Prague, Czech Republic

If in doubt, travel.

What are you supposed to do with your last 4-day weekend? Travel somewhere new obviously. I asked my Jewish studies professor, “If there is one city I absolutely HAVE to visit while I’m in Europe, which city is it?” She said Prague so on March 5th, Mae and I took an overnight bus to the Czech Republic.

Mae and I arrived in Prague at 6am and headed to our airbnb. We got the keys and made it through the first round of locks okay. But when we got to the main door we were stuck. We had 3 locks and 3 keys but two of the keys were the same. After struggling for an hour, Mae and I headed to the nearest hostel. While we were checking in we met Taylor, a girl from New Zealand who was working in Germany. We made plans to meet up with her later after we napped.

After our nap, Mae and I met Taylor and her hostel roommate at a restaurant. After lunch, we walked along the equivalent of Oxford street in Prague shopping for an outfit for a night out. I found two swimsuits that were perfect for Greece and Cyprus. Mae and I took another nap after shopping to prepare for a late night out. Then Taylor came to our room, we got ready together and headed out. On our ride home we saw the infamous dancing house!

The next morning, the airbnb host met Mae and I at the airbnb to help us with the key. Turns out, we’re just dumb. We had the right keys we just couldn’t turn the lock the way it needed to be turned. I blame it on the very little sleep we got on the bus.

Mae’s brother wasn’t feeling well back in Krakow so we had to change our bus ticket to leave that night. We had 10 hours to see all of Prague. We prioritized what we wanted to see: St. Nicholas Church, Lennon Wall, Prague Castle, and walk the Charles Bridge. And we decided to see Wenceslas Square, St. Vitus, the Jewish Quarter, and the famous Astronomical Tower the next time we visited, in two weeks.

The Charles Bridge was so beautiful but very crowded. The bridge connects Old Town and the Prague Castle. There are 30 statues along the bridge. Mae and I walked the whole bridge and took in all of the beautiful sights.

Next, Mae and I climbed 215 steps to the top of the Town Belfry. The Town Belfry was used as a fire lookout tower and a clock tower. It was built with the Church of St. Nicholas. On our climb to the top, we were able to walk into the rooms that were hidden in the tower. These rooms were once occupied by people that worked in/around the church. It would be cool to live in the tower, but it would be a major pain to climb 100+ stairs every time you wanted to leave or if you were bringing groceries back.

Then Mae and I walked inside St. Nicholas’s church. It is easily the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. The church took a hundred years to build and three different generations worked to complete it. The church is baroque and rococo style. Rococo style has lots of colors included, St. Nicholas had a lot of light pink inside. I wish I was there for a Sunday service.

After St. Nicholas’s church, we walked to the Lennon Wall. I was super excited to see this wall because I love graffiti and street art. In the 1960s the Lennon Wall was full of messages against the regime. In 1980, John Lennon’s face was painted on the wall as a symbol of freedom. In November of 2019, the wall was declared a memorial place, 30 years after the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The wall was so colorful and so crowded with tourists. Besides John Lennon’s face, it had political messages on it. The wall was covered in messages in all kinds of languages showing that people from all over came to visit and leave their mark.

Next, we headed to Prague Castle. We hiked up a bunch of stairs and got another gorgeous view of the city. I found my favorite spot in Prague and I have to go back again before I die. Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world! It was absolutely beautiful on the outside! Sadly, Mae and I arrived after it closed so we weren’t able to go inside. The castle is absolutely massive and I wish I had been able to go inside and see St. Vitus’s Church that is attached. Mae and I took some photos, admired the building and headed out since the weather was starting to change.

We stayed at the top of the hill that we climbed to see Prague Castle and watched the sunset and saw the city at night. After, we headed back to the airbnb, ate dinner, packed our things and headed to our bus that would take us back to Krakow.

I could see myself living in Prague, easy. Czech is very similar to Polish, so I was able to learn “good day” and “thank you” which was very helpful. Plus, it is 25 Czech Korunas to 1 USD so my money went much further. I took $40 USD out of the ATM and was given a 1000 Koruna bill. I’ve never seen or held a bill higher than $100 USD.

Prague is my favorite European and non-Polish city. I really wish I could have had 2 more days in Prague. It was so, so gorgeous. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Prague. I will be going back in the future.