There is a belief in Prague that if you rub your hand on this sculpture on Charles Bridge, you will return to Prague some day. This must be true because the magic work on me very quickly. I returned to Prague only two weeks later (over the weekend). Prague is a really pretty city, but I didn't really enjoy it the first time around because we were constantly trying to keep up with our group leaders instead of taking the time to really look at things. This trip was so much better and definitely redeemed Prague in my eyes. This time I wasn't in any rush. I got to wander aimlessly and actually soak in everything I saw.
The trip had a bit of an annoying start...my seasoned Czech Republic/European travel guide, Azam, and I got a train from Olomouc to Prague, but we had to stand in between carts for two hours of the ride there because the train was completely full.
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| My thoughts about the ride. |
One of the first things we did in Prague was walk through New Town and Old Town, just to look at everything that was going on there. Since it was Easter weekend, there were so many people and a lot of stands set up, all decorated for Easter. There was a play (about the coming of Spring, I assume) happening in the Old Town Square. We bought some really good bread, kind of like a cinnamon roll, called "Trdlo". I think I had about three of them within the 24 hours I was there.
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| The Trdlo stand! |
We made it over to Charles Bridge and ended up down by the river where there were a few...interesting sculptures. Before I cam here, I noticed by looking around online that Prague has a lot of unique sculptures scattered throughout the city. In the area we were, there were two big babies, a giant chair, and a line of yellow penguins.
Culture shock of the trip? While waiting for the tram in the snow outside of the metro, a dirty man with raggy, old clothes came and started digging in the trash can right next to me. He found some kind of food and began to eat it. Everyone else ignored him like it was a normal occurrence, but I couldn't help but notice. It's sad to think that people live that way.
I had many more amazing experiences in Prague, but they deserve their own post. This time in Prague was definitely much better than before. It was nice to have people around to show me things, but who would also take the time to enjoy them with me.
