Weekend in Prague

Last week we had about three days of class and left for our first field trip to Prague on Thursday.  We left early in the morning and we got there at about ten.  It was only a two hour train ride so it was pretty fun.  I've never been on a train like this one before, it had six seats in a little room.  I was just glad that it wasn't too crowded in our pod.  Once we arrived in Prague we started walking to our hostel which was only about a ten minute walk.  We were able to see a lot of buildings that were used by the Germans during World War II.  The buildings we saw at first were just barracks for troops.  We all made it to our hostel and found our rooms then unpacked.  There was only four of us in the room we were in so we had a pretty good time hanging out with each other.  Once we got unpacked and situated we started walking around Prague with our Professors Jan and Martin.  They took us to a church that, in the early 1940's, was used to hold the allied troops that assassinated Reinhard Heydrich.  Heydrich was the Nazi official who stayed in Prague and led the occupation of Czechoslovakia.  We were able to see the memorials of the fallen allied troops in the basement of the church because they were found, and they died in the church.  After the church our professors let us go for the day and a few of us started exploring.  All we really did was find a place to eat and then went to the Charles Bridge for a while.  Later that evening, a couple of friends and I went to the Charles Bridge and got a little lost.  We eventually found it then realized that we have to get back to the hostel.  Once we got back to the hostel we figured out that we took a longer route to the bridge than we needed too.  On Friday, we went to the Charles Bridge with our professors, and they gave us a little historical background of the bridge.  As we were taking our pictures of the bridge, it started to rain a little bit.  At first there were just sprinkles, then we decided to keep going.  Our next stop was the Lennon wall, and the wall was beautiful.  There were all different colors and pictures.  It was really a great thing to see in Prague, and as we were soaking it all in it started to rain harder, and we had to find shelter until the rain stopped.  We found a little cafe just around the corner, but we ended up loosing some people on our way there.  Those of us who did make it there just sat and got some food.  Eventually we found everybody and started the walk up to the Prague Castle.  This castle is on top of a very tall and steep hill, so it was super fun to climb all the way up.  Once we arrived at the front gates we could see almost all of Prague from above and that was a sight to see.  The group spent the rest of the day exploring the castle and listening to the history of it.  We got done in there at about 3 and when we left it had started raining again and was super cold.  A small group of us found a place to eat for a while and waited out the rest of the bad weather there.  Once we left, we decided to go to the Old Town Square and hang out there for a while.  I finally found another one my bread things that are called chimney cakes apparently.  The rest of Friday was just walking around looking at buildings and trying not to get lost.  Later that night we went to a cool little Mexican restaurant, and I finally had a chimichanga. Saturday rolled around and we took a little day trip to Dresden, Germany.  It was only about a two and half hour bus ride, so I took a little nap.  When we arrived we walked to the town square where a huge Lutheran Cathedral stands.  In WWII, Dresden was bombed by the allies and this cathedral wasn't hit too much, however, over time it started to fall apart.  In the 1990's it was torn down and rebuilt with some of the original stones.  It was very cool seeing the new yellow bricks mixed in with the older grey bricks.  We got lunch at this little booth on the street, and they had some awesome deer and boar goulash.  After lunch, our professors started showing us some buildings and telling us what they are used for now, and what they were used for in the past.  Once we got to another square we were able to split up and see either the picture gallery or the old royal palace.  I chose the old palace because that housed the old armory, and I knew I had to see that.  As I walked into the first room I saw a huge wall just filled with ceremonial pistols.  I was speechless when I saw all of these pistols, swords, long guns, and jousting armor from before the 19th century.  We continued to walk around and the exhibit was almost endless.  I saw old tables and board games that belonged to the Dukes of Saxony.  Once I left that series of rooms I was able to find a few friends and we went to the next floor, and that floor was just dedicated to jousting.  There were figures with all of the different sets of armor on.  We walked around there for a while then exited and tried to find the rest of the group so we could head back to the main square.  We did make it back in time to head back to our bus.  The ride back to Prague seemed to take longer, but we finally made it back around six or seven that evening.  The rest of that night was pretty much the same as Friday night.  Sunday came and we went to the old Jewish Quarters and were able to see a Synagogue with 85,000 names painted on the walls.  This was a memorial to the victims of WWII.  After that we went outside and walked around a Jewish cemetery that is hundreds of years old.  There have people buried there since the 14th century.  It is believed to be at least eight layers deep.  Once we left the cemetery, we walked down the street to the oldest Synagogue in central Europe.  This Synagogue was constructed in the 13th century.  It was very interesting to walk through and see how buildings were built back then.  After we left, we were given a few hours to finish up in Prague, and see a few more things before we left.  At about 4 we left Prague and came back to Olomouc.  We arrived back home later in the afternoon and we were all super tired.  I went back to my room and unpacked then went to eat.  Once I ate, I went back to my room and fell asleep.  Overall, it was an awesome time being in Prague and learning about the history of the Czech.  I'm excited to keep going on the rest of our field trips, and I am excited to go to Germany and Austria this weekend.  After this weekend, we only have one more week until our spring break, and then we already half done with our program.  I feel like it's going by way too fast.

This is part of the Jewish Quarters with all of the names written on the walls.