1. Ranch Dressing - it's not like I eat ranch dressing particularly often when at home, but it's one of those staples you just always have around, because it's good on everything. I mean, who knows when you're going to get a craving for ranch on your sweet potato fries instead of Old Bay?? Just kidding, it would be ranch AND Old Bay. This might just be on the list because I am craving some ranch right now...
2. Taco Bell/ late-night food runs - okay, so I don't eat fast food ALL the time when I'm at home, but I eat it more than once or twice a week. Hey! It's convenient! There are definitely places around to fulfill late-night indulgences, but nothing very close to my apartment. I think I should actually be thankful for that fact...
3. Driving - I miss whipping Baby Car around and having the freedom of being able to drive myself where I please. Don't get me wrong, I really love public transportation (it's actually one of my favorite things about Europe), but some days I have to take the metro home with two incredibly large IKEA bags (seriously, have you seen the size of those things??) and other times I don't bother to check tram schedules, resulting in some very long and cold waiting times.
4. TV - Again, I don't watch TV too often back home, but I do really appreciate being able to put on Food Network for background noise or flipping on the TV for 20 minutes while I eat lunch. Any shows that I really want to watch, I just download, but when you just want to watch something while grabbing a quick lunch, and not sit through a 45 minute episode of Gossip Girl (and let's be honest, it's hard not to watch an entire episode), having a TV to flip on is convenient.
5. Being on a normal schedule - I am most productive when I am busy and on a schedule. This whole experience has been amazing, but I often find myself undisciplined and unproductive. Seriously, I just sat in my room and watched six episodes of Vampire Diaries. Okay, so I worked on a paper, too, but SIX EPISODES, GUYS! Even after seven weeks, I haven't quite found my everyday groove. It's definitely a work in progress!
6. Good roommates - it's not that I have bad roommates right now, but I don't even know them! I guess that makes them kind of bad... It's just weird! I know I have mentioned to many of my friends and family how strange my living situation is, but I don't think I have written about it here on my blog, so here goes: I live with three guys; one is American and has a girlfriend and a ton of friends in a different program, so he is never ever here. In all seriousness, he may not even live here anymore. I have no idea. One roommate is Italian, and he is actually really nice, but every time I see him, we pretty much just say hi. No conversation there. When I have tried to speak with him in the past, it's been fine, but he won't initiate conversation, and I am just awful at small talk, so that pretty much leaves us silently living within the same 50 square meters. The last roommate is an Indonesian guy who rarely leaves his room. We have never said more than "hi" to each other, other than when we first introduced ourselves or when he offered to take the trash bag that I was holding downstairs with him. Brownie points for taking the trash out?
I am now realizing that this makes me sound like I'm not even trying to get to know these guys, either, but that's just not the case! I leave my door open, I come out of my room, I always say "hi." These guys are just hermits or have literally no interest in getting to know me. At this point, interacting is really awkward, and I really miss the absolutely perfect living situation I left back home! I miss my apartment 105 girls!! On the bright side, none of the guys I live with now are disgustingly messy (although cleaning of communal areas doesn't really happen), or loud, or annoying, so I guess I should be thankful?
7. Cell with data - This hasn't been as hard of a transition as I thought it would be, but I definitely have to be more organized before leaving the house than I normally would be back home! I also can't help but think that I might be a little more adventurous if I carried the Internet around in my pocket in this city! 8. Printer in my room/apartment/within walking distance - This is one of the things I miss most! Having to ask someone at work or make my way to an internet cafe to print up boarding passes, information, or just something interesting that I want to print is inconvenient. It's such a small thing, but I miss it!
9. Chili powder - I just can't find it!!!
10. English - Obviously. It's very enlightening to connect with people in a different culture, but can't help but think that something is always lost in an exchange with a language barrier. A language barrier also makes it much more difficult to read people or even just understand everyday conversation. Was that a statement, or a question? Is that something I am supposed to do, or was it just an observation? It gets tricky! Also, I just feel like a complete ass around these people who can usually fluently speak at least two languages besides their native tongue, and often can understand enough of several other languages to get by. I think this is a major major issue in the American education system, but let's not get started.
11. My family - I really do miss my family, but of anyone, I have been able to keep in touch with my immediate family the most. I miss them and my extended family, and getting to talk on the phone or just call them up whenever, but it hasn't been as bad as I expected. Still, they get a spot on the list!
12. MY FRIENDS - This is #1 on my list of things I miss about home!! I really really miss my friends! We are all so busy that it's difficult to keep in touch, but mostly I miss being around them! It's true that you often don't realize what you have until you don't have it anymore, and I never before thought about how lucky I am to have friends around all the time! I miss seeing them and just hanging out, having classes with them, working out with them, seeing them around campus, going to the caf, attending sports games, going out. I just miss them so much!! And yes, I have made friends here, but not of the same closeness of the friends that I have at home. I miss the convenience of being able to run around the corner to see what everyone is up to, or going out on campus and literally knowing every single person at a party! Being reunited with my friends is going to be the most comforting reunion of all when I get back home!!
On that note, I also miss being around people that I completely trust. Like I said, I have a couple of those people here, but I'm also finding that my personal beliefs & actions don't always align with those of the other study abroad kids here. That's a pretty unfair statement. I can't say that as a blanket statement, but there have been more than a handful of times that I find myself out with people doing things that I don't and won't do. I don't judge them, but I don't always want to be around that, you know? I miss my friends who think and act like I do, or at least kind of like I do. I'm not really sure if this is making sense, but it goes back to the trust thing - I definitely have friends who do things that I wouldn't (and I am sure I do things that some of my friends wouldn't), but I know them well enough to know that the things they do don't make them sketchballs. When you just meet someone, and they seems sketchy, you never know if they really are a trustworthy person making bad decisions, or if they would screw you over in an instant. I miss really knowing the people I'm hanging out with!
Things I love about Prague/being abroad:
1. Public Transportation - it is incredibly convenient to be able to hop on a tram to get to work! It is particularly convenient to be able to take public transportation when going out, as nobody has to worry about being the designated driver! There is something special about living in a city with great public transportation - I think you need to experience that to really understand.
2. Being legal - It's really nice to be able to go out to a club or bar! It's also really really nice to have a beer with dinner! I am so bummed that I will be back home for six months before I am legally allowed to drink in the States. Some situations just seem inappropriate without a beer in hand!
3. My internship - I am learning so much and enjoying (mostly) every step of my internship! It's nice to kind of be out in the real world, and although I don't know where I want to work, I am looking forward to finding a fulfilling career in the (ever nearer) future!
4. Food - the food here is just so good! I know it's good at home to, but it's also much less expensive here, making a nice dinner out less of an indulgence and possible to do more frequently!
5. BEER - I don't know what the heck I'm going to do when I get back home! I don't think I will even be able to drink Bud Light, let alone Natty or Busch! My wallet is truly going to suffer for the benefit of my taste buds! I am not kidding, the beer here is just so dang good! When I went to Rome, we got cheap Italian beer, and bleh! I could barely drink it!! I am so used to the deliciousness of beer here, I don't know how I'll ever go back to the yellow-tinted water we call beer!
6. Traveling on weekends - traveling around Europe has been one of the most incredible parts of this experience! I have seen so many historical and famous places just traveling around on the weekends. This is a tradition that I definitely need to keep up back home! Who says a weekend trip a few hours away is out of the question??
7. Meeting new & totally different people - I have gotten to meet so many interesting people through this journey. There are so many nice people in the world! Yeah, a lot of sketchballs, too, but a lot of very nice, kind, and interesting people. I have particularly enjoyed meeting people who are very different from the people I know - it has been an eye-opening and enlightening experience!
8. Being able to walk places - While I do miss my car, it is also really nice to be able to walk out from my apartment and have 10 restaurants within a stone's throw, and an uncountable number withing walking distance. Include the grocery stores, banks, shops, and more, and you have everything you need within walking distance. I really appreciate city life!
9. Living in a real apartment- okay, so I lived in an apartment at school, but on-campus housing isn't exactly really living in an apartment. It is really nice to have (basically, because my roommates barely exist) my own place, my own space.
10. Really really good produce - The variety and quality of produce here is fantastic! It's also inexpensive, making eating these delicious fruits & veggies cheaper than at home!!
11. The culture - The Czech culture, the customs, the history, the food, the bars, the clubs, the shops, the people - I love it all! This really is a wonderful country and an amazing city, and I am so thankful that I ended up here! It has truly been and will continue to be the best experience of my life!! All I need to do is take advantage of it and really spend my time here to the absolute fullest - I just hope I do that!!
This week has been draining but good. I am getting over being sick, and my sleep schedule pretty much blows, but other things are going well! My internship is starting to settle down and become more routine, and my assignments are becoming more defined. For three weeks I will be working solely with Digital, and then I will go back to Central Marketing. I am excited to get experience in both areas, and I have already learned a ton, but it will be so much easier to only work with one department at a time!
Last Thursday I worked on uploading content to the back end of the Company's new website, which is a major milestone in the corporation's history. Friday I got to work with the new website's wireframes and edit the
English on a document depicting screenshots of the proposed website. It
was great, but my eyes were bleary and tired from all of the squinting! Not only do I get to work at the Company during this landmark, but I actually get to be a partof and work on the website! How exciting!
The work so far has not been the most exciting, but it's not bad at all! Apparently I am a translator now (no, I don't actually know any other languages fluently), thanks to Google Translate. If you know me, you know how much I enjoy editing and polishing writing, and that is a huge part of my tasks working with the website. There are three levels: a Global page, which will be available in English, nine Regional pages, which will be available in both the local language(s) and English, and 57 Club pages, which will also be available both in the local language(s) and English. Yes, it is a huge job. Because I am one of the only native English speakers working on the website, I get to make sure that everything reads perfectly in English - what could possibly be a better or more exciting job for me, I ask you. I know what! I will actually kind of get to do some copy writing, too!!! Now that is more exciting ;)
As my time with Digital progresses, I will keep you all updated on all of my exciting (and not so exciting) tasks!
In case you were wondering, I have been going into the office, and I have not been going in naked. I have been a little under the weather, and honestly, rushed for time in the morning, so I have not been keeping my "Internship Style" page up to date. I promise, next week it will be back, and I hope to have some better quality pictures for you! I have figured out a little style-blogging secret, and being a little more organized will help me both with having time in the morning and keeping my style page updated!
This past weekend Tereza and I headed off to Vienna, Austria, and it was wonderful, but first you should read about the weekend before, which I spent in Berlin, Germany. It was ah-mazing!!! Enjoy!
From the time I arrived, I couldn't wipe the stupid smile off my face. I WAS IN GERMANY!
Why was that so exciting? I have absolutely no idea. Sure, I love learning about Nazi history, the Holocaust, and Judaism, but why I was that excited for a quick weekend trip to Berlin, I'm not sure. My good friend KRose suggested that maybe I was from there in a past life, and I was so happy because it was like I was coming home. I think she might be right =)
The whole time I was in Berlin, which was absolutely not long enough, I kept thinking about how I wanted to live there for a while, if even only for a couple of months. I really hope to do that someday (and Cay and I made a pact to live in Germany together in this lifetime), but for now I am content planning another weekend trip during my time abroad. There are so many sights that I did not get to see, and I absolutely cannot leave Europe without going back to see them. Fantastic reason to go back, right?!
So, what did I actually do while I was there? I find it easiest to go in chronological order, so that is exactly what I'll do.
This whole trip was completely spur of the moment: I was chatting with a high school acquaintance, Alex, on Facebook about how neither of us knew the other was in Europe. He and his friend who has been living with him in Denmark visited Prague the weekend or two before, and then found out I was staying there. He is working on the second year of his master's degree, which is based out of Denmark, but he will be moving to Amsterdam soon to complete his second year of the program. He mentioned that he was heading to Berlin, and suggested we meet up there. At first I figured he was just being polite and inviting me because he had mentioned his trip, but he brought up meeting up there a couple more times, so I figured okay, why not?
Seriously. That was my entire thought process.
This was one of those moments that I talk to myself and say something like: "Stay here this weekend or go to freaking Berlin?! A million things could go wrong, the guys could not be there, I will be traveling by myself...blah blah blah." Then, I mentally slap myself and say, "GO TO FREAKING BERLIN!!!" So I went!
So, yeah, that's how I ended up there with a guy I kind of knew in high school (let's call him Alex 1) and his friend, also named Alex (Alex 2). It all worked out ;)
I took a bus from Prague to Berlin, about a five hour bus trip, give or take, which only cost me about $62, round trip. These buses are nice. Each comfy seat reclines & has its own TV screen on the back of the headrest of the seat in front. They have movies (in English & Czech, with subtitles), TV shows, games, music - pretty much any entertainment you could want! I was lucky enough to have a window seat both ways, so sleeping was comfy, too. The only issue I had was that my seat on the way back was so freaking squeaky. Squeak. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaak. Ugh, it was horrendously annoying. At first I though it was just my seat making the noise, and I was really annoyed/embarrassed, but once I realized that all of the other window seats were doing the same thing, I didn't feel so bad. Alright, back to Berlin.
I arrived at the bus station without any issues. Our bus was even early - we arrived around 8:20, 25 minutes earlier than expected. I got off the bus, walked out of the bus station, and saw Berlin.
Funkturm Berlin radio tower right outside the main bus terminal, Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof Berlin (ZOB) am Funkturm
I use Google Transit ALL THE TIME to make sure I (kind of) know where I am going, and I had walking directions to get to the S-Bahn, then instructions on which train to take, when to transfer, how to walk to the hostel, etc. I really have no clue what I would do without Google Transit! I found the stop easily, bought a ticket from the machine - in German, might I add - and made my way to Mitte, Berlin, or the borough in the "middle" or "center" of the city. The ride takes about 40 minutes (which speaks to the size of the city), and I got to see Berlin all lit up and looking beautiful!
Because I took the S-Bahn instead of the U-Bahn (above ground and underground, respectively), I ended up at the station Hackescher Markt, which is about a ten minute walk to the Circus Hostel where the guys and I stayed. Believe me, I did not mind that walk! As I was walking through the city, my first impression was that Berlin is much more modern and much larger than Prague. I was also in the middle of the city, at a main train station, and there were tons of people around, music playing, just a lot going on! I only walked in circles for about five minutes before I found the way I was actually supposed to go - progress! There are some extremely cool storefronts along that walk, and one of the most eye-catching stores is Hugo Boss.
So, these aren't my pictures, but this is exactly what the storefront looked like, besides the clothes on display. The only thing the pictures don't show is how big the display is! It was so cool! This is just an example of the many eye-catching, interesting, and vociferous displays around Berlin. It was great! I think that part of the reason I was so excited to be there is that Berlin is a pretty big city. Prague is not nearly as big, and because so much of the city center is crowded around my flat, it seems even smaller.
Berlin, although incredibly historic, is completely "big city," with skyscrapers, modern buildings, neon lights, etc. The two cities are incredibly different, and I am completely and utterly enamored with both.
I finally found my hostel, checked in, and checked out the digs. This is the first hostel experience I have had, and it couldn't have been better! Unfortunately, that likely means that all following hostel experiences won't even compare, but we shall see. Not only was the Circus Hostel incredibly clean and secure, it also offered great amenities. The hostel features a David Hasslehoff themed bar in the basement, and each day there is some kind of special: free beer, free soup & bread, karaoke, etc. I didn't get a chance to visit the bar, but the guys did, and experienced das boot firsthand. I think they had a good night after that ;) The hostel also offered free charging for phones & ipods, free luggage storage, the free use of hairdryers, cheap towels, free WiFi, and iPad and Skype phone rentals. They had pretty much anything you could need. The lockers, which are right next to each bed, even had outlets in them
to allow you to safely charge your electronics while you are out and
about or sleeping. If you are ever in Berlin and looking for a cheap and incredibly nice place to stay, check out the Circus Hostel! I stayed in a 10-bed mixed room and had absolutely no issues, and even met some cool people (although there were weirdos, too).
After I settled in at the hostel, I checked my Facebook - Alex 1 only has a Denmark cell plan, so this was our only means of communication all weekend. We planned to meet up at the hostel that night, and his first message read, "We will wait for you at the bar in the basement then we can go out." However, the next message read, "We are going to the Matrix." So, what did I do? I responded, "See you there," rushed to get ready, looked up directions, and headed to Matrix....without checking my messages again. In my defense, I figured they were on their way to the club already, and wouldn't be able to respond. Yup. That's what I thought.
Being out in Berlin at night, even at 10:30, is great. There are tons of people around and just so much going on - people milling around, shouting, drinking, eating, vendors trying to get people to buy stuff. The only negative encounter I had on my way to the club was a girl on a bicycle hissing at me as she rode by. I'm thinking that was a personal problem on her part.Weirdo.
So, I found Matrix, went in by myself (huge milestone for me), paid the 6 euro cover, checked my coat, and commenced being awkward. Okay, I wasn't that bad, but I was kind of bad. The club had maybe five different rooms/dance floors and twice as many bars. There were booths, couches, tables, and other nooks and crannies where the guys could have been, and it was kind of dark. Okay, even I am giggling at the memory of me walking through the club (multiple times) trying to nonchalantly check everyone out. Finally I said screw it, I couldn't find them anywhere, and went and got another beer and sat down at a table by myself. I hate being by myself in social situations. Does anyone not feel awkward? I was just kind of sitting, looking around, and trying to build up the courage to go introduce myself to somebody, anybody. I get really anxious in social situations, and being by myself magnifies that anxiety by 100%.
So, basically, I was having a great time.
Finally, finally, I decided to go back to one of the quieter rooms with couches where I thought I had seen a couple guys sitting around. I figured I would at least be more comfortable sitting on a couch, right? I finally made my way over, walked up to the three guys, and asked, "Hey, do you speak English?" The guys said yes and said sure when I asked if I could sit with them. They were super nice, although probably wondering what weirdo of a girl just sat down with them, and I learned that they are all Turkish and studying in Berlin. It was nice to get to chat with them, and they started buying me drinks. I love when people buy me drinks ;)
I explained to them my friend situation, how I was supposed to be meeting people there, but I absolutely could not find them, and they were probably thinking, "Suuuuure, yeah right!" It makes me laugh to think about what they must have thought of this random girl coming up to them. They were really cool, though, and very interesting. I asked if they had ever been to Matrix before, and they had, but said it really didn't start to be a party until midnight. We hung out until then, and one of the guys offered to let me use his phone to check my Facebook messages. Lo and behold I had 5 frantic messages from Alex 1 telling me that they were waiting for me in the basement bar, that the plan was to go to Matrix at 1, that I better not be asleep in my room, that they went to my room and I wasn't there, and asking where the hell I was! I messaged him to hurry the hell up and meet me at the club, and then I went to dance with the guys.
They were right! The place was packed by midnight, and much much more fun than it had been when I was alone, nursing my beer and watching weird people dance. We had a great time! The music was older mainstream (read: American) music that one of the Turkish guys and I knew every word to, so we were dancing and belting out the lyrics to each other. Between dancing, singing, and repeated warnings from the guys to watch my bag, we visited the bar (apparently a lot, because where the hell did all my money go? Effing euro) and made fun of the classy girls dancing in the cages.
We all look pretty horrible in this picture (believe me), but these are my Turkish friends.
We were heading off the dance floor and back to one of the quieter bars when I heard someone say, "Hi Tempe!" Ohmygosh my friends were actually here! After hugging the Alex I knew (Alex 1), I introduced myself to the other (Alex 2), Alex 2 shouts, "Wait! You're Tempe?! WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND YOU ALL NIGHT!" Oops. Okay, but really, it wasn't totally my fault, right?
The night pretty much continued as it had been. I introduced my Turkish friends to my other friends and we all had a great time together. At this point I was nearing being awake for 24 hours, so when the bouncers started kicking everyone out around 6:30am, I readily obliged. I had somehow managed to lose Alex and Alex again, but my Turkish guys invited me to go with them to get this Turkish soup they had been telling me about that they promised was absolutely sure to make you not hungover the next morning. Perfect. Exactly what I needed.
We headed out, hopped on the U-bahn (I might have kind of stolen public transportation for a greater part of the weekend...oops), and ended up in "Turkish Town." Okay, I made that up, but apparently the largest population of Turks outside of Turkey is in Berlin. I had no idea!
On a side note, all night the guys had been teaching me naughty words and how to basically flick someone off in Turkish. They were impressed at how well I could make their rude gestures, but when we got of the U-bahn, warned me not to do that gesture anywhere near this area. Makes me wonder what it actually means...
So, we arrived at a restaurant that I am pretty sure the guys must frequent often. We were, unsurprisingly, the only people in the restaurant at 7am, at least for a while. The guys ordered up our soup, which came with a communal bowl of garlic broth stuff and a bowl of spicy pepper stuff (yeah, those are obviously the technical terms). The soup is called kelle paça, and the guys had warned me that a lot of Turkish girls wouldn't even eat it because they think the garlic smells.
Not my picture, but a pretty standard serving of kelle paça, tin bowl and everything.
Uh, not me. I ate two bowls, with the garlic stuff and the spicy pepper stuff. This stuff is money. It's served up with basically little pita breads, called pide, which were also delicious and perfect with the soup. The guys seemed pretty impressed that I liked the food so much, which was pretty entertaining. After our meal, they put me on the correct train home, and we parted ways with promises of keeping in touch.
When I got back home on Monday, I decided to look the soup up. I probably should not have. I found out that it is made with sheeps' heads and feet. Uh, what?! That kind of freaked me out, but once I thought about it, I really don't care. If the guys had mentioned beforehand that kelle paça has some sketchy ingredients, I probably would not have even tried it, and that would have been a shame! I would totally eat this again, and you should try it, too! Seriously, be a little more adventurous! At this point, I was exhausted, and boarded the mostly empty subway car, sat myself down in an empty area, and smashed my face up against the window to get (very little) rest over the next few stops. Germany had other plans. At the next stop, four men boarded my car, probably in their late twenties, and definitely on their way back from partying. Pretty much the entire car was empty, but they zeroed in on me, came over, surrounded me, sat down, and made themselves comfortable. Immediately they started speaking to me in German (in a friendly way), and I just shook my head and told them I didn't understand. No matter! They spoke English! I wanted to go back to my bed and just die for the next few hours, with as little human interaction between the subway ride and my bed as possible. I might have been slightly grumpy. These guys were pretty hilarious though, and were constantly making fun of each other while talking to me. The ringleader kept saying he must be funny because I kept laughing at him (I really need to work on this - it's like a nervous tic!), and another just told him that he was making me feel uncomfortable and I was only laughing because I didn't know how to respond. He was completely right, but it was still kind of funny! Thankfully, I only had to spend a handful of stops with these guys, and I soon made my way back into the world, into my hostel, and into my bed. As aforementioned, this was my first hostel experience, and I was in a 10-bed mixed dorm-style room. I felt like the biggest jerk, coming in at 8am when everyone else was already in bed (wait, why was everyone else already in bed?!), making noise and being a problem. Okay, I really wasn't a problem, but still. You know how when people are sleeping, every little noise you make sounds like a freaking bomb going off? Yeah, that's what it was like. Fortunately, nobody seemed to really wake up, so I stumbled into my bed and half-slept for the next three hours. My sleeping patterns pretty much suck now. When I first arrived in Prague, after an initial adjustment period, I was doing well and on a good sleep schedule. Now, I wake up early for work, sometimes get an afternoon nap, sometimes not, still stay up late, go to bed exhausted, sleep for not nearly long enough, and then repeat. If I go out, I usually try to get back home before 3am, go to sleep for 4ish hours, and do the same thing. Totally healthy. Back at home, almost nothing could get between me and a good night's sleep. Here, it's pretty much the last thing on my list (which is probably why I am fighting off a cold right now) because there is so much to do!!! What's the point of missing out on experiences for sleeping?! Okay, I know it's important, and I know you need it to be healthy, but COME ON!! I'm getting just enough, don't worry. Back to Berlin. So, I got up after my three hour "nap," showered, got ready, wished my mommy a happy birthday (and accidentally woke her up at 5am, sorry, Mum!), and met up with the Alexs. We headed out to get kebab (kebap) and start our day. Kebab is all over Europe, and it's some tasty stuff. This place had beef kebab, and we got it served in a wrap. This was my first kebab experience, and the thing was the length of two Chipotle/Qdoba burritos. Yeah, I ate the whole thing. Smothered in Sriracha. I ate very healthy in Berlin =) The guys said they weren't impressed with this place, but I had nothing to compare it to, yet, and I was satisfied!
My kebab. This sucker was a monster.
We finished up our brunch and headed out to sight see. Half of my fun in Berlin was just from being with Alex and Alex. They are both incredibly nice, and they are freaking hilarious. Together they are unstoppable. They had so many stories to tell me and things to share with me, it was great. Just walking around with those two all weekend would have been fun enough! Those two had been in Berlin since Thursday, had already seen a few things, and had planned to check out Museum Island that day. On our way, we walked through a really great little market selling everything from trinkets to Nutella crepes, and we eventually stumbled upon the Berlin Cathedral. We weren't sure what it was at first, but we sure knew it was pretty!!
(That is Alex and Alex in the lower left corner, haha)
We walked around to find the entrance, and even though we still didn't really know what it was, decided to go inside and see for ourselves. I am so glad we did! this place is incredible! My pictures just can't do it justice - it is too intricate, too beautiful to capture with my silly little camera, but I tried (and failed).
I could sit in there for hours, just look around, and not get bored. I really hope I get the chance to do that, someday.
Our next stop was Museum Island. We visited the Neues Museum and the Pergamon Museum, which house the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and reconstructed historically significant buildings, respectively. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was just listening to Alex 2 read excerpts from his Rick Steves guide and pelt me and Alex 1 with "fun facts." I am completely serious. It was hilarious to hear about the "snake leg" on the Pergamon Altar and try to figure out what the hell that is before actually seeing it (it really is a snake leg...look it up!) or about the mythical scorpion, eagle, snake, dragon creature on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (I am definitely missing an animal).
This is the Altes Museum, which we did not visit, but it's architecture is beautiful!
This will probably make me sound undereducated, but I had absolutely no idea that Berlin has such amazing museums! We only visited two, and I still can't believe how much we saw and the quality of the artifacts! It is absolutely incredible! The Neues houses more Egyptian artifacts than you could ever even want to see, and they are absolutely stunning. Just the bust of Queen Nefertiti alone is worth visiting for - she is exquisitely beautiful (why did I not take pictures?!?!)! The Pergamon is also mind-blowing, with the Pergamon Altar and, one of my favorites, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. This spurred an interesting conversation between me and Alex 2: how do people just decide that they can take entire buildings or gates or altars, move them around the world, and claim it as your own? Like, who gave you permission?! I know it doesn't work like that, but seriously, how do you just decide that you get to take an entire building, take it apart, and rebuild it inside another building?! We humans are strange creatures...
The Pergamon Altar
Market Gate of Miletus
Side walls of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon
The Pergamon also houses many other exhibits, but one most interesting to me is the Islamic Art Museum. Oooooh my gosh. I want these people to furnish my house! This stuff is so beautiful - so detailed, so colorful, so intricate. The pieces are absolutely incredible! I will cherish the long & exhausting but visually stimulating hours we spent at Museum Island!
That was pretty much all we could handle that day, so after wandering around for a bit, we headed back to the hostel where I promptly fell asleep, slept through my alarm, and was late meeting the guys. Hey, I really needed that thirty minutes of sleep! They didn't mind, either. Alex 1 was entertained watching Alex 2 running around the hostel trying to find me (which he eventually did - in my room), and once I woke up, I was pretty much ready to go. We headed across the street to a burger place Alex 1 had spotted earlier in the trip. I told you I ate really healthy in Berlin! This place was great! The food was awesome, and it was very tiny and pretty popular - definitely a solid choice! I ordered a burger with cheese, bacon, jalapenos, and chili sauce, which ended up being more sriracha. This girl isn't complaining! Once again I managed to impress guys by what I was eating. Maybe it's time I reevaluate my eating habits...? Whatever, this burger was awesome. Even though I had a burger when Carly, Katie, and Jacqueline visited, that one was underwhelming. This was the first really good burger I have had since being abroad, and man was it appreciated!!
After our awesome meal, we headed back to the hostel, got ready to go out, met up, and headed out to meet up with some people from Alex's university who were celebrating for one of the girls in the program heading abroad somewhere. The girl hosting the "party" is a local Berliner, so the plan was for her to take us around the city, basically on a bar crawl of local places.
We might have had a few issues finding the first place, but we eventually did find it, and met up with everyone. They were all crowded around a table, so the three of us went to our own table, and commenced our awesome night.
Alex 2 ordered a Hefe, or Hefeweissbeir, which is a yeast beer, and I decided to try the same. He mentioned that it kind of tastes like bananas to him, and he was totally right!! How strange but delicious! I really enjoyed my Hefe, and I hope to have a chance to try some other German beers soon!
Alex 1 came back to the table with the bar's version of a Red Bull vodka, and I couldn't help but laugh - the drink was brightpink with a huge wedge of lime in it! I have to give him credit, though, the drink was really good - the energy drink was grapefruit - and both Alex 2 and I switched over for a couple rounds.
When we had first arrived, the place was occupied, but not crowded. By the time we left, the place was packed! I didn't even notice how crowded it was getting, as Alex, Alex, and I were having a great time catching up and talking about all of the people we all know. Who says boys don't gossip?
Eventually, we headed out and onto the next place. We walked back toward the U- and S-Bahn, but ended up in what looked like a deserted warehouse or train station with stairs leading up to the second floor. The club entrance was hidden behind a black drape, where we also found a bouncer and ticket "desk." The place was so tiny, but really crowded and pretty fun! The bar took up almost the whole place, but huge windows on the walls provided views of the S-Bahn station next door. We didn't stay here long, but it was really a cool place to get to see.
Apparently Berlin has a crazy, underground nightlife. When I first arrived at the hostel, I started chatting with three American girls in my room who were visiting Berlin from London, where they are studying together. They apparently have a couple friends who have lived in Berlin for several years now and who took them out the night before. They told me that there is a place in Berlin that used to be row houses, but that someone gutted the entire inside to make a huge club, although it still just looks like a row of houses from the outside. Apparently the club is not advertised, you can't hear or see anything from the street to identify the place as a club, and the bouncer decides who will and will not get inside the club. The girls' friends, who are now fluent in German, instructed them to absolutely not talk. I guess these places are pretty serious about being exclusive!
The third place we ended up reminds me a lot of the story the girls told me. From the outside, the place was completely unsuspecting, and we had to pretend to be in couples, rather than a huge group, to get into the place. Once we got in, it looked even more like a house-turned-bar. The "living room" was a dance floor, with steps leading up the the bar, and then steps leading down into the "basement" where there were bathrooms and a coat check. Again, this place was awesome, and we got some serious dancing in, but around 2:30, Alex 1 and I decided to head back to the hostel, as we all planned to start our sight-seeing early the next morning, because of my 17:00 bus back to Prague.
On our way back, we stopped at a different kebap place to get some late-night munchies. We ordered, and the older guy behind the counter kept telling me that he loved me. He wouldn't even take my money when I tried to pay (Alex 1 offered, anyway)! This kebap was in the typical pita and it was absolutely delicious! This time we got the spicy kind with chicken, and there were veggies and some kind of slaw in there, too. Yum! I have seen tons of these places around Prague and never stopped, but now I definitely will!! As we left, the guy who liked me so much waved and blew kisses ;)
I got a few more hours of sleep on Saturday night that I had on Friday night, but still not many. We started our day earlier than we had on Saturday, and immediately headed out to try to get our long to-see list completed. We first tried to find a Nutella crepe cart on our way to Potsdamer Platz, but were completely unsuccessful. No matter, we continued our sight-seeing, and I got to see where the Berlin Wall ran through Potsdamer Platz and the Sony Center, both of which are really cool. Next we planned to walk to the Brandeburg Gate and the Reichstag building, but we stumbled upon the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe along the way.
I had seen pictures of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (and now you have, too), but seeing it in real life is completely different. The memorial looks like a drawing, with its perfect lines and shadows. From inside the memorial, you find that the stelae are all of different heights, those in the middle towering hugely over you. The paths throughout the memorial are also different than I expected - hilly and wavy, not flat.
The memorial is an interesting topic, and I hope to provide you with my impression without being offensive. I also am going to try really really hard to make sense. Here goes.
I really like the memorial. I think it is haunting yet beautiful, stoic and sad, anonymous yet meaningful. Looking at it is almost unreal. The structure is so different from any structure that people typically experience, and it truly feels like you were dropped into someone's charcoal sketch. The sight is overwhelming and breathtaking, and it invokes a need to create connections between the structure of the memorial and the abominations it represents.
However, I think there is another side to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Here, I truly hope not to offend. The memorial is stark and sad and stoic, but I also think it represents acceptance. In absolutely no way do I mean acceptance of the murder of 6 million Jewish people or 5 million non-Jews. I mean acceptance of the fact that this is part of our history. It happened. We can't take it back, we can't undo it, we can't ignore it. We don't ever want to accept it in a way that makes the mass murder of human beings for any reason "acceptable," but we do need to acknowledge it, and we need to own it. It's ours, part of our history as human beings. Whether German, Jewish, American, or whatever, we are all in some way responsible for those 11 million deaths. The name of the memorial alone speaks to that acknowledgement: "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe." It would have been much nicer, much prettier, much easier to ignore if the memorial had been titled the "Jewish Memorial" or something like, but it wasn't. I think that is important. It's important to remember exactly how and why those people died, who did the murdering, who let the murdering happen.
With this acceptance of this horror as part of humanity's history, this acknowledgement, comes healing. Nazi history, Jewish history, and the Holocaust are all uncomfortable to talk about. It still hurts to remember these things - it wasn't so long ago, not at all. We need to remember, we struggle with remembering, even now. As the last generation of those involved before and during the WWII era are passing, it will only become easier to forget.
As I walked through the memorial, I found it difficult not to play. Yeah, it seems really inappropriate, but until you have been there, I don't think you can understand. People sit on the stelae, hide behind them, pop out over them. The paths are wavy and hilly, and the entire structure is geometric, making it fun to run between the stelae and discover what is hiding behind the next one or to look down the many paths while running by. I think this represents the idea of acceptance of the atrocity that is the Holocaust and WWII into our history well. Nazism, the Holocaust, and WWII are part of our history and they aren't going away - they can't. Humanity needs to acknowledge these times and learn from them, but we also need to look forward and keep living. Life didn't go on for 11 million people, but it does for 7 billion others. We can't ignore it, nor should we; we can't pretend it wasn't what it was, murder; we should never, ever forget, nor can we; but we do need to continue to live. Whether intended or not, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe invites me to continue to live while reminding me of my un-erasable history as a human being.
This is a pretty incomplete analysis, and I'm not completely sure it makes sense, but it's a start. I hope this gives you a little insight into what it felt like for me to visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and maybe it will help you develop your ideas and opinions on the memorial.
After such an intense and emotionally charged rant, it's a little difficult to return to my sightseeing in Berlin, but shall we?
Just steps away from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is the beautiful and imposing Brandenburg Gate. It is incredible.
Next was the Reichstag building. It is ENORMOUS. Like, really enormous. You just can't tell from pictures. There is a really cool glass dome on the top, and you can go inside, but you have to schedule a reservation a few days in advance, and we, of course, did not. We had to stand so far away from the building on its front lawn to fit the entire building into the picture.
After the Reichstag and the Alexs bickering like a couple about which train we should take/have taken, we finally got "breakfast" (it was like 14:00 by this point) and then went to find Checkpoint Charlie. Unfortunately, we did not have nearly enough time to see the entire street exhibit or the museum, but what we did see was really neat.
I had to see the Berlin Wall (not just Checkpoint Charlie) before I left, so we then headed to East Side Gallery. If you are ever in Berlin, you cannot miss this - you probably wouldn't, but you never know. The whole thing is completely covered in the most amazing art, inspirational quotes, and of course, some crap.
The guys mentioned that they really wished they could sign the wall, and, well, I keep a Sharpie in my purse (don't ask), so we all did!
I still had to go back to the hostel and collect my backpack, then make it out to ZOB am Funkturm to catch my bus, so this is the point at which I parted with the guys. They went back and ended up checking out a couple more museums - I think Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum - and apparently Alex 1 fell asleep! It was Alex 2's last day in Europe, and the guys didn't even go out that night! I guess if I had a 3am flight back to the States, I wouldn't go out the night before, either. Actually, I probably would, but that's just me!
I made it back to the hostel, took a little too long preparing for my trip, and just made my bus. I am going to give myself a heart attack from all of these close calls while traveling! I watched "How to Train Your Dragon" on the way home, and it was adorable. Highly suggested.
I got home, back to Prague, and promptly fell asleep, wistfully dreaming of the amazing Berlin and my return.
Czech medicine is great! After Berlin I was completely dead. I woke up with the worst sore throat (yes, Mom, I gargled with as-hot-as-I-could-stand-it salt water), a headache, and just feeling like crap, but I got some Coldrex and an OTC antibiotic throat and nasal spray (that looks like an inhaler), and those have done the trick! I am pretty sensitive to antibiotics - like, all of them - but apparently not this one. Go Czech Republic!
An OTC antibiotic, you say? Yep! Getting medicine here, any kind, is quite interesting. At home, you go to the pharmacy, such as Walgreens, where you can get pretty much any medicine your little heart desires, plus pretty much anything else you need. Here, the "Walgreens" type stores stock everything but the medicine, which apparently includes other things such as hydrogen peroxide. Strange, right? So, to get those, you go into a pharmacy, where you tell the person at the counter what you want, and they retrieve it from behind a locked glass case. Interesting. Whatever works!
In other good news, I just got back from a
wonderful weekend in Austria, and I hope to have that post up by
Thursday (wishful thinking) BECAUSE I AM GOING TO ROME THIS WEEKEND! I
absolutely cannot wait! The trip couldn't have better timing! I have
been making friends here, but there is nothing like seeing one of your
best and closest friends! I miss my Carl!!
It will just give me fuzzy feelings to be around my BFF again =)
Lastly, I write this blog for my friends and family to keep track of me, but if you are reading this because you are considering study abroad, or even if you are my friends and family, I implore you with all of my being to travel! There is absolutely no experience in the entire world that compares. After only 5 1/2 weeks I have grown so much, learned so much about myself, about other cultures, further developed my understanding of the world and my place in it, and have started to (very slightly) figure out the direction in which I want my life to go.
On that same note, traveling with friends is an incredible way to spend time together, and will be an intimate and rewarding experience, but at least one time, go somewhere by yourself. Do something on your own, only you. I highly value independence, and I am definitely still very dependent on my friends and family for support, but I am learning to just need me (& God!) on a daily basis, and how to be alone. Funny, that we as humans need to practice being alone, but we do. We totally do. Try it out for yourself, and learn to be alone without being lonely. You're stuck with you for the rest of your life, so you might as well learn to enjoy your own company and to love yourself - I am trying!!
I will leave you with the knowledge that I get to research and find really cool stuff at my internship every day, and leave you wishing you were a French kid when Adidas did this "experiential campaign:"
I hope I didn't already share this one with you!! Apologies if I have!
If you read my last shorty post, Exercise Knows No Language, you know that I am currently sitting at my apartment on a Friday night, updating my blog. Judge me. But, read that post first. Then, reevaluate your judgement. Or not. I don't really care. So.......
Considering that this weekend has already started, and I am still talking about last weekend, you might say that I am a little behind on my posts. Alas, life here in Prague has started to become a little busier than during my first few days. I do somehow have the time to spend a couple hours each day napping. Sigh. To think of all that I could do during those hours, but then I would never have the energy to stay up late on Twitter and Facebook and then wake up early to go to work. A girl has to have her priorities straight.
Anyway, back to last weekend. I am still mourning the departure of Carly, Katie, and Jacqueline. I am sure they are very happy to be back in Rome, but I do miss having friends, native English speakers, and fellow Prague-newbies by my side. I have definitely started to meet people, but it is just not the same as having friends or friends of friends with me, and not even the same as having around someone whose first language is English. With those three here, I was game to try anything - isn't it strange how much confidence you gain just from having a body by your side? Or how much easier it is to meet people when you are not alone? Sense it does not make, and I really just need to get over being by myself. Yesterday someone asked if I was lonely. I wasn't sure whether they said lonely or alone, so I asked "lonely or alone" with a laugh, and answered, "well, both." I mean I am starting to love it here, I really am. I don't know if it is just living in a city, or because it is quite beautiful, or because I am on my own, but I am very happy, if the teensiest bit restless. Seriously, I am even enjoying the cold weather! What? Yup. I don't know what is wrong with me, lately! I bought crunchy peanut butter yesterday, too. Seriously, who am I becoming?
Okay, anyway. Seriously, back to last weekend. We did some very fun things, found some interesting places, and met some great people. In The Weekend: Part 1, I ended with our walk to Old Town. So, initially our plan was to go straight to Bohemia Bagel, and we were all starving because of our late start, but we took a million pictures along the walk, and then just kind of happened upon Charles Bridge. I mean, we couldn't just walk by; we had to take pictures, and walk across, and take pictures along the way, and then walk back, and then maybe take a few more pictures.
Charles Bridge
Inside the arch of the Charles Bridge
Statue on the Charles Bridge
Me on the Charles Bridge
A view from the Charles Bridge. One of my favorite pictures.
Locks on the Charles Bridge
The other side of the Charles Bridge
Pretty much the same pictures as the last....
Cool soldier statue with a golden sword off of the Charles Bridge
Another view from the Charles Bridge
Cutest little old man ever........on the Charles Bridge
Me, again, on..........well...you get it.
Once again, faithful readers, THE CHARLES BRIDGE!
Okay, so I think you can see that it took us a while...on the Charles Bridge. It was so beautiful! Since it was a Friday, too, it wasn't super crowded, and the lighting and weather were absolutely perfect for taking pictures! When we went by on Saturday, it was completely packed and the weather was gloomy. I can't imagine what this place is like during the summer! Well, I guess I will get the opportunity to see!
So, at this point we were absolutely ravenous. I just have to say, to those of you who know that I suffer from Hanger Management Issues, I DID SO WELL. I was seriously the calmest, nicest hungry person you have ever seen. I was just dandy. I'm not kidding or being sarcastic. You all would be proud =)
For those of you who don't understand the term "hangry," please see below:
This term describes me perfectly. I'm not really proud of it, but it is very exciting that someone has created a word to describe this condition, and that other people suffer from it, too. Okay, so now you know a new word, cool. Back to the weekend.
Next stop, Bohemia Bagel, right?! Wrong. Not only did we not know how to get there, causing us to walk through many winding streets of Prague (I am not complaining, they were beautiful), but when we finally happened upon Old Town Square, we couldn't just walk through without a look-see at the big attractions there, namely the Prague Orloj, or astronomical clock.
Just so you know, it is really hard to take pictures of this thing. First of all, it is really tall, and there is just no place to stand to get the whole thing. Second, there are always tons of people crowded around, and I really hate having people that I don't know in my pictures. So, yeah, not the finest photography of the clock, but you get the idea. It is pretty neat. If you want a very short background on the Prague Orloj, check out item number 9 on my post The First List of Prague-isms.
GET OUT OF MY PICTURE, PEOPLE!!
So, we saw the clock, and then we saw the Týn Church, which I apparently only took one really bad picture of:
And finally we decided that we absolutely had to find Bohemia Bagel. We weren't really sure if we were headed the right way, but we finally just kind of stumbled upon it. Katie and Jacqueline had read to completely avoid the place between 12pm and 1:30pm. We, of course, show up promptly at 1pm, and the place was a mad-house.
I have to say, one of the most awkward situations is walking into a restaurant and just not knowing what to do, especially if you don't speak the language: does somebody seat you, do you just grab a table, do they bring a menu, or are you supposed to order at the counter? Then, do they bring your food to you or will they shout some number that is hiding on your receipt and you are responsible for picking it up yourself? See, this is why it is helpful to have friends; if you are doing something wrong and look like an idiot, at least you are not alone!
The place was packed, so while we looked at the menus, we hovered like vultures around the tables of people who looked like they might be finishing up. We finally snagged a table and continued to hover while a grumpy-looking lady came and cleaned it for us. Whatever. We ordered, we sat, and we relaxed. The food was really good and pretty cheap, and almost creepily accurate to the online info, at 1:30pm the masses had dissipated and left a very calm, cozy, and comfortable Bohemia Bagel to us and what appeared to be some locals. We ended up spending almost two hours here, but it was totally necessary and totally worth it. Having experience with spending a whole day sight-seeing, Jacqueline shared that it is definitely worth taking the time for everyone to relax, eat, and in this weather, warm up. Otherwise, you end up with grumpy people who start getting on each others' nerves and don't enjoy themselves.
On a somewhat related side note: I started developing an obsession with mint tea, which is really just a bag of dried mint leaves steeped in hot water, when I visited downtown Staunton, Virginia with Kala, Steph, and Carly around November. I was surprised to see it on the menu board of almost every cafe I walked by here in Prague. I finally decided to try some at Bohemia Bagel. Ohmygosh. Most places here make it with fresh mint leaves, and serve it with a little pot of honey. It is pure sunshine in your mouth. If I thought I was obsessed with mint tea before this trip, holy cow, now I am addicted! Most people here seem to like coffee and all of the fancy coffee drinks that are the norm here (cafe americano is so not normal), and don't get me wrong, those are dang good, too. My choice, though? Fresh mint tea with honey. Every time. Uuuugghhhh it is soooo yummy! I am going to have to get (another) mint plant when I get home (and make sure that I don't accidentally kill it this time)!
So, this one is obviously in a to-go cup, but usually they serve it in a tall, clear glass, and it is very pretty, as well as being ridiculously tasty.
While I, of course, was in love with my tea, the food was really good, too. I ended up with pastrami & Swiss on a bagel. It was so delicious, until I got to the part where they put on some kind of mustard with horseradish crap in it. Yuck. This really sucked, because without the nasty condiment, this was amazing, and with it, well, not my favorite. Or something that I would eat again, actually. Next time, just no condiments. Ew.
The pickle was really freaking good, too.
I am really bad at taking pretty pictures of my food, because I just want to eat it. Everyone else is like sitting and taking a picture on their camera and a picture on their phone and uploading that crap to Instagram, and I am over here just shoving my face. Then I'm like, oh, yeah, I should take a picture to share this experience with my friends and family. So pretty much there is always at least one bite taken out of my food before I remember to photograph it. Sorry, guys.
So, we ate, we talked, we relaxed, we warmed up, and we headed back out. We walked around a bit, and made our way to the Powder Gate (which we kept calling everything but the Powder Gate: the Powder bridge, the Powder wall, the Powder door, etc.), which is conveniently located right next to the Municipal building.
The Powder Gate while snow falls
The Powder Gate...in the sun
Zee top of zee Powder Gate
Zee other zide of zee Powder Gate
The beautiful Municipal building
Municipal building entrance
We started sneaking around the Municipal building because we didn't want to pay for a tour
More sneaking
Not sure what exactly this is, but it was pretty, and is in the Municipal building, across from the "American" bar
A model of the municipal building: view 1
A model of the municipal building: view 2
A model of the municipal building: view 3
There are a couple cafes inside the Municipal building that are supposed to be really great, but we had just eaten, so maybe I will get the chance to go another time. I also plan to come back and do a guided tour. If the inside is half as beautiful as the outside, it will definitely be worth the time and money! They also often have concerts here, so maybe I will attend one of those, as well.
Our next stop was the Jewish Quarter to try to find the Old Jewish cemetery. Our first sighting of the place was through a tiny barred window in a locked door in one of the walls of the cemetery. If you know me, you know I have a strange obsession with both Nazi history and Judaism. The sight of this cemetery is really the first true piece of European history related to that that I have gotten to see. I think the picture speaks for itself:
Headstones on headstones on headstones
We didn't get to go inside or take a tour, because by this time it was too late, but we walked around the cemetery and found some neat vendors! One adorable man had some very pretty jewelry, and when we all walked away empty-handed we were kicking ourselves. Why we didn't buy anything, we weren't sure, but we spent the rest of the weekend talking about going back, and finally did on Sunday morning before the girls left for the airport. We probably could have haggled with they guy a little, but he was just too sweet. He probably saw us coming from a mile off.
When we finally returned to my apartment and checked on Carly, she was feeling much better than that morning, and we all headed out to eat. I guess the girls have had a hard time finding burgers in Italy, and I had read a review for a place online, so we headed out to Yes Burger. Half burger joint, half Mexican food, this place had a serious complex. We were, again, extremely awkward, and I think we did the order, sit, eat sequence wrong, but English was not well spoken or understood here. We managed just fine, though, even if the staff thought we were asses. While the burgers were good, they were about 10% burger to 90% toppings and buns. Not exactly the perfect fulfillment to a burger craving, but still tasty...and extremely messy. Like I said earlier, I always forget to take pictures before I eat, so, you'll just have to imagine this one: an extremely large, messy burger covered in huge hunks of dripping vegetables and a falling-apart bun. See? You got it.
We walked around Old Town Square a bit, and got lost in the side roads. We went down an alley that had a few restaurants that had been recommended to me by my tour guide, and found a really hoppin' bar that we honestly should have just gone into. Instead, we walked around the absolute least-populated part of Old Town looking for a bar. Prague is kind of a big deal in the party scene, and this was a Friday night. We knew we had to just be in the wrong place, but we had no idea where to go. On a recommendation from Tereza, we headed to I. P. Pavlova (a tram/metro stop) in search of a bar.
We are an extremely indecisive group (a trait that I think plagues my generation as a whole), and we spent a whole lot of time trying to decide into which place we should go. Don't get me wrong, there were tons of places, we just couldn't figure out which one would be the best one. As we were deliberating outside of one place, a Czech guy came out and started spewing Czech at us. We all stared, dumbfounded and catching flies in our mouths, when finally one of us asked, "English?" The guy put up a finger, signaling for us to hold on a second, and headed back inside. Two seconds later, he came out again, and spewed more Czech, making the "come with me" motion. We all just kind of looked at each other and shrugged, and followed him inside. Mistake. Talk about a smoky bar! Not only that, but the guy that invited us in walked away and stood behind another table filled with, I assume, his friends. We were left standing awkwardly in the doorway while everyone else attended their business. We never would have been able to get to the bar anyways, because the place was packed. We promptly left and filled our lungs with the somewhat-more-fresh Prague city air.
Plan B: across the street, there is an Irish Pub with the menu in like six different languages. We figured that would be a safe bet. Another wrong. Not being welcome here would be an understatement. We walked in, did the awkward stand-around that we had gotten so good at, and finally approached the bar. I can order beer in Czech, and that is about it. I did so, and so did the girls, and the pissed-off looking bartender served us, glared, and walked away. We made our way to a tiny stand-up table in the absolute worst spot, and gained a few more nasty looks from the bartender and other staff as they kept squeezing by us. Finally a table opened up, and we sat until we finished our beers. So, note to self, even if the restaurant has the menu in 800 languages, they still might not want you there! Go figure.
At this point, we just wanted some dessert, and walked around seeking some out. Another mistake! We must have walked around for an hour, totally in the wrong area, yet again. We were definitely in a very residential area, with very few restaurants or bars, and none with much of a party atmosphere. When we finally got un-lost, we decided that chocolate, junk food, and wine would do the trick for the night. At this point of the weekend, I was feeling pretty bad. People come to Prague to check out Europe's biggest nightclub and to try absinthe. We were eating chips and cookies and watching Pitch Perfect. Little did we know that the next night was going to be just the thing!
Check back to hear about Carly, Katie, and Jacqueline's last full day and night in Prague! Stories of the castle, a beer tasting, getting lost at 2am, and our night out to come!
To be continued. Stay tuned for The Weekend: Part 3!
