10 Day - Prague

Ladies and Gents,

My first thought on Prague (no lie): "Why does this city even exist?" I had learned nothing about it during any of my studies of western civilization, and hardly knew it existed before I traveled there. Turns out, Prague is loaded with history and is dirt cheap, and I'm very glad we went.

One of the interesting things about Prague is that it relies on its own currency: the crown. 1 USD = around 18 crowns, and it was extremely hard to keep track of how much things were worth. It was probably the strangest thing that has happened to me so far in Europe when I took out 1000 crowns from the ATM at the train station in Prague, and it gave me ... 1 bill back. A 1000 crown bill. Chris took out 2000 crown, and got back ... a 2000 crown bill. Most places didn't have enough money in their cashiers to give change back for it, so it was annoying. Not to mention very tempting, as most shoe places sold Nikes for around 2000 crowns. I was drooling.

On a serious note, as Prague was one of the only major cities not bombed during WWII, most of the city survives in its original state. There's an incredible castle that Chris and I walked to, as well as an incredible bridge spanning across the massive Vltava river that Prague is built on. I also went to the Rudolfinum, home of one of the oldest concert halls in all of Europe. Also, the tower of the main square in the old center of the city has one of the most amazing clocks on it I have ever seen. Back when it was first made, it was such a world wonder that the people of Prague blinded the man who made it, to ensure they were the only city to get one. Be sure to see the pictures on that one. Apparently later on in his life, he went into the machinery of the clock and pulled out a vital piece. The clock was so intricate that it took the master engineers of the time 100 years to fix it.

Prague turned out to be one of my favorite places during 10 day. The Czech Republic is a beautiful place, and I'm glad I went.

Jacimo.

P.S. Pictures hurr.