Evan and Eric in Prague

Did you know that Prague uses something called the Crown and not the Euro? Well neither did we. But we eventually got it situated and took a bus, a train, then a tram to the hostel. I do believe now that I overpacked a little, but I was lucky enough to have a good friend to help me carry my things.

I had slept little the day/night before, but we wanted to make the most of our time, so after we checked in and I took a shower, we walked toward the city center and the 'sites' on our hostel issued map. I already wanted to die from exhaustion and felt myself getting sick. Eric also got up about 4:30 that morning to catch his flight to Prague. Needless to say we were pessimistic about the entire that city.

And we walked in a huge circle all around what the Czech's call Praha. We disliked it. Their language was so boring and weird that it annoyed us, we didn't understand the architecture and we had no basis of knowledge while looking at anything, and the food was bland. Finally, when I thought it was late enough to go back to sleep, I looked at my watch and it was 4:30pm. We decided instead on a nap in the park. We decided it was a good thing that a stray dog started to lick us about 6:30 because otherwise we might have slept the night there.

The second day was much better. We took a free (!?) walking tour and loved it. The guide worked off tips and he was great, we learned about the city, heard funny stories and it really grew on us. It was uphill from there. It actually is a beautiful city with amazing buildings and a really interesting history...Though we did decide that it not only a stretch, but a lie to call it the Prague Castle. It may be big, but it is not magical enough looking to be a castle. It is a palace, at best.

We searched for Monks at the monestary and never found them, but did drink some beer that they brewed. We went in plenty of marionette stores, of which there are many. We drank a good amount of delicious cheap beer. We learned how to pronounce Dvořák's last name correctly. But we learned only one word in Czech: Po-Mots! (Help!).

We also got offered a combo deal by a man on the street:

"Strip dance, sex, then two free beers"

Though tempting, we were tired.

Czech Inventions:

• Beer (Czechs get angry because Germans get the credit)
• Cubed Sugar
• The word 'robot'

What they like to eat:

• Big Triangles of Fried Cheese
• Goulash
• Boiled Potatoes
• Potato or Bread Dumplings
• Tartar Sauce
• Carp (on Christmas night especially)

A few other of my favorite Prague facts/traditions/stories deserve their own post and will come shortly.