Princesses in Prague!

This week was technically the beginning of school, but many of my classes don't start until October. The classes I did attend (Czech Life and Culture, Fitness, Yoga, and Zumba) weren't exactly stressful. So all in all, this week was basically another half vacation, half sitting in my dorm and eating all our groceries week. I do make a pretty good macaroni and cheese though, just saying. And no, not from a box. 

Rachel's homemade macaroni -- but not mac-n-cheese.

And she did make this great looking sandwich!

The highlight of the week, of course, was going to Prague to meet my wonderful basically-sister Emily Hardman! 

And let the fun commence. It was indeed a magical weekend. I headed up there by bus on Friday, and arrived in time to meet Emily coming off the plane from London. We proceeded to get lost in Prague looking for our hostel. (Although I don't think Emily would agree that we were lost.) After lots of walking and asking for directions, we finally found it. Then we went to dinner and did the tourist thing and walked along the Charles River, across the Charles Bridge, etc. 

The next day, we took a walking tour of Prague, which was thoroughly enjoyable, and learned lots of crazy history, most of which I probably learned in AP European History a long time ago and promptly forgot.  Our tour guide was super great, and very entertaining. 

So this is in front of the astronomical clock in Prague, rated the second most disappointing tourist attraction. But it has a super interesting historical story.

Church of Our Lady Before Týn

We had to leave halfway through in order to get to Lobkowicz Palace for a concert. Ok, so Prague castle, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Prague, is actually basically made up of an entire complex of buildings, many of which don't even seem to match. And it's kind of hard to find your way around. Anyway, our concert was in a section of it, Lobkowicz Palace. Which is quite beautiful. 

The concert, which was comprised of a flute, viola, and piano, was wonderful, and it celebrated several Czech composers and pieces of music. It really made me miss my clarinet, though, especially since several of those pieces were ones that I have played before. 

 

Up with Prague Castle is also the St. Vitas Cathedral, which is an extremely imposing building, but definitely beautiful. And huge. So we walked around up there for a while, and came out on the other end, where there was a nice walk through gardens with a lovely view of Prague. 

We actually met up with the same tour guide for the second half of the tour, but with his 2 pm group. It was super lucky, because he normally doesn't lead two in one day. So that was cool. 

After the tour, Emily and I went to a restaurant on the river that had a lovely view of the city and the castle. A nice thing about the Czech Republic: the food is super cheap. So you can get a really fancy meal for way, way less than you would get it in the U.S., let alone some other European countries. So Emily was thrilled about that, and I have unrealistic expectations of Europe and the affordability of it as a result. Wonderful. 

So all in all, it was a wonderful day, and everything one could hope for on a European vacation. Let's not forget, though, that I was bored out of my mind for a good 70% of the week. I wouldn't want you all to think that I'm just living it up over here. ;) 

Moral of the story: Prague is great. Princess sisters are better. Both at the same time: just what one needs to have an unforgettable experience.