It’s my second week in Prahahaha and I’m still completely charmed. The more I explore the more I absolutely love it here. Despite being warned that the people can be a little standoffish, everyone I’ve met has been very warm and friendly and walking around is like walking through a living, breathing museum. I’ve also had some time to slow down and reflect and after the sheer insanity of last week I’ve realized that it’s definitely time to start bringing some more focus on mental balance back into my life.
Things I did this week:
- Started the week super calm again- I’m really trying to make this a focus in my life. I feel so much better when I wake up early, make a relaxing breakfast and pop in my headphones for a quiet walk over to the workspace.
- Went to the ZOO!!! You guys I was literally giddy with excitement at the entrance. Like bouncing around, speaking a million words a minute, pulling mom and dad’s hands towards the entrance giddy. There were about 7 of us that went on a chilly, ok FREEZING, Tuesday morning (42 degrees F, 5 degrees C).
This is what I came for.
Somehow every time I’m around Giraffes someone asks “But can you ride them?” And I realize I’m not the only person who has strange thoughts
Still no idea how these things can run 18 miles/hour
Otterly fantastic.
This little gorilla was easily the cutest thing we saw all day
- Completely understood why Prague’s zoo is consistently ranked among the top 10 in the world (sometimes as high as #4). It reminded me a lot of the Bronx Zoo- it was huge, housed an incredible diversity of animals and was well planned out with excellent exhibits.
- Was a selfish American in that I wished they had more information about each animal in English, but given that there was usually at least the animal’s name and a sentence in English, I suppose I really can’t complain.
This chairlift was 120 percent an OSHA violation.
- Went to Vzkorvna for about the 7571231759371238th time since being here. This time it was special because one of my sorority sisters from college, Fiona, was in town! She met me there and we had an awesome night reliving our college years (for better or worse..)
Fiona, you’re a doll.
- Was classy AF and went to the National Opera on Friday night! After talking about wanting to see a show on one of our first nights in Prague, the absolutely incredible DDR surprised me on my birthday with box seats for Hamlet at the National Theatre.
This place was so incredibly stunning. I’m still struggling to come up with words to describe it.
- Was rather perplexed by the show itself. They tried to do this meld of old and new which I don’t think was entirely successful.. The singing was incredible, the music was outstanding (about a 50 piece orchestra that was absolutely mesmerizing), but the set design and costume design were very..interesting. Then there were the breakdancing jesters and horned fairies in black spandex. (Talk about a sentence I never thought I would write.) Looking back, it was the perfect representation of Prague- beautiful and weird in the best possible way.
- Embarked on a train adventure to the city of Pilsen, home of the Pilsner-Urquell Brewery. Pilsner Urquell is THE beer of the Czech Republic- basically their version of Budweiser. It’s served in literally every bar in the country; so much so that if you walk in and ask for a beer, they’ll serve you a Pils.
It was like we were going to Hogwarts! But instead of pumpkin pasties we had original Budweisers #youwinsomeyoulosesome
- Walked through the city of Pilsen to get to the brewery and saw some beautiful sights..and despite some menacing clouds, did not actually get rained on!
The Great Synagogue in Pilsen is the second largest Synagogue in Europe!
Cz-cz-cz-czech it out! We made it!
- Took a two hour beer tour of the P-U brewery. I’ve been on my fair share of brewery tours, let me tell ya, but two hours was something else. This place was YUGE! We did get to taste unfiltered and unpasteurized beer right out of the barrel though and I’ve officially been ruined. After tasting God’s Milk I’m just not sure how I can go back to bottles. It’s like going from the Ritz to a Best Western- not the worst, but let’s be honest, it could be much better.
This was made out of their glass bottles- I loved the creativity!
They bottle 120,000 bottles PER HOUR here!
The Kaizen Kall!
They even have their own buses. And their marketing department is awesome because I was loooving their branding the whole day
We managed to avoid the rain almost the whole day!
Their green is so close to Spartan green and it made me so happy #gogreengowhite #MSU
These barrels contain the unfiltered, unpasteurized nectar of the gods.
- Followed up our tour of PU with a tour of Raven Brewery- a craft brewery on the other side of town. I think it’s safe to say that Raven didn’t quite understand the magnitude of the 20 person RY hurricane that was about to hit it. And after spending two hours in their tasting room/courtyard we may or may not have drank them out of house and home..and launched a drone..and started a karaoke dance party. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #kai-razy
Pure joy at Raven.
Matt found another piano on the way back and all of the kids in the train station surrounded him and watched him play. The curiosity and intrigue in their eyes was absolutely beautiful.
- Continued the Glee/Karaoke festivities onto the train ride back to Prague, which thoroughly pleased us and thoroughly did not please our conductor. (No harm, no foul, right?)
- Went to Prague’s famous (infamous? Debatable.) 5 story club on Saturday night. Yes you read that right. Five. Levels. Of. Fun. Each level has its own dance floor and style of music- literally everything from Men at Work to Alesso and you can walk up and down the stairs to your heart’s content and dance to whatever gets you shaking ‘yo booty.
Hashtag Europe
- Found an oxygen bar on the first level which may or may not have been a total scam but whatever, we loved it. #tourists #oxygenated #healthyaf #lyingtoourselves
Hello, Houston? We have a solution.
- Literally ate my weight in Vietnamese food on Sunday. And when I say literally, I mean literally in the truest sense of the word. Due to its communist past, the Czech Republic has a large Vietnamese population that’s centralized around an area called Little Hanoi on the outskirts of Prague. Little Hanoi used to be a chicken processing plant back in the day and still kind of has that dirty, questionable, ‘I hope I don’t get sick from eating this but if I do it’s worth it’ vibe.
Sketchy in the best possible way.
Hangover cure.
- Tried Vietnamese Coffee and thank god I was sitting down because Jesus Christ one sip of that stuff will knock you on your tush.
- Took home about 10 spring rolls and sauce to eat over the next few days because everyone was too full to eat anything else.
- Passed out early again Sunday night and got some much needed rest.