Monday June 6, 2011

Check out day. Email Ryan and Hey Tell the family, the usual. Check out and head to the train station to try and get the reservation ticket again. 

found this weird aloe vera water at the train station. 

We get there and get the reservation after waiting for a good while. The man who helped us at the station was wearing a shirt that said “Nice legs, when do they open”! I was appalled. It would be one thing if he was wearing it at a bar, but I was embarrassed for him when he was helping an elderly couple after us. Maybe they don’t speak English?

tea

 We decided to do the castle today so I direct us to a touristy looking place with surprisingly good food. We pass on the beer this time because it has succeeded in giving us a significant buzz over the past few days and simultaneously knocking us out. We instead get some green tea.

 I get a sirloin with assorted dumplings and cranberry sauce. Reminded me of thanksgiving. Mom gets roast duck with sauerkraut. I am already sleepy so I order a beautiful coffee and cake. 

The cake is dry and not chocolate like I would have suspected.

We head up to the castle quarter. We are currently in the little quarter.

Side bar: the money here confuses me greatly. Its like that crazy money where 1000=$50. I can’t figure out how much shit is, without having to seriously think about it. Its not like I’m retarded or anything, numbers just aren’t my thing. That’s where mom comes into play. I am great with directions and she is great with the money and our paperwork. We make a great team.

you can see all of prague from up here. The photo doesnt quite do it justice

The stairs

We walk through the whole castle quarter and it is miserably steamy out. Nothing is very impressive and it’s all up on a hill. 202 steps us to be precise. 

We find the cathedral, which has quite bright stained glass. I like all the vibrant colors used but as a hole cathedrals don’t really do it for me. Not religious and churches aren’t a gorgeous place for me. We walked past the actual castle twice without seeing it or finding it so we decided it must not be that cool and jet.

This adorable little girl who just wanted to play with the little birds.

making mom laugh. just another day in the office

I just pictured her in my head saying "Be my FRIEND" 

they always flew away from her. it was heartbreaking

Get tram back to familiar territory and get food for the train. We buy 2 peppers, blackberries, raspberries, and tomatoes. I get a sandwich (which I end up throwing away because it hurts my stomach).

On the walk home it starts raining. I have never seen my mom act like more of a girl than at the moment. My mom is a hardcore, badass, work out every day, do it yourself, independent woman who is covering her hair with a plastic bag and practically hopping because she “hates being wet”.

yes, thats hail

the umbrellas we were stranded beneath

I am crying I am laughing at her so hard. I finally convince her that its ok to come out of the restaurant we have sought out shelter from and it starts hailing!! We are forced to seek refuge under a café’s outside umbrellas. Too much.

The hotel has showers that we can use even though we have checked out. Bless you hotel Julian. Feel like a new woman. Man comes to pick us up and bring us to the station. We get on our couchette and there is air conditioning, Thank the lord.

So far so good. 

Sunday June 5, 2011

Slept in a little bit. I always get to sleep  more than mom because I shower at night and don’t have to blow fry my hair. It really is a blessing.

We needed to go to the train station to reserve two seats on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. The William and Mary girls told us that they couldn’t even get into Paris so we decided to go now to make sure that we would be ok. We decided to tackle the trams.

just some people in the park :)

We bought two 24 hour tickets from our hotel’s front desk and waited the 5-10 mins at the tram stop as directed. It came and we got on. No one checks that you have a ticket but we punched them anyway. We rode all the way to the train station which is harder than it sounds because the names of the stops sound nothing like what the conductor was announcing. Turns out the part of the station we needed to speak with is closed on Sunday. Cool. 

I find a place for us to eat in the Jewish quarter, our destination for the day. This took like an hour. Pain. This bitch was working and told us there were not tables available, then seated two boys who came in after us.

It was a tad warm

chicken with blue cheese, pears and fries.

chicken and fig sauce

The place was good because we were hungry but not amazing.

Found the Jewish quarter and walked through exhibits. One memorial had you walk through a synagogue with all the names of the Jews from Prague that were killed in the Holocaust. It was really powerful. Upstairs there were drawings from kids in the ghettos and concentration camps. I left because it was too sad.

We walked through a cemetery too and people persisted to take pictures despite the numerous signs forbidding it. It started to really bother me. These were people’s graves and they have asked for no photos to be taken and people were taking them on their cell phones. I wanted to smash them. I didn’t but I wanted to.

 After, we were getting tired from the beers so we stopped at a coffee shop. We went to a Rick spot and got two coffees and a homemade apple strudel.

Time for the bike tour. Found the place. 22 year old Michael directed us around Prague along with one other family and their three young sons.

This couple had just gotten married. I then witnessed what may be the most disgusting kiss every witnessed by a human.
I literally said "Ew" out loud.

 The little boys provided us with a lot of info but I actually found the info a bit boring.

After the 2 and a half hour tour we crossed back over the Charles Bridge and found the Lennon wall.

Me!

 Figured it would have Lennon written on it and would have Beatles quotes everywhere. No such luck. Some Lennon-esque quotes but mostly just a huge long wall with graffiti.

Apparently after Lennon’s death they would spray paint inspiring things on the wall and the government would paint over it every night. Now it’s a sign of freedom and hope. Pretty awesome.

Got some fruits and veggies and headed back to the hotel to eat. Went up to our hotel’s roof terrace and enjoyed the view with a pepper and 2 pears. 

AHHH

I know this was supposed to be a daily thing but school has just gotten the best of me recently. I promise I will do a posting this week!
Dont lose faith in me