Prague

On the drive from Berlin to Prague we again lucked out with the weather. The countryside of Prague was equally as beautiful as Berlin, although more beautiful to me because it had mountains. I have never been so happy to see rolling landscape and something similar to fall foliage (although I have been spoiled by fall in Vermont, foliage here seems more like slowly dying/browning leaves.) We passed by some gorgeous castles and rivers but were reminded of the developing Czech economy by smog filled views and many poor neighborhoods and towns.
We pulled intro Prague at sunset and were able to watch it duck below the buildings turning the sky red and purple and illuminating the millions of turrets that line the hilly city. Prague is easily the most gorgeous city I have been to yet, and also the one with the best exchange rate! Finally some purchasing power!

We stayed in a hotel right near the Power Tower, an old powder house, from which we could easily walk to Old Town, Wenceslas square, the Charles Bridge and the thousands of tourist shops that managed to take a lot of money from me.

We went on a walking tour of the city where we visited some of the above places. Old Town is a large square full of beautiful buildings that is also home to a famous clock tower that around three in the afternoon becomes a hotspot for tourists as groups, including us, that line up to hear the clock chime the hour and watch the little doors to open to reveal small figures that dance through the windows. The astrological clock itself is beautiful but very difficult to read, and like other historical buildings in Prague, it is also laden with stories of torture. When the clock was constructed the government thought it was so beautiful that they blinded the man who made it so he would be unable to make any other clocks. In anger, his friends then destroyed the clock which was unable to be repaired until many years later!

Wenceslas square, and the National Museum, is another famous area in Prague that, like the rest of the city, is littered with way to many McDonalds, souvenir shops, hot dog stands, and other stores (including Burton snowboards?!) It again has a violent streak with two students, around 19 and 21 years old, having lit themselves on fire in protest.

The dark history continues with the beautiful Charles Bridge, over which a priest was thrown when he would not revel what was told to him in confidence (whether or not the King’s son was actually his, or if his wife had known another man.)
The statues depicting this along the bridge are ironically considered good luck, so like the other tourists I touched the stone and made a secret wish. From this bridge not only do you have an amazing view of the city and the palace on the hill, but it is home to many street vendors selling beautiful artwork, to which I fell prey, purchasing a watercolor that will sometime be framed in my house.

The best view of Prague was from the palace itself where, once we reached the top of the large hill, we visited St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St. George’s Basilica-the second oldest church a Prague castle, and Golden lane-an alley of 16th century houses.
On a business note, while in Prague we visited O2 Telefonica, a huge telecomm company that I think sponsors Manchester United, and also went to Skanska, a major construction company. While these visits were great as well, I think Skanska provided us with the best information that, depending on what my group thinks, may be who we write our paper on. DIS also treated us to a folklore evening, which was a great way to see the culture. We enjoyed amazing food while being entertained by traditional song and dance in a great atmosphere.
We spent much of our time in Prague wandering around the beautiful sights and killing time in the many shops. I found Prague more difficult to run in because the streets where much narrower, there wasn’t a park near our hotel, and the city isn’t exactly grid-like which made what I thought were rational running routes into long, twisted and confused jogs. At the end of the trip, I was sad to leave Prague and even more sad to have to get on the bus for a LONG, over-night drive back to Copenhagen. But after visiting Prague I would by lying if I said I thought I would never go back. The city was not only beautiful but also romantic and fun. It would be a great place for a honeymoon, not to mention another trip anytime in the future.

Anyway, I am home now for about 24 more hours which I am using to try to catch up on emails, publish these blog posts, do laundry and pack for China. It is really starting to hit me that I’m actually going. At this point I’m excited but nervous; completely convinced that I am going to have UNBELIEVABLE culture shock as I cannot even imagine what eye-opening experiences this culture, which seems like the opposite of the US, will provide me with, not to mention that I will probably, if I’m lucky at least, have a stomach ache the whole time. It will be an amazing experience, but it’s going to be a lot.
Our jam-packed, government unregulated schedule is posted online in case you are interested in checking it out, (http://www.dis.dk/Students/optional.php click on the Tour program link under China,) but I will let you know how it goes when I get back…