Být Turistka

(Translation: Being a Tourist)

I finally feel like I have gotten to the point where Prague feels like home. I have figured out most of the day to day things, and I have favorite spots, know shortcuts, and no longer carry a map. Sadly, I now sometimes take for granted the scenery as I go about my daily life.

Since I only have classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (I know, I know, it should be illegal), I have had the last few days off. Also, I have been traveling every weekend, so this is my first weekend in Prague. Now that it feels like home, it's been weird doing the tourist-y things the last few days. Don't get me wrong, they have been a lot of fun, but it seems strange being a tourist in the city where I am living.

As you may have read, Thursday I did my laundry. Afterward I wandered around Old Town a bit looking at some bookstores and stores in that area. That evening my friends and I went to one of our favorite establishments off of Wenceslaus Square called U Sudu.

Friday morning we got an early start. We decided to conquer one of the major tourist attractions, Petrin Hill, while the weather was still nice. It has gotten pretty cold here in the past week so we figured time was limited. Petrin Hill is a large hill on the western end of Prague. There is a tower on the top called Petrin Tower that resembles a mini Eiffel Tower. You can see Petrin Tower from many places in the city. We walked to Petrin Hill and then climbed up both the hill and then the tower. From the top you could see the entire city. It was beautiful!



After climbing the tower we indulged our inner children and spent the 50 crowns to go in the mirror maze at the top of the hill. After exploring the gardens we decided to take the funicular down the hill. We walked around Mala Strana (Lesser Town) for a bit and grabbed some lunch. Then we met our program for a guided walking tour of Prague Castle.


You can see Prague Castle in the panorama above. It is basically the two spires on the left side. Those spires are St. Vitus Cathedral that is part of Prague Castle. The castle itself wasn't that impressive because it is basically just regular buildings witha courtyard, but the castle gardens and the cathedral were beautiful. We spent a great deal of time inside the cathedral (with all of the tourists), but it was really beautiful. After that our program had a special event for us at Lobkowicz Palace. The history of Lobkowicz Palace is very interesting because the family who owns and operates the castle and its museum is American. They were exiled first when the Nazis took over and then again when the Communists came to power. They lost everything (as in 13 palaces and extensive art, music, and literature collections) both times, but after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 were able to reclaim almost everything. They have turned the palace in Prague into a museum to show these impressive collections which included such items as original music from Beethoven. Since the museum only opened a couple of years ago, and since we had a special coffee reception and stuff, I at least felt like less of a tourist during this part of the day.

Today was filled with an odd mix of events. First Jill, Karen, and I cooked a good American breakfast of egg and cheese sandwiches. Then a bunch of us went to a flea market. The flea market was DEFINITELY not a tourist attraction. It was also one of the most amusing things that I have done in Prague. Located outside of the city center, one of the best ways to describe this place is a communist wasteland. It is a very rundown area of soviet-era plain buildings, and the products for sale at this flea market were very amusing. Here are some of the things that I can remember off the top of my head: mounds of tires and hubcaps, expired food, used pens, broken electronics, jewelry, safety pins, cosmetics, clothes pins, Mickey Mouse mirrors, adult movies, wigs, temporary tattoos, used clothing, and many other wonderful buys. Since almost no one there spoke English it was a great chance to use some Czech, especially when haggling over prices.

After the flea market we took a trip to the Prague Zoo. I was actually very impressed with it. It was huge, and we had a lot of fun. We saw a lot of interesting animals, and the animals seemed much more active than at other zoos so that was amusing. They also had polar bears which Roger Williams crushed me by no longer having, so that was a plus. I wish I had pictures from the day, but unfortunately I brought my camera with my memory card still sitting here in my computer, so it was useless.

We ended the day at one of our favorite places. We are getting close to regulars, so that made me feel less tourist-y. There are two great vegetarian restaurants owned by the same people, and we went to one of them, Maitrea, tonight for dinner. Dad, prepare yourself, because I am at least making you go there for lunch when you're here!

Anyway, I have another busy day of tourist-y exploring ahead of me tomorrow, so I'm going to get to bed. Thanks for all of the comments, and it has been nice to talk to some of you when I have had the chance!

(I keep forgetting to mention: for the pictures that I put in the actual posts, they are sort of small and hard to see on the screen, but if you click on them you can see the giant picture, which helps for detailed ones like the views of the city!)

Finally, I just want to wish Mary Catherine a very happy 21st birthday!