Prague

I have been witnessing all my program-mates going on these weekend trips and I never thought that I’d be worth it to go to a city for just a few days. After going to Prague this weekend, I confirmed my hypothesis. For the price of the plane ticket, it was not worth only spending two days there. However, I had a great time and it was wonderful to see Seva for the third time this semester. Usually we only see each other once a semester; hence it has been great to hangout every few weeks around Europe. The down side of it was by was the way the flights worked out we really only got spend one day together.

I arrived to Prague on Friday at 11 after leaving my dorm at 4:15. To avoid paying 20 euros for a taxi, I took at night bus to the airport. This was worth it, but however made a very tired Ben. After arriving in Prague, I figured out very quickly that everyone in Eastern Europe speaks English. I also quickly remembered what it is was like to live in a cold climate again considering Prague is a good 25 degrees colder than Barcelona. I eventually made it to the hostel after following the crazy directions they gave me. After I settled in I went out on the town and took in the city. This place was amazing and so different than anything I had seen before. In Europe, I so far have had a Mediterranean (Barcelona and Marseilles), Western (Paris), and Eastern. Obviously this is generalization, but it’s insane how unique different areas in Europe are. After a couple hours of roaming, including seeing Wenceslas Square, I returned to the hostel because I was freezing and needed to warm up. Prague has really sweet trolleys, by the way. As usual, I asked the receptionist at the hostel where to go to eat. She suggested a bar where they also serve cheap Czech food. I ate there, and it reminded me of the food Seva’s family usually serves me. Later, I wondered more and then returned to the hotel to sleep/warm up until Seva arrived. After Seva got here we hit up a bar and went to bed soon after seeing it was already 2 AM.

The next day we got up decently early and walk around. The first place we visited was the Jewish Quarter (Josefov). There were gorgeous synagogues everywhere, but everything was closed because it was Saturday. Next, we worked our way back to Old Square looked at all the major tourist stuff on the way including St. Charles bridge, the astronomical clock and the Stone Bell House. Seva had made plans to have lunch at a girl’s (Kami) apartment who studied at Minnetonka High School. He was smart enough to realize that we probably should bring a gift. Long story short, we were half an hour late after we finally found a place that had flowers. Afterwards, Kami showed us around the old city. The Petrin Tower and Prague Castle were amazing. We also went to a house of mirrors. Afterward we went to a bagel place and tried hot wine … I was not that impressed. Then we took Kami out to eat, but we couldn’t find the place. We ended up going somewhere else and had to drag Kami in, because she didn’t want us to pay for her. After dinner, we made our way back to hostel and talked for awhile before getting to bed. Then it was up early on Sunday to get my flight back to Barcelona. In sum, Prague was amazing, but spend more than two days there.

Back in Barcelona, I returned to find that my room was a mess and my some of clothes were missing. There was a crazy party and the dorm went nuts. Someone had borrowed my suit coat and silk shirt from India without asking. My roommates are driving me insane at this point. I actually talked to my RA and he is going to talk to the program about my options, but it is very unlikely that I could move at this point. Moreover, I’m really not feeling m,y classes. I’m pretty much trying to pull through the last five weeks of classes and dorm life while attempting to enjoy being in Spain as much as I can. I am also getting really excited for my j-term trip. So far Mike, Andru, Nick and I plan on traveling to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin and London, after spending Christmas in Spain with my mom and sister. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving before we get to crunch time.