After our hectic train ride, Chase and I arrived in Prague. It was too early to check into the hostel, so Chase and I dropped our bags off and then split ways. I chilled for a little while at a Starbucks and then went off on my main mission: to get a tattoo. I really wanted to get a tattoo on my birthday in Dresden, but there were no places that would take a walk-in or have a reasonable price. I had googled some places in Prague and found a couple that took walk-ins and were not super expensive.

                The place I went to was called Magic Tattoo and they were super friendly and more than willing to take me as a walk-in. I had previously made a sketch of what I wanted, the Gemini and Pisces constellations combined into one continuous constellation. This is to represent my mom and I. The artist was actually able to make the stencil directly from the sketch I gave him, so the drawing in officially in my hand, which makes it even more special. The actual tattoo itself only took about 15 minutes. Can’t say it was comfortable, it most certainly hurt more than I thought it would, but it was quick and simple. The tattoo also only cost 2500 czk which is about $115 USD (I was quoted almost 400 euros for a wrist tattoo in Dresden).

                After the tattoo I was able to officially check into my room. I was, again, on a higher floor but luckily there was a totally sketchy elevator that could only fit about one person at a time and didn’t actually stop on the floor you wanted, but in between floors on the stair landings. This hostel also had a nice kitchen but the best amenity by far was the water bottle refiller that had cold water; I’m not talking lukewarm water that borders on cold from the sink, I’m talking water that was really close to ice cold. This was a luxury because so far this entire trip, I’ve been relying on refilling my water bottle in either the kitchen or bathroom sink and just accepting warm water.

                Chase and I met back for dinner at a place that served local Czech food. The place was pretty empty but the few people who were there were definitely locals. The food was pretty good, nothing super spectacular but getting a steak for 13 euros was a great deal.

                The next morning, I went out to what might be consider some of the main centers of Prague. I saw the Astronomical clock. It is attached to the Old Town Hall and was installed in 1410. It is the  third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one that is still functioning. It’s pretty neat to admire the work put into the clock artistically, painted with red, blue, and gold, it stands out in the city square. From the clock I made my way to the Jewish Quarter because there was one specific synagogue I wanted to see.

                The Spanish Synagogue is one of a few synagogues located in the Jewish Quarter and probably the prettiest by far. A ticket to get in also allows you to get into the other synagogues in the Quarter, plus the Jewish Cemetery and an exhibition near the Spanish Synagogue. As soon as I walked past the reception of the Spanish Synagogue, I was speechless. The main room is covered in mandala-like designs and patterns that are painted gold. Gold covered almost every surface. Below the gold, deep reds and blues cast hushed tones that only accented the light bouncing off the gold paint.

                Around the outer walls were displays that held relics and artifacts from Jewish residents of Prague and Czechia before and after WWII. Plaques gave the history of the Jewish population in Czechia and how the war affected them. It was quite moving seeing everything on display. There were photographs and letters, kid’s toys and jewelry.

                When I spent enough time in the Synagogue, I walked in the opposite direction to the National Museum. I thought about going to see the Jewish Cemetery, but I honestly felt like it would be weird to walk through a cemetery that was meant for Jewish citizens when I wasn’t Jewish. I know that might not sound weird, but I just had an odd feeling about seeing a cemetery, so I decided that if I had time the next day then maybe I would consider it.

                I made my way to the National Museum with only half a plan to actually go inside. I was still on the fence about whether or not I wanted to cough up the money for admission, so I figured I would at least go and see the outside which looked cool and then decide. I got sidetracked along the way and stopped at bookstore. I can’t help myself especially because half the bookstores I find are four stories and filled with so much more than just books. I ended up not going inside the Museum but instead, ate a lunch of random snacks outside and did some people watching over the busy street.

                I backtracked after the Museum and took the metro back towards Old Town (where the clock was) to go to the famous Charles Bridge. Honestly, the bridge was a little underwhelming. It’s packed with tourists stopping in the middle of the bridge and locals trying to sell their wares. You get a nice view of the palace from the right side of the bridge, but it would not be my first choice of route across the river.  I had plans to go to the palace the next day, so I walked back across the bridge and instead took the tram back to my hostel. God bless Europe and having reliable public transit.

                That evening I made plans for Chase and I to do a bar crawl (Chase doesn’t really have a say in whether or not we do one, I just tell him we’re doing it and he says “ok”). I ate dinner at the hostel that night while Chase went to a BBQ place that he would then not stop talking about for the rest of our time in Prague. When we got to the meeting place for the bar crawl, I noticed two things pretty quickly. The first was that I was the only girl as of five minutes before the official meeting time. The second was that a large group of guys were American. This instantly narrowed the pool of potential guys to flirt with because I wasn’t going to go all the way to Europe only to make-out with a guy from America.

                Once the bar crawl officially started, there were a total of five girls including me. Not great, but certainly better than none. I bonded pretty quickly with two English girls named Hannah and Nadia who had also recently graduated from college. Now this bar crawl was a little different than most in that the first bar was an open bar of beer, wine, vodka shooters, and absinthe. Why absinthe, of all things, I don’t know, but I made it clear early on that I would not be touching it (Chase, however, got coerced into a shot from some guys from Texas. RIP). My plan was to get drunk off the open bar and not buy anything else the rest of the night. And by God it worked. I got really friendly with a guy from England who was more than happy to supply more drinks after we left the place with the open bar, so I had a pleasant night not spending a dime 😉

                Now the thing about this hostel is that while having a water bottle refiller that has cold water is great, the rooms were hotter than a sauna. The only time it’s bearable is with the windows open and the standing fan going. The problem is that the tram runs right outside the window, including the night tram, so it’s really loud, even at night. The first night, two girls in the room closed the window. When I got up to pee in the middle of the night, the sweet relief from the hallway was almost enough to make me sleep on the floor outside my room. The windows in the hall were wide open, letting in the cool night air. When I got back to my room, I was hit by a wall of humid, hot air. I didn’t care if the girls woke up and got mad, I opened the windows wide. Luckily when I got back the second night from the bar crawl, the windows were open, and the fan was pointed at my bed.

                I slept in the next morning before making my way back to Charles Bridge so I could head up to the palace. What I didn’t realize is how damn hilly it is to get to the palace. On the other side of the river, it’s flat and easily walkable. Once you cross the bridge and go a couple blocks, the streets slope upwards, and you have to climb a multitude of stairs to reach the palace. The good news is that the view from the top was spectacular.

                It’s free to enter the palace grounds (win) and you can also enter the cathedral for free (win) but you don’t have access to the entire cathedral unless you pay for a full palace ticket (boo). I didn’t think it was worth it to pay for a full ticket so I stuck with walking the palace grounds and admiring what I could for free. The cathedral on the palace grounds is called Katedrala svateho Vita. Similar to most other cathedrals I’ve seen, the stonework on the outside is impressive and imposing. The real beauty is the stained-glass windows. I could only see a couple from the free portion of the church, but from what I could see I was blown away. There were so many bright pinks that aren’t usually used in church stained glass (you mostly see darker colors and pink isn’t typically used in depictions of Christ).

                The only downside about seeing the cathedral and palace grounds is the amount of school groups there. Prague was crowded with school kids from what appeared to be middle and high school age. It was hard to appreciate and admire the windows of the church, when you get surrounded by a group of middle school kids in bright orange matching hats who have no regard for your personal space or the fact that they just cut and stood right in front of you.

                When I had my fill of school groups, I started from trek from the palace to Petrin park and the lookout tower up top. This is a park that is on top of a hill that overlooks the city. The lookout tower stands tall and gives you a 360 view of Prague. The main problem is getting there. I didn’t quite realize just how steep the walk to get to the park would be, nor how many stairs I’d have to climb to get to the tower. I sweating and tired by the time I reached the tower but because I hiked my ass all the way up there, I was willing to pay to go to the top of the tower to get that good view. But I was too cheap to pay the extra surcharge to take the elevator, so I walked up EVEN MORE STAIRS. The view from the was most certainly worth it though, and instead of trying to describe it, I’ll let the pictures I took do the talking.

                The evening, Chase and I had dinner at this little Asian place I found via maps that had great reviews. I was craving some Japanese food, so we thought, why not. Well, this turned out to be, hands down, the best meal we had all trip (and it’s still the best two countries later as I am now in Vienna writing this). The funny thing is it was an Anime themed restaurant. So here we are, eating the best food of our lives next to a painting of Naruto and Studio Ghibli characters. Honestly, it’s funny to think that the best food of trip was from an Anime themed Japanese restaurant in Prague, but hey, sometimes the world will surprise you.

                Chase and I had an incredibly long journey the next day to Zurich, Switzerland (three trains, starting at 6am, waking up at 5am, not getting into Zurich till 6pm), so we called it a night early. I’ll save the long train adventure for the next blog. Prague was an unbelievable city and it’s crazy to think that I almost missed it because it wasn’t originally on my itinerary. Originally, the time we spent in Prague was supposed to be in Munich and I couldn’t be happier that it didn’t work out like planned. I would go back to Prague in a heartbeat (and not just for that Japanese restaurant though that is a big pull). If you’re looking for a place to put on your bucket list, Prague should be towards the top.