lavender fields forever: What's up Prague, what's up?

Sir Mix-a-Lot reference, in case you're obsessed like my Pop and I–you're welcome.

I loved Prague. I didn't really know what to expect in going, other than knowing it's one of the worst places for pickpockets and that none of my parents had ever been. Besides that, I confusedly knew of their different currency used in the Czech Republic, which would completely mess with our brains all weekend as we tried to calculate conversion rates for this supposed "cheap" place–which was seemingly contradictory to the large numbers of bills, ect–a sandwhich is around 75 crowns, for example. The last thing that I knew is that I'm 25% Czech, which, for a girl who's more of a mutt than most dogs at the pound, is saying something. This was a close as I was going to get to Ali's "trip to the homeland" in going to her family's origins in Italia. I was pumped.

We stayed in Old Town in a lovely, penny-cheap, apartment with high ceilings and an Annie-like bedroom, where we each had comfy twin beds all in a row. We made dinner for ourselves on Saturday night–wait, that was me who cooked! Even if it was chicken noodle soup and a simple baguette & cheese "apéritif," it was pretty good, if I do say so myself.

We were in walking distance to virtually everything all weekend, including the 5 story night club, "the biggest dance club in Central Europe," where Sage and I explored the...interesting...choices in dance halls. We had the most fun observing the chillhouse on the top floor, which vaguely resembled the Bandersnatch (AH! I miss Denison!), where girls wearing flannel and baggy jeans–big contrast to the regular skanky-Saturday-night-dress code in the rest of the club–were doing this sort of freestyle meets hip hop meets interpretive dance-off; it was a great way for us to wind down after 4 other floors of bass pumping.

Besides that, the girls took down the city during both days we were there by doing lots of sightseeing, and "en fait," no shopping! Prague isn't known for their shopping, but it's quite impressed that we walked away from the city without stumbling upon the shopping district! It's fair to say that I fell in love with Old Town Market in Prague; I could have stayed their all day, just watching and learning about the history just in that little part of town. It was the first sight we saw–the tower, the Harry Potter look-alike other tower, and of course, my fascination, the little stands in the middle of the square, each boasting its own delicious scent. I could have sat there forever just taking in all that's going around me–I've never seen so many tourist groups in one place–all the while, observing the stunning architecture all around me. And manging, un peu ;)

Here's a collection of shots from the weekend. I highly recommend to anyone who studies abroad to make the effort to go there; coming from a Frenchie, it was great to get out and see Eastern Europe and how it, too, is a fairy tale land in the name!

On top of the tower (sorry! I was an ignorant tourist and don't know the name of it) overlooking the castle (again, I was only there for the weekend!), which is the largest castle in the world!

Trdelnik, or otherwise known as "that thing!" between Sage and I. We tried this on the way out of town, it's basically doughy on the inside, warm with a crunch on the outside, and dipped & rolled in sugar. Trust me, you've got to try it if you go!