Tuesday
Tuesday I got in around five so the only sightseeing I did was the river. I do not know which river it was but it was a river and it was beautiful and full of people drinking beer, smoking, and enjoying each other's company. Along the river there were little bars built into the wall with outside seating. Avery, Jennie (Avery's friend), Adam, and I sat along the river drank some drank (coca-cola for me of course) and people watched. After that we went to the cooliest restaurant called U Flecka where we sat in an outside seating area in between two indoor seating areas but was covered in trees. Felt semi Rainforest Cafey. I ended up not wanting anything on the menu and had apple strudel for dinner. (Prague has the best apple strudel) After U Flecka we went another coolio place, a bar U Sudu. I normally don't write about my going out experiences, but this bar was so cool I just can't not. From the outside it looks like a small lame bar but you walk to the back and the right and go down these stairs into a literal cave with a bunch of different tunnels and pathways leading to different places to chill. It was awesome.
Wednesday
We started the day with a trip to Terezin, a concentration camp outside of prague. It's hard to write what feelings Terezin evoked, but I'm sure it is not hard to guess. All I will say is that it was something I have wanted to do for a long time and learned a lot. One of the hardest moments for me was in the museum in a part of the town where the camp and Jewish ghetto was. Part of the museum was dedicated to the children who were killed. Their names lined the walls. While reading the names I saw many last names that I know whether they are of former classmates, best friends, or loved ones. That made everything a lot more personal for me and aided in understanding the gravity of the Holocaust. After Terezin, we knew we needed to do something a little more upbeat so Avery and I decided to check out Petrin Hill. Petrin Hill is a enormous, beautiful park and buzzing with the biggest mosquitoes EVER. Nonetheless, amazing. I wish I had a whole day to just spend walking around there, laying on the grass and taking pictures of the scenery. That is an ideal day in the life of Mandy, actually a pretty good date too... boys ;) (cause I'm sure so many suitable bachelors religiously read my blog)
Thursday
After some brunch, which looked A LOT better than it tasted, Avery and I went to the Prague castle, which was an old castle with a cathedral and junk. The cathedral was like almost every other cathedral I've been in except the stain glass windows. There were I think about 6 stain huge stain glass murals I guess I could call them that. Some had the smallest pieces put together to make insanely colorful pictures while others were done in a way they looked like actual paintings. I thought of my mom when I saw these. She made a stain glass thing (sorry I don't know what one would call a stain glass creation) that we have in our kitchen and I'm positive she would have loved to see these. Pictures cannot do them justice. After exploring the castle we started the trek down the hilly streets to a tram to go back to our hostel. It started to thunderstorm so we headed to dinner and then I took a nice 3 hour nap while Avery went to her friend's apartment. She came back and then we both went to sleep. I was just a little tired...
Friday
I did a quick day trip to Kutna Hora, a town outside of Prague. The main reason I went there was to see the Sedlec Ossuary which is a fancy way to say bone church I think.. the whole church was filled with real skulls and bones. Totally normal. It was pretty darn cool. The main event of my day would probably have to have been my friend I met in Kutna Hora. Her name was Way.. well I don't know how to spell her name but that's how you pronounce it. When I asked how to spell her name she just said an even longer Chinese name so I quickly dropped that subject. I met her when she asked if the train I was getting on was going back to Prague. I said "I think so?" I thought wrong. As I was getting onto the train she grabbed my arm dramatically and saved me from a train ride in the wrong direction. After thanking her she grabbed my arm and was like you're traveling alone too!!!!! :):) That's really how I would describe how she said that. Anyways she ended up clinging onto me literally and we sat together on the ride back home. She also happened to be taking the metro back to same stop as me...fate I know. She asked if I would get something to eat with her, but I wasn't hungry so I watched her eat a big whopper. Then she asked if I would go with her to get a SIM card. While we were waiting for the SIM card she asked me to say something in Spanish and she giggled like I just told the funniest joke in the world. She was a character. Long story short, she was a very sweet girl even though I caught her taking pictures of me. Train, dinner, and then some errands later I was ready to get the heck back to my hotel. We took some selfies then said our goodbyes and I met back up with Avery and her friend Alex. We went to dinner then went to see the John Lennon Wall in the FREEZING cold and rain. No really, it was like 40 degrees and raining and windy and cold. Kinda miserable, but I survived and we had fun.
Saturday
I left Prague cold and crying. Prague was my last week with Avery... Just today I found myself walking towards Avery's now empty room, which was something I did probably every day if I didn't see her for more than an hour. It was super sad to leave her, but I am okay because I am going to visit her in Wisconsin in the fall and I know that our friendship isn't just a abroad thing. Okay before I start crying or be sappy I am going to go answer my Facebook message from her... Prahaha bye.