Prague (28/11/2010)

The first night I arrived I got off the bus and it was snowing. After I exchanged some money I found my way to the subway and found my stop on a map of the lines. There were only three lines, so it wasn't difficult. I texted Rochelle and she texted back: "We are not sure, we winged it, no have mappy. Try asking Kimmy! Ps tell her to call me." The hostel Chelsea had booked for us was the Little Quarter Hostel on Nerudova Str. 21.

I got off at the right stop but didn't know which direction to go, so I decided to walk up to the Prague Castle on the top of the hill. Luckily on my way back from the castle I ran into Nerudova Str. I checked in and left my stuff by my bed. I was about to head out to find the bar when the receptionist told me two girls from my group had just checked in 10 minutes ago, in room 205. Of course it was Chelsea and Westrey. I went up and found them and we set out together. Crossing the Charles Bridge at night was nice, as it was relatively empty. Chelsea told us about some tradition of there being a certain stone you have to kiss (probably for luck.) We joked with Westrey that we'd tell her to kiss a bunch of random stones. Also, apparently there is part of a statue that you rub for luck.

I got us to the general area using my map, but we must have passed the place twice. We were about to give up when we turned around to see the Propaganda sign. Westrey, Chelsea, and I split an order of garlic bread and pierogies. We had some beer (Demon + Schwarzenberg) and met up with Rochelle, Abby, and Kim. The garlic bread was literally 4 pieces of bread and some whole cloves of garlic. The band played covers of the Beatles and we hung out with them after their set. They were from Australia. The drummer played a Cajon, which he apparently stored his clothes in while they traveled. On the way back to the hostel we had a snow ball fight since the parked cars had a thick layer of fresh snow. 

The next morning we gathered for breakfast at the hostel, and decided to start our day at the Prague Castle. It was gorgeous. Rochelle's camera battery needed charging, so she went back to the hostel and the rest of us wandered around the shops and looked at the Moldou. We were supposed to all go meet Rochelle in front of the Astrological clock tower at 2 for the free tour, but people were hungry. So only Chelsea and I made the trek to meet her, and though we got turned around we managed to find Rochelle's tour group before they left. The one thing I remember is what Rochelle told me about the clock tower. Apparently leaders in Prague wanted it to remain unique, so they blinded the architect who built it. He committed suicide by throwing himself into the inner workings of the clock. We thought that was an awesome way to go.

We left the tour near the end, in the Jewish quarter of town, and found a nice bagel shop for an early dinner. We were going to meet up with the rest of the group for the lighting of the Christmas tree in the Old Town. On our way back we tried to see a church from the tour, where there was an interesting story. Some valuable necklace was on a statue in this church. A thief sneaked into the church and hid until it was night. As he climbed up the statue, he leaned down and stretched out his hand to take the necklace, and the statue moved and grabbed the thief's arm by the wrist. In the morning the priests who found him had to call the executioner, who cut off the arm, not of the statue, but of the thief. The arm was hung in the church as a warning and is supposedly still there, but the church was closed so we didn't get to explore.

It was probably on the stroke of 6 in the evening. I don't recall exactly what time the tree was lit. We were coming back to the town square after dinner. The streets were packed with people, so we stepped into a lovely little bookshop dedicated to Franz Kafka. I knew I could find Kafka at home, so I didn't bother buying anything. It was just nice to warm up a bit and look around. I hadn't been able to find my hat before leaving. I almost talked myself into buying a book about early city life in Prague. It was filled with old sepia toned photographs of the Old Town, where it seemed the entire city was gathered to witness the lighting of the giant tree and the opening of the Christkindlemarkt.

We left the shop and wormed our way as close to the tree as possible. There was a nice view of the tree from the street we were on, and I saw a small child sitting on his father's shoulders to get a better look. It hadn't snowed since we arrived late the previous night. Everyone applauded when the 20 foot tree exploded with white lights.

The Astronomical Clock Tower dominates the square and is the logical choice to go to see the entire festival. We went in and bought tickets to climb up to the top. At the top was a narrow walkway that went around the tower, barely enough room to pass by other onlookers. We took pictures of each other smiling from the corners, leaning out over the metal bar in the windows. There was a cute little girl there with her father, wearing a pink knit hat. There was music and people with colorful costumes were dancing down below.

The club had 5 stories. Each level had a different theme. We started at the top, at the bar, naturally. I finished Chelsea's drink and took my beer to the dance floor. I think my favorite floor played classic rock. It had a checkered dance floor with lights underneath. We were a sweaty mess. It was beautiful to be young. I danced like a madman and left breathless and exhilarated. It started to snow again and we took pictures on the Charles Bridge on the walk back to the hotel.