Prague!

This was my first trip to the Czech Republic, and it was wonderful! The trip getting there wasn't so amazing. The bus ride ended up taking around 13.5 hours. Luckily I can sleep through just about anything. The Swiss Alps at night covered in snow are breathless, but there are no picture because no camera would be able to come anywhere near as breath taking. Now I knew Prague was going to be cold, but I did not prepare for how cold. Europe's temperature decided to take a nose dive the weekend I travel north. Despite freezing tempetures I had an amazing trip. Friday morning I had the best breakfast that I had since being in Europe. Well I had it every day. The morning was occupied by a walking tour of the city. The tour guide took us to all of the big monuments- the Powder Tower, the city hall, the shopping center, the National Theater and the Clock Tower.
After the tour we were taken to a bagel shop. It was so good. I have not had a bagel since before leaving the states and I missed them so much. The food overall in Prague was really delectable. The oldest synagogue is located in the old Jewish Ghetto of Prague. This was a new experience for me. The men were in the main chamber while women were outside looking through slits in the wall. The ladies were all very nice. One even took the time to explain to me the different traditions of the religion. I was very glad to have gone, and had the opportunity to learn more about a new religion. Afterward we took a nap in our very warm beds before dinner. Dinner was in a large local restaurant. The food was fantastic. Italy is supposed to have good food but as far as I have seen the really good stuff is up north. I had a potato soup in a bread bowl. Normally I am not a fan of Rye bread, but this was good.
Saturday started out with another walking tour to different parts of the city. We visited the St. Charles bridge, the John Lennon wall, Starbuck and the Prague Castle. The castle was much less of a castle than I pictured. It was much more like a palace or a fortress. The view from the top was spectacular. There were colorful fall tress speckled through the old city. It did make me miss having a fall.The rest of the day was used to explore the city on our own. There was a Christmas market in the main square. There were glass blowers and metal workers making decorations right there. There was a large variety of foods. I of course tried all of them. For our evening entertainment we took three tours with Ivan. He is a strange and slightly awkward man who is pretty funny. The first was of the underground of Prague. The whole city used to be an entire floor lower. There was a problem with flooding so to fix the problem the streets were filled in to raise the level. You can see small allies, homes and wells.
The second tour was of the hidden microbreweries of Prague. The first two were most defiantly hidden, the third was not. The first two beers were good and the third was not. Along with us on the tour was a very nice German couple who were enjoyable to talk to.
The last tour was a ghost tour. The tour guide was very awkward and not very interesting. This one was free because we had taken the other two. She was not a good entertainer, so even though she knew her information, she didn't capture us. The stories was interesting. The next morning I got up early to get as much out of Prague as possible. Sadly not much is open on Sunday at 9 am. So I got some coffee and enjoyed being in Prague. It is a good thing that I did because that 13 hour bus ride home was harsh, but so worth it!