The Last Weekend

For the last weekend, we needed to do something big. Something awesome. Something 14 hours away by train. Hence, the Czech Republic! Kate and Jon and I enjoyed two sorts of adventures that weekend - the train rides to and from the city and then the city itself. The train was surreal - the three of us in a little compartment for so long. We started going a little stir crazy, but it makes for good memories. Tossing M&Ms into each other's mouths, doing group drawings of creepy people in shorts, seeing who could make the best faces at the passers by to keep them from coming in, and of course who could come up with the most creative sleeping positions. Here are Kate and Jon after about 7 hours on the way there:

The upside was of course the amazing scenery! I'm glad we took the train because of the really unique experience, and because it allowed us to really see the countryside. 

We finally got there, to a really little station that was in the middle of nowhere. However, we figured out how to take the metro into the actual city eventually. Prague is one of the THE most beautiful places I've been in Europe, even if it is a bit touristy. But again - we were there in the off season, so it really wasn't too bad. I just loved the view of the Prague Castle from the Charles bridge, and the architecture of the city, and especially our location. 

Our hostel was right on Karlova street, which is right next to the Charles bridge. The Charles is Prague's major bridge and it goes over to Prague Castle. We walked around the old historic district for a while and then went to the park where there's an amazing view of the city (that's where the picture above was taken). Our one full day in Prague was spent doing absolutely nothing cultural or touristy - instead we just wandered around the city taking it all in. There was some amazing food and some great coffee. It was frigid outside, which made all the walking basically a necessity. There was a giant Christmas fair in the main square, and a whole part of the city that was devoted to restaurants and shops. When it started to get dark we found a place to get dinner before going back to the hostel. We had made friends with the girl that worked there, Dominique, so we had made plans to go to her favorite club with her that night. Turns out the club was out in the middle of the nowhere right next to the train station, and it was AWESOME. There is no way we would have found this place without Dom, and I think we may have been the only Americans there. Perfect! I think we got there around 10pm and then we left at 4:33am to catch the tram. It was a "drum and bass" club so the music was pretty techno-influenced, and everyone was dressed pretty casual cool. The place was called Cross and it had a mechanical theme - machine parts everywhere, and a lot of them still moving and functioning. There were three floors, so you could either be at the cafe up top or on one of the two bar/dance floors. We got drinks, danced, talked to people, talked to Dom, and then danced danced danced. It was a fantastic way to spend the night and we were so exhausted when we got back.

The next morning, Dom reccommended her favorite vegetarian restaurant, which we went to for lunch. Or breakfast. When you wake up at noon it gets hard to classify. Anyway, it was delicious and cheap and it was so refreshing to be able to look at a menu and order anything! After eating, Jon and I went for a walk while Kate napped, and after doing some photography we went out for coffee. 

The rest of the day was spent souvenier shopping and doing more wandering. All of us were dead tired but very happy because of the night before. We bought ourselves the tackiest T-shirts we could find, and then it was time to go and catch the train. We said goodbye to Dom, which was sad - she was mostly the reason we all enjoyed ourselves so much. The train ride home was mostly uneventful, and we stopped off in Amsterdam for a while before going back to the Castle. 

Now we're all packing and it's my last full day here! It's so sad - this has honestly been the best experience of my life. I'm going to miss this place, and these people, and the feeling of being so close to the rest of the world. I'm not sure how much sense that makes - I guess I've just gotten "used" to the concept of being fairly close to the rest of Europe. Once I'm back in America this will all be so far away! Tonight is a farewell dinner, and I have to make a little speech about the literary magazine that I was editor of, so I'm still not sure what I'm going to say for that. Let's hope something logical comes out of my mouth when I get up there. After the banquet there will be some performances by students, which I'm excited to see. After that...who knows? We all want to make the most of our last night, but we also have to get up at 6:30am, so I don't know how late we're going to want to be out.

Anyway, thank you for reading - I hope you enjoyed my writing and photography. This will be the last entry, but don't worry because soon I'll be able to tell a lot of you about this in person! I can't wait to see everyone, and I must admit I can't wait to go riding, eat microwave oatmeal, and relax in front of my fireplace. See you all soon!