Praha

Praha has been next to amazing! I was originally semi-skeptical about coming here because of how much it was hyped up. But now I understand the hype, its gorgeous. For the last couple of days, I have wandered throughout the city center and taken in the finely preserved architecture and other sights.

Initially, the week started off very slowly as I arrived and failed to instantly surround myself with a group. To be honest, I started to get a little down since I felt like "that" outcast traveler that no one wants to associate with. But of course, the tide changed and I met a great group of people to hang out with.

Of them, met a cool Aussie couple who have purchased a car and, instead of taking trains around Europe, have decided to do the adventure while driving. They were in my original dorm room! Also met two guys from London through a walking tour and ended up hanging out with them for a day.

So instead of boring you with all the sights I've seen, I'm instead going to focus on the adventures of today:

It all started off with a cool idea to see the "Bone Cathedral" located 75km east of Prague. The two English guys, along with the Aussie couple decided to make the trek together. Started off mid day, and instantly, it was action packed. We started off by almost missing the train to Kutna Hora (the town where the Bone church is located). We basically had to RUN to the correct platform after purchasing our tickets last minute. Of course though (because of the perfect day) the train was delayed by 10 minutes...to wait up for us! Once we got to Kutna Hora, we walked to the Bone church. For those of you who are not familiar, this gothic style church is decorated with the skull and bones of 40,000 people. Supposedly, the area had holy soil spread on it and became a very popular burial ground. Later on, the plague hit, leaving MANY dead people...actually too many for the small cemetary. They contemplated what to do with all the human remains and decided to decorate the inside of a church with the bones! Included are two large cups (made of bones) along with a chandelier made with every part of the human body. It was pretty creepy in my opinion, but definitely worth the trip out for.

After, we heard of another gothic church that was supposed to be fantastic. Since we already made it out so far, it was a no brainer to also check this one out. We attempted to get the train to the city center, but after waiting at a shady train station (it completely looked like the train station from Eurotrip when the main characters were in Bratislava), we decided to talk along the train tracks in order to find the church. This was pretty amazing, as we were able to follow a path off the main road, along a stream, all the way into the old town center.

Constant jokes were thrown out about how it was such a perfect day and perfect situation that it MUST be the start of a horror movie! Of course, the foreign looking guy (which would be me) always dies...so I was semi-worried if the plot was going to develop as planned. As we elaborated on each others stories, we eventually decided there were going to be ninjas hidden along the path who were hiding but would asassinate us in our journey. Luckily, it didn't pan out and we safely made it to this AMAZING hilled and walled in church area. Of course, instead of going to check out the church, we nestled ourselves in this quaint little restaurant overlooking the city and ate some fantastic food (was very cheap too). After the meals and beer, we finally made it to the church only to discover it was already closed.

Eventually we trotted our way back to the city center station and found a way back to Prague. In order to get to the main Kutna Hora station though, we had to ride this crazy single carriage "train". Of course, we made it safely and arrived at the main Kutna Hora station only to find mass confusion on how to best get back to Prague. During our confusion, we were on one train, got off, decided to get back on, and jumped off at the last minute! And I really do mean we jumped off. Somehow the doors don't lock as the train moves, and in our last minute group decision, we figured it would be best to try another train. By now the train has left the platform and is picking up speed. One by one, we jump off a moving train in our attempt to switch trains. For some reason, I laughed so hard about what we did, and it was the definite highlight of my trip.

The rest was pretty smooth and we arrived back in Prague before nightfall! In our day long adventure, EVERYTHING just went perfectly and I realized that the majority of the memories I'll have of Europe will not be of the museums I've seen, great squares I've lounged in, but instead, the people I've hung out with, and all the stupid stuff we do along the way! I guess you really had to be there with us...I can't even describe all the events in the detail they deserve, but it was just 100% perfect in every aspect!

The near future plan is to get out of Prague by Tuesday morning en route to Dresden, Germany. Whats in Dresden...who KNOWS?! Who cares...its just one more opportunity to meet people, hang out, and experience some amazing journies!

Until next time...best to you!