"Yes, I'll be Leavin' in the Fall" : "You May Say I'm a Dreamer, But I'm Not the Only One"

Hello readers! I have just returned to Cyprus from my 18-day trip through 13 cities in 8 countries! As you know, I have already written about my time in Germany and Austria, so this post will tell you about my visit to Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Czech Republic

Prague

By the time you finish reading this post you will understand that my favorite thing about the Czech Republic was the food. “What the heck do they eat in Czech Republic,” you ask? Well, of course I’m going to tell you, so read on!

Prague by night

We arrived in Prague after dark, but even in the dark Prague is a beautiful place! Walking through town, I loved seeing the tram streetcars rush past us, illuminated by soft lamplight. They speak Czech in the Czech Republic, and it was weird to not know how to read or say anything after coming from Germany where I was so comfortable. Once of the first things we did was go to Wenceslas Square where the extravagant museum sits a top the sloped street. Fun fact: the Nazi’s attacked the museum during WWII because they mistook it for the Town Hall, which is a few streets down!

Museum mistaken for Town Hall by the Nazis

For dinner (yeah food!) we asked the reception desk at our hotel for a suggestion. Always ask the hotel for suggestions rather than heading to the first brochure in the stack by the check in desk because we had a great experience! When we finally found the restaurant called Cestr, they said they were booked for the evening, and we were all disappointed. Luckily, after looking like sad, hungry puppies, they arranged to set up a table for the seven of us behind the beer tank. This was probably considered a really bad spot to sit, but we didn’t care because to us it felt like we had our own private room.

Katie and I decided to split our meals so we could try more food. I had trout ceviche, juicy roasted chicken with mashed potatoes that tasted like my grandmother’s, filet mignon with fries, and apple sorbet for dessert. Everything was amazing (except for the ceviche-haha)!

The group at Prague Castle

We took a 4 hour tour of Prague, during which I got to see the Prague Castle and the attached church. It was huge and there was a great view of the city from up there.

Perfect view of Prague

Making a wish

In Czech Republic, the joke is that their religion is beer. People aren’t very religious because when the country changed hands so many times, so did the religion. People took to communism because they didn’t have a strong religious identity.

During the tour we crossed Charle’s Bridge, which was gorgeous and lined with statues. As all tourists do on the bride, I touched the dog to make a wish for myself, touched the lady to return to Prague, and touched the cross to make a wish for someone else.

Signing the John Lennon Wall of Peace

We stopped at the John Lennon Wall of Peace, which used to be a white wall during communist times, but it turned into the John Lennon wall when students kept drawing signs of peace against communism no matter how many times the wall was painted over. To this day the wall exists, and I signed the wall that stands for peace. Obviously this experience inspired today's post title to be from "Imagine" by John Lennon


Astronomical Tower

One of my favorite things to see in Prague was the Astronomical Tower. I love astronomy and old clocks, so the combination of the two was just perfect!

Krtecek, the little Prague mole

I learned about Krteček, the little mole, who is an animated character much like Mickey Mouse. This Czech cartoon was created during communist times, and the only reason he survived over Mickey Mouse was because communism prevented Mickey from being spread into Czech Republic.

Now let me talk about more food!

Making the Grill Cheese

For lunch Katie and I tried a very popular Czech meal: grill cheese. I know what you’re thinking, and trust me this was nothing like our grilled cheese! It was sheep cheese wrapped in dough, resembling a pierogi, which is then grilled over coals. It was served with a slice of bread and a layer of blueberry jam. It was delicious!

The Grill Cheese!

Trdelnik!

For dessert we got another traditional Czech item called a trdelnik. It’s a sugar, almond, vanilla dough that is wrapped around a stick and rotated over coals until the outside is brown. It is then dipped in sugar. It was kind of like a donut, but it was much better!

Trdelnik being made

Before...

The Bohemian Feast!

For dinner that evening we went to a place the tour guide recommended to us with Czech specials. Katie, Lauren, and I split the Bohemian Feast, which consisted of roasted duck, sausage, pork, ham, 2 kinds of dumplings, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, and red cabbage. It was so much food, and I ate way too much, but it was one of the best meals I have had during my study abroad experience thus far. And now I even like sauerkraut, at least when it tastes as good as that!

Slovakia

Bratislava

Bratislava Castle

We stopped in Bratislava on our way to Austria, so on October 26^th I had breakfast in Czech Republic, lunch in Slovakia, and dinner in Austria. What a crazy day! Our tour of Bratislava showed us a good amount of the city since we were only there for a few hours. I got to see the Bratislava Castle, which provided a great view of Austria and Hungary in the distance.

Slovakia is known for being multilingual since it has changed hands so many times. A lot of the signs are in Czech, German, and Slovak to embrace all the cultures. Slovakia also became it’s own country in a peaceful manor, unlike most countries. Slovakia’s economy is very good and a lot of people there thought of communism as a good thing since everyone had food and didn’t have to work as much, having more time for hobbies.

UFO Bridge

There is a cool bridge in Bratislava with a tower on it that looks like a UFO. It’s called the UFO Bridge and there’s even a restaurant inside! We didn’t have time to eat there, but I did try a Walnut Bratislava roll at a bakery and it reminded me of a kiffle but with a bread covering instead of the thin pastry.