PRAGUE!

Tyn Church and Old Town Square

Astrological clock

Sally, Christina, and I in front of the St. Charles Bridge

This past weekend Christina, Sally, and I headed toward eastern Europe to PRAGUE. We went with a company called Bus2Alps... which meant we got to take a glorious (sarcasm) 16 hour bus ride from Rome to Prague, passing through Germany and Austria on the way. We left on Thursday at 4:00pm and got into Prague at 9am on Friday. When we got there we were greeted with an ACTUAL BREAKFAST with eggs, sandwiches, fruit, and pancakes! It was so nice to actually have breakfast since Italians think a croissant is sufficient in the morning.

Once we checked in to our hostel, we headed on a tour of the old town, the new town, and the Jewish quarter of Prague. We had an awesome tour guide who was actually born in Prague. We covered pretty much everything in Prague, and it's safe to say I'm obsessed! We were able to go to the astrological clock to watch the hourly show and Old Town Square,  Týn Church, St. Nicholas Church, the Jewish quarter with the cemetery and museum, Rudolfinum, and finish with views of the Charles Bridge, St. Vitus Cathedral, and Prague Castle. It was such a good way to get a good grasp on Prague.

Christina adding our input to the John Lennon Wall

After the tour we headed to the shopping district since the exchange rate is so good. We were able to head to H&M and get a couple new necessities that we all left back in the states. SO CHEAP. Most things were around $5-10! After shopping we realized we had barely any time before we had to be at our pub crawl. We were hurrying back to the tram to get back to the hostel, and we were able to stop and get SUBWAY!!! Just a background story - Italy does NOT let fast food places in the country. There are about 3 McDonalds, 2 Burger Kings, and one Subway in all of Rome. There isn't even a Starbucks in all of Italy. In Prague, however, they apparently love the United States. On every corner there were Subways, McDonalds, KFCs, and Starbucks. We even passed a sign for Hooters while we were there. I felt like I was back in the United States again. That night we went on a pub crawl in Prague with our Bus2Alps program. It was so much fun - we went to three different bars. Even though apparently they don't have rules against drinking on the job, considering both the bartenders and the guide for the pub crawl were ridiculously drunk. They even led us to the wrong bar for our last stop! After the pub crawl we got pizza and headed back to the hostel to head to sleep, but not before singing one of my friends happy birthday on skype for his 21st (happy birthday Bruce!!).

Rubbing the dog for bad luck...

On Saturday we got up early and headed out for a long day of tours. Our leaders for the program took us to sign the John Lennon Wall and walk across the St. Charles Bridge. While we were walking along the bridge, we stopped at this statue that you're supposed to rub a girl on it for good luck. We saw another part with a dog that some people were rubbing too so we rubbed that for extra good luck. Little did we know that rubbing that part actually gave you bad luck. OOOPS. Tourist mistake of the trip. After this we headed to the Castle district for a tour with the same guide from the day before. We were able to see the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral up close, the Golden Gate, the houses where the people who built the castle lived, and the torture chambers. After all our walking we headed to some local pubs to try some of their beer. We were able to go to one pub that had all different kinds - chocolate, caramel, raspberry, blueberry, and more! They were all SO GOOD. Then we had a traditional czech dinner with goulash (YUM) and tons of sausage. 

St. Vitus Cathedral

After dinner we raced back to our hostel to head to Lucerna, a famous club with 80s and 90s music. Our entire group went there and it was so much fun and such a great end to the trip. Afterwards, we headed back to our hostel to get up early to head back to Roma after the ridiculously awesome trip. Unfortunately on the way back Sally got her wallet stolen or lost it (we're not really sure). Guess rubbing the dog gave us bad luck after all....

Fontana del Mascherone

Dana on Via Giulia

Yesterday Dana and I spent the day exploring some hidden parts of Rome. We headed out to explore supposedly the most beautiful street in Rome, Via Guilia. Although it was pretty, we weren't that impressed. While there we saw the Fontana del Mascherone (Fountain of the Mask), which was pretty funny because it just looked like someone throwing up. Then after that we got a cafe latte before heading to explore Trastevere area before I had to be at school. We stopped by the Vatican and Castel Sant'Angelo on the way. Tonight we're going out to celebrate Fat Tuesday. Rome has carnivale, too, even though it is not as big here. Tonight is the last night so we're headed to Piazza di Popolo to watch fireworks! Ciao!