When in Rome: Czech Me Out

Welcome to the Czech Republic!! Where it's still freezing cold!

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t come up with that title myself. I borrowed it from the shot glass I bought in Prague. But it seemed appropriate. As with Budapest, the trip was amazing, and so much was accomplished it’s time for Highlights from David’s weekend trip, part two:

The first day was one of the best (the other day and a half were good too). Whitney and I flew over a day early and had all day Thursday to get used to the city before Semir, Tawnie and Abby arrived. Of course, we decided rather than see the sights without our friends, we’d wait for them to see the big stuff and get acclimated to another part of Czech culture: the bars. We decided to go on our own Independent Pub Crawl 2010 to see how many bars we could hit in a 12 hour period. I won’t tell you the exact number of bars attended (or amount of amazing-both tasting and priced-beer was consumed) but suffice it to say I set a new personal record that is HIGHLY unlikely to be broken (by myself, or anybody else I know for that matter) anytime soon. Just trust me. I’ll give you a hint. The number of bars was more than 3 and less than 128.

Here's another hint: this was bar No. 5.

That night after everybody else arrived we went out for some late night food and one more beer for the day, that wasn’t an official pub crawl drink, but still added to my impressive total. The next morning we woke up with a purpose: see as much of Prague as we could. And we were very successful. We explored Old Town, ate some legit Czech food for lunch, saw the Astronomical Clock, walked across the Charles Bridge, took pictures of the Vltava River, went to a mall to do a little shopping (dropping Czech Kroners left and right) and finally went out to a bar with a music club downstairs to end the night.

Quick picture on Charles Bridge.

Couldn't resist.

After a late night (and an early morning) we took off Saturday morning (our last day) early to catch a tour through Prague Castle, which ended up only going through St. Vitus Cathedral. But it was still very cool. The stained glass windows were amazing and the entire Cathedral was beautiful. We walked around the courtyard a bit, and even got to see the changing of the Swiss guards. Afterwards, we got a few last pictures of the Prague skyline, headed to a restaurant nearby for lunch, went back to Old Town to buy a few last souvenirs and some hot chocolate and then headed back to the airport for the trip home.

Not bad for a kid from Marysville.

Group picture outside Prague Castle.

Quick story about the souvenirs (and it’s important to note I was totally sober for this entire experience): I bought two items (both very cool and both very breakable) and within five minutes of purchasing them proceeded to accidentally throw the bag on the ground, effectively ruining the products I had purchased. After everyone saw this and laughed, I headed over back to the store to buy two new items, and then dropped my bag again. Unable to contain my laughter, I walked into the stand, showed the owner what happened (all the while crying I was laughing so hard) and she hooked me up with two new things and a free Prague postcard. You gotta love the Czech people!

Overall it was another successful (and freezing cold if it wasn't obvious by all the beautiful snow all over the place) trip. Thursday was a good day chillin with Whitney, and telling her my dreams of being an ambidextrous President when I’m older, and how I can’t wait for the day when “Maria Cantwell no longer wants to senate” so that I can take her seat. It was great to finally have an international experience with Semir, and having Abby and Tawnie (who was a VERY last minute addition to the trip) helped bring everything together. We had a great time, and Prague is now also on my list of countries to go back to when I’m older.

Now for my favorite part of these posts, the part that says where I’m going next. Friday morning I leave early in the morning to spend about two and a half days in Athens, Greece. Weather forcast is in the mid-60s and partly cloudy. I'm so excited for the 60s I'm practically giddy. Early plans include visiting the Acropolis, Parthenon, jumping in the Mediterranean Sea and visiting the Hooters. I’m sorry but I’m a little homesick and I figured it’d help!

Everybody have fun, stay safe, and I’ll talk to you after Athens!

David

p.s. Here are a few more pictures from Prague:

Stained glass window in the Cathedral that's actually an advertisement for a Czech insurance company...that is no longer in business. What can ya do? The economy sucks.