Prague is one of the major former Communist cities that has quickly taken off and is catching up with Western Europe. It has become a popular tourist attraction with many things to offer travelers. The architecture is spectacular and the scenery is breath taking. It is definitly a city worth seeing.
Sandy and I rented out a paddle boat to get a better look at the city from the river and it was one thing that will stick out in my mind forever about this trip. The city looks so peaceful from the water and the people on the water look so happy. From this prospective, you would never guess that Prague was ran by Communists only decades ago.
One thing that really sticks out to me about Prague too was an almost disturbing memorial for Prague Spring that I saw. The sculptures in the piece look like zombies coming down a staircase on the side of a hill. Some of them don't have heads, are missing limbs, or have mornful faces that cry out to you on the street. At night the staircase is lit up and the sculptures are made in such a unique fashion that at first glance they look so realistic that it is scary. This is one of a few odd sculptures I saw.
Prague captivated us all in some kind of way. It made it very hard to leave. We all wish we would have had more time there because there is so much to do and see, it is impossible to have done it all in just a few short days. After having been to Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty and seeing all the things Prague has to offer too, all of us considered mastering Czech and working at RFE/RL just so we could stay in this wonderful place.
However, all good things do come to an end and we borded the train for Warsaw. The train was not a fun experience. Imagine a very hot summer day, riding for 8 hours with no air conditioning, trying to sleep in a crampt space to escape extreme boredum and the heat, and you have just put yourself in our shoes. Then when we finally got off the train, caught the breeze that cooled us down for a split second, and got to strech our legs a little, we discovered that we were walking for ten minutes to the hotel with out luggage. Please understand that the handle on my luggage decided to jam itself right before this happened so I walked in the heat, dragging my luggage behind me, and hitting the backs of my knees to the point of severe bruises the entire way. Let's just say this wasn't the highlight of anyone's day.
The guide who led us to the hotel was pretty funny though, and very helpful. When he brought us to the first set of stairs that we were going to have to climb with our luggage to get to the hotel he said "Oh, I am sorry about the stairs. The Communists must have built those." He helped all the females with luggage at every set of stairs we reached. If he wouldn't have done that, it very well could have taken us a good bit longer to reach the hotel.
After we showered we ventured into the city like a pack of starving wolves to find the food we had been deprived of for hours. We were all angry and vicious at this point. My group found a KFC and were happy. Although KFC here is not the same as it is at home. No mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, baked beans or Bar-B-Q chicken are found here. The only sides are coldslaw and fries. The portions are so small with the food that Sandy and I actually had to get two meals and ice cream to be full. I don't know how any boy would have ever eaten until they were full there. Things are just way different.
However, the fashion is pretty intense and we can not wait to do some damage at the mall!
Morgan Weaver
No comments:
Post a Comment