenville! What a small world! Most of the other bar crawlers were Americans, so it was nice to spend time with tourists similar to ourselves! Needless to say, Nora and I spent the night dancing! But, we called it an early night because…

We had a boat tour early Sunday morning! What a perfect way to end our trip! We toured the Vltava River, actually seeing where we hiked to the day before. While we saw many places we already had on Saturday, the views from the opposite direction on water were peaceful in the Sunday sunrise.

The remainder of the day consisted of another boat, cab, train, plane, shuttle, metro, bus to return to our Rue Gray home! Public transportation is nice here, but can you image all that in one day? =) Slowly, I am becoming a seasoned traveler!