Week 5

The one where she celebrated her birthday in a foreign land

I’m in Prague!!! Or as the locals call it, Praha. This city is absolutely beautiful and I’m already in love with it.The art, architecture and history are all second to none. I also feel so much calmer and at peace here. I’m settling in and reacquainting myself with the hustle and bustle of a legitimately large city (which after Split is a very welcome change).

• Took it easy the first two/three days. I went to bed early on Sunday and woke up early on Monday morning, made myself breakfast (I’m getting to be #prostatus at cooking eggs) and settled into a long but satisfying day of work. Rinse and repeat for Tuesday and Wednesday. I feel so relaxed when I wake up early and start my day right- definitely will be putting a bigger emphasis on this going forward.

• Went into my company’s Prague office for the first time on Wednesday morning. It’s in New Town (aka downtown) and it was the first time I ventured into the city-city, so that was pretty cool. My coworkers are all super awesome and the office is bright and airy. I’m sure I’ll make it back here often.

• Went to the strangest drinking establishment in all of Prague on Wednesday night. Vzorkovna (affectionately nicknamed Treehouse Bar) was recommended to us by Mike from Balboa (the RY group that was here before us) and is freaking weird af. I think Zach’s description is still the best: “It’s like a massive soviet bunker meets highway underpass meets alternative art exhibit.” First of all, everything is in the basement- as soon as you exchange money for a chip that you use to pay you walk down a set of stairs and are greeted by swing sets made of skateboard decks. There’s a room with about six foosball tables in a row with barber chair stadium seats around them and bright yellow walls, a room that has a loft/bunk bed thing you can climb and sit on (see photo below), a room with a piano and stadium seating of different levels with people lounged about. Behind some velvet curtains is a another room with two different floors and metal cages where we experienced a czech rap battle. Oh and the owner lets his irish wolfhound (*ahem* direwolf) wander around. It’s freaking magical.

• Was gifted with a tiara at midnight (thanks frands for understanding my inner princess) and the whole bar sang me happy birthday!! It was awesome. Pretty sure I didn’t stop glowing or take off the tiara for about 36 hours (just kidding- I’m still wearing it).

• Opened my bedroom door on Thursday morning to see that my roommates decorated for my birthday! Balloons and signs and streamers! And when I opened the fridge there was a bottle of champagne for me with the sweetest note. I may or may not (definitely) have teared up- it was so sweet and my heart was and still is so full. <33

• Went to the workspace for my birthday surprise which turned out to be GOING TO A CAT CAFE!!! Um, amazing or amazing? I’m gonna go with amazing. Don’t worry, the cats fulfilled my expectations by being sufficiently standoffish and adorable.

• Decided to walk home from the cat cafe instead of taking an uber or the metro which turned into a several hour adventure with DDR and Chloe. We walked through the city taking pictures, finally making it home in the early afternoon.

• Ate a thai feast for my birthday dinner which if you know me is exactly what the doctor (..er princess) ordered. #thaiordie. Then we went to B24 (the bar under my apartment) to celebrate with the bartender, Lea, who also has a May 4 birthday. We had SUCH a great time and the best part was that to go home I just had to take the elevator upstairs. #killingit

• Went to a track event on Friday morning that was all about WWII history. We rented out a movie theater and watched Anthropoid, a movie about Operation Anthropoid- the successful assasination of Reinhard Heydrich (the third highest ranking Nazi officer in the war). The movie itself was fantastic- I highly recommend it to anyone with or without interest in WWII. Afterwards we went on a walking tour to the sights we saw in the movie, including the house were the Czech soldiers were kept hidden and the church where they held off countless Nazi soldiers for six hours.

It was pretty eerie to actually be in the place where the events in the movie happened- to see the bullet holes and stand in the exact spots where the soldiers had grenades thrown at them, while looking up at the window the nazis used to try to drown them out. I’ve never had the same feeling in America. It’s incredible to think about the age of Europe and its subsequent history- my office building in Prague alone is older than most American states.

• Tried to lay low on Friday but got convinced to go out for Cinco de Mayo. We started at a Mexican restaurant near the other remotes, then went to the bar at the top of the creepy baby tower to ring in Kat’s birthday, then back to Treehouse because it’s the best place ever.

• Woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to go to the farmer’s market to get snacks for Kat’s birthday that night. The way birthdays work for our group is the person who had the last birthday plans the next one. I basically am Leslie Knope irl so I of course was super extra in my planning of Kat’s Masquerade Ball.

• Met up with 90% of the group after the farmer’s market to go on a walking tour of the city led by the one and only Jen Nicholls (our program leader). We started in Wenceslas Square and wove our way through the city through Old Town, stopped at the John Lennon wall and then made it up to the castle. After an overpriced and underwhelming lunch up there (that I did not partake in) we took the tram back to the apartment and I continued to set everything up for Kat’s party.

• Krushed her party. She loved it and had a great time so *giant exhale*. I’m such a party goer not a party thrower- I get way too stressed about everything- Are people going to show up? When? Is everyone having a good time? Is there enough to drink? Is anyone still hungry? Did I buy enough food? Are we being too loud? Are we not loud enough? #typeA #worrier

• Relaxed in bed all of Sunday. Almost got temped out for brunch but I was enjoying the quietness and calmness of being alone too much to venture out.

Things I’ve noticed about Praha so far:

• They love flowers here. There are flower shops on every corner and I often see men walking home with bouquets (be still my heart).

• They love dogs. Dogs are allowed everywhere- restaurants, the metro, bars. Literally everywhere. They’re all off leash and well behaved.

• The drivers are the worst I’ve ever seen. They don’t slow down for anyone or anything. I’m pretty aware and good at crossing the street and I’ve almost gotten hit a few times.

• Traditional Czech food is..well…yeah… BUT! The ethnic food here is fantastic. In one week I’ve eaten Vietnamese, Thai (x3), Indian, and Mexican. #praisebetobigcities