What a day yesterday! I have just woken up from the longest deepest sleep of my life due to the fact Chelsea and I had our very own personal Czech tour guide who was relentless in showing us around, feeding us and stopping for beer to quench the thirst! Beer consumption yesterday = a fraction off 2 Litres! Czech's can drink! And as beer is cheaper than water…if your thirsty! You drink beer!! The trouble is that Czech's also like to EAT. So if you are drinking you are eating.
After a hearty breakfast of miniature croissant and coffee, we met Raddick (a family friend of Chelsea's. Score) at 11am and took the metro back into the city centre. Prague 1. By 12 we were drinking a stein of beer and feasting on marinated cheese and some sort of marinated sausage with pickle! Oh, and a tonne of bread! Amazing. Except then we had to consume another beer and a shot of some sort of herbal digestive. Very Czech. I was already stuffed! Raddick assured us it's all good we will walk it off! Boy was he right. However what we thought would be a good walk around the town to aid digestion ended up being a walk around the corner for lunch! We stopped at this place that only the locals dine at………a kind of canteen complete with lining up, trays and tickets to mark what you have ordered. We sat it the wooden booths and shared the three traditional Czech meals to see which one we like best. The roast pork with Sauerkraut, potato dumplings and some amazing sauce won hands down for me. I never knew I could love cabbage…all the days of cooking it up in butter just never cut it for me. I will have to show my Dad how to make this stuff. Amazing.
Raddick was always insistent on always paying for us and cause we couldn't protest as we don't know a word of Czech we were helpless. So as he ducked of to the amenities we quickly covered the 400CZK ($20) it cost to feed the three of us….oh yes, complete with beer! So unbelievably cheap!
Raddick was fantastic in sharing all the history, fairy tales and legends with us about the hot spots in Prague. It truly is a magical city and so rich in history. It was nice to hear it from a local. And yes, he answered all my questions too…I can't help myself! I LOVE history!
After feeling so stuffed full that I felt they would have to roll me around the rest of the way…we walked all the way up to Prague Castle. It is like nothing I have ever seen up there and the view is just spectacular. I have lots of snaps…! Being winter it isn't as busy so it was nice to have some moments where you were kinda alone.
On the way down, we came across some statues of men peeing…you can even swivel their hips to change the direction of their flow. Needless to say, every teenager tourist in Prague was up there swivelling hips and giggling away. It's ok though, I pushed in enough for a photo opportunity! Haha!
On the way back down we went to check out one of Raddicks favourite drinking spots. The entrance and stairs down is so narrow that you have to push the traffic light and wait for green as only one person can fit down at a time. Imagine a few too many Pilsners and trying to get back up!! Claustrophobic much? Unfortunately it was closed for renovations. Shame.
Not to worry, we found another place to sit and have another Pilsner….Oh…and some cheese too. This place had a great atmosphere. Very Czech with it's chunky wooden furniture and fittings, dark atmosphere, and smoking patrons. Yes, the Czech Republic still allow their patrons to smoke inside. The table came complete with a stand of pretzels. I wasn't game to partake. So we quenched our thirst with yet another beer and more cheese and bread to give us the energy for the journey home.
By the time we made it home and up the gigantic hill we have to climb daily, we were beyond exhausted and if it wasn't for our other American friend to chat away with and keep us company I would have passed out from exhaustion…or a food and beer coma….either one! Needless to say I made it to bed at 9pm and woke this morning at 7:30am without stirring the whole night.
I learnt some great things today. There was a huge statue in one of the town squares of a protestant who was burned for his beliefs. That brought me to question what faith the majority of Czechs adhere to. According to the statistics it is Catholicism but Raddick assures me that most Czechs just believe in themselves….oh and Beer.
Another interesting tid bit was years ago women were burned or killed by other means if they were found to be guilty of witchcraft. An accused witch would be held for torture as to get the names of others in the craft. A witch facing torture would give any name she could think of to escape it. To test if the nominated women were guilty or not, they would clamp their hands and head in some sort of wooden device and throw them to the water. If they floated to the top they were guilty and burned. If the drowned, they were innocent of being a witch. How CRAZY!! History is fascinating.
We start school on Monday so we are just making the most of doing whatever we feel. We have more of our fellow students coming this week so there will be more food and beer to accompany all the life stories and investigations they will all endure! Haha!
It's been fun talking to my new American friends and learning more about the states. Chelsea is from Long Beach in California and Martha from Wyoming…(which sounds like an ice hell to me it is so cold). They all tease me for being such a wimp in the cold. And while I am getting around in my snow get up, they are just wearing sweaters! OMG!!! Oh yeah, it is supposed to snow this weekend….just as a side note. Martha spent a semester in India so she is sharing her experience with me, what to expect, what to do and not to do. It's very insightful and knowing she survived just fine (sort of) gives me the hope that I will too! I can't believe I will be there by the end of the year! 10 months away! I have ten months to harden the hell up! Haha!
Having such a surreal, amazing time. I just wish I could have packed up all those who I love and brought them along for the ride.
H xx
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