Walking in a Fairy Tale

This weekend marked my last weekend adventure with my roommates. Bittersweet. We took the trip that we had booked back in September: Prague.

People told us that being in Prague was like being in a fairy tale. Man were they right. It was gorgeous!! The town was all decorated for Christmas, so there were lights and little markets everywhere. On our last night there we were so inspired by the Christmas spirit that we sang carols. For over an hour. Some cute little man shook our hands, people recorded us, and there was applause. No joke. It was a lot of fun. I wonder how many of them actually understood us though.... oh well!

It was also fun this weekend because we got to meet Erica's friend Gabriella. They both go to Suffolk and studied in Spain together last semester. Kelsey, Molly, and I have all had people visit us, or we have visited friends, so it was really nice for Erica. Gabriella was a great tour guide. Her Prague history class really has paid off. As an added bonus she is from Eden Prairie. She and her family even went to Wooddale for a time, but now they go to Grace What a small world!

Other activities this weekend included go to the castle in Prague, and seeing a cathedral. That particular spot had amazing views. Apparently they filmed part of Mission Impossible there. Interesting fact. It is currently owned by the state, so you have to pay to see most of it. When it is owned by the Church anyone can go. Clearly, the state owns it now, because there were ropes blocking things off and people collecting tickets. It was a bit of a bummer, but it was still very beautiful (lots of pretty stained glass).

We did not physically go into a lot of things. While there is a lot to do in Prague, we only had a short period of time, and the bulk of the things to do are just walking around and looking at the architecture, stores, and epic views.

Things we did see, Old Towne Square. Sounds moderately boring, but there were some really cute little stores. We got a delicious cinnamon sugar pretzel thing. The name escapes me as it was Czech. I assure you it was good.

While on the subject of food, we ate some really tasty stuff. There is a lot of German influence so it was comfort foody (goulash, stew...). The best restaurant was right off Old Towne Square. They had little heaters set up under a canopy and we could see the Christmas tree.

The only bizarre thing about the weekend was the money. The Euro (and the USD) are waaaaaaay stronger than the Koruna. Their money has like no weight. The bill for our last dinner was over 2000 Koruna. Sounds like a lot right? Wrong, very wrong. It was between 20-25 euro for each of us (less than 30 dollars) in one of the more expensive food areas attached to a shwanky hotel. Score!

The weekend was amazing. I could not have picked a better a place to end my adventure. Sounds so weird to say that. I mean, I still have two weeks left, but this is my last trip with my roommates, and my next flight will be bound for Minnesota, not Zurich or Amsterdam. So adventure-wise the clock is winding down.

With that it's almost time to power down all electronic devices. So here is to a weekend of castles, fairy tales (but no prince charming), caroling (but no snow), great memories, and the last time seeing the Swiss alps from my airplane window. It's been a weekend, and a smester of travels, to remember.