Prague (Praha)

Today we began our final leg in our adventures. We started out by leaving the hotel via bus around 8:15am to head to the train station where we had to say our goodbyes to Manuela. We then boarded a train to Praha otherwise known as Prague at approximately 9:31am. Once on the train we were allowed to spread out into two cabins instead of just the one we were originally in due to a water leak from the bathroom onboard. Our train ride was about four hours long so naturally most of us slept. Then we arrived in Prague around 2:21pm. Where we then proceeded to the hotel to check in and meet up with our new tour guide named Petr.

 

            After settling in, we met in the lobby for a quick orientation and to get our transportation passes and maps from Petr. Then we went on about a 2 hour walking tour of the city where we saw many sights. He showed us the areas that would be most expensive and how to tell what the prices would be like if we were not sure, all based on the price of the beer. Basically if the beer is expensive, then the rest of the menu will be too. He also took us around to some historical buildings such as the Parlament building and the chamber buildings. He gave us a little bit of the historical background such as this area being known as Checkslovakia from 1918 till 1993 when they separated.  Along with showing us how the signs use to be in both German and Czech because German was the main language not long ago (shown below). He also pointed out that a large majority of the buildings had IHS in gold letters which stood for “In this sign, you will conquer”.

            Along with this he informed us on some history of the buildings and signs as we went. For example at one point they used pictures or paintings above doors for the address as shown here:  

 

Also he showed us markings of where it flooded back in 2002, the grey placks in between restaurant and pub are to mark the height of the flood as shown here:

And finally we were also shown the John Lennon Peace Wall and the Astrological clock shown here:

 

After our tour we parted ways and some went to explore a little more while others went to dinner or back to the hotel. Overall, I would say that we are having a blast seeing the different countries but we are all in need of a little more sleep.

Rachel Michael