Prague

We really loved Prague. It was our first taste of a little bit of Eastern Europe, and it was everything that we heard it would be. We had a great hostel that was in a wonderful location, about 5 minutes walking distance from the Old Town Square.

When we arrived, we struggled adjusting to the language. It was not even remotely close to anything that we had been speaking before. It was also hard to adjust to the money. They do not use the Euro, but the Crown. So we are walking around with thousands of "corona" and we felt like we were rich with all of this money...but no, not really. To give you an idea, 1000 Czech Crown is around $50 American dollars. We really had to think hard each time we made a purchase. A drink may have been around 25 crown, which was about $1.20. Really crazy.

The first night we arrived, our hostel told us to try this really great beer hall. It was one of the oldest in town, dating back to the 1400s. We did, and it was probably our best night in Prague. We walked into this small hall with long picnic table-looking things, and had the time of our lives. There was a small group of men playing the baritone and accordian. People would sing along with the Czech songs they would play, and then errupt into applause at the end. Men would walk around with trays of beer. Mark loved it..He said it was the best beer yet. Once they gave you a beer, they would just mark a tally on your "ticket". It was great fun. We really tried to eat as much Czech food as we could. Our meals included these great bread dumplings, duck, beef, sauerkraut, pork and all sorts of good stuff. It was so much fun.

For the rest of our time in Prague, we visted the Prague castle in the town, the Jewish quarter, the Old Town Square, St. Charles Bridge, and several other sites around town. One night, a Bohemian Jazz Festival was going on. The night didn't start out so hot. The first band was a Finnish group of about 5 guys wearing neon colored track suits...we admired their style...how bad could the music be? Bad, is the answer. They combined brass and some electric guitars, and played this music that made us want to gouge our eyes out. Yes, seriously. It was this hazy, creepy, completely non-metrical, whacked-out sound. They were good musicians, but seriously...really bad. The festival finished with several other really great bands. One girl from Sweden was my favorite. The festival finished with an American named Chris Potter Underground. The crowd loved him, and he and his band were awesome.

On one night, we met up with a friend Ellen, who goes to DU, and her mom for dinner and drinks. They live in Dresden, Germany and they drove to Prague for the evening. It was great fun, and really great to see some people that we knew!

Prague rocked. Go if you can. Until we talk to you again!! Thanks for reading!