Prague

Right off the bat: what an amazing city! I spent my day wandering around and exploring the four main districts of Prague and more. It is incredible to see a city that was basically left intact through the world wars and to see how that influences the architecture. Highlights today included New Town, Wenceslas Square, the Mucha Museum, Old Town, climbing the astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Charles Bridge, the charming Little Quarter, climbing St. Stephen's tower, touring Prague Castle (the world's biggest), St. Vitus Cathedral (with free organ concert), climbing St. Vitus Cathedral tower, Mass at Strahov Monastery, lots of delicious (cheap) Czech food, too much gelato (watermelon, blueberry, pineapple and chocolate), and Czech beer. Some of the events above such as climbing 3 towers were influenced by a downpour midday, and paying about $1 to avoid getting drenched was certainly worth it!

My favorite part of the day had to be my evening activity. I rented a row boat for an hour, and watched the sun set over Prague Castle and Charles Bridge as I glided up and down the Vltava. It was fantastic and the perfect way to relax at the end of the day!

Prague was much cleaner and safer than I expected! I walked miles and miles and always felt fine. There are a few scams that you have to watch for, but I really enjoyed the city. The streets were just beautiful as they were lined with old picturesque buildings. In this way it was similar to Budapest...except much cleaner, safer, better maintained, and tourist friendly. There are certainly lots of tourists here, but not in overwhelming numbers like Venice or Amsterdam.

The prices are right here as well, as long as you stay away from the main tourist areas. My hotel is 37€...total for 2 nights. I ate and drank like a king today, which was again much cheaper than any of the western countries I visited. Prague has communist scars, but not nearly like Bratislava, Budapest, or Zagreb.

That is all for now! I have to leave at 6am to get up to Berlin to pick up dad. We are going to get busy tomorrow and see as much of Berlin as possible!