day 31 // prague
Just CZECHing in from Prague! Prahahahaha! (Please tell me you get my jokes.) I blame my sad attempt at humor on my awkward "can't-even-really-consider-it-sleep" 5-6 hours of sleep on the bus. ANYWAYS, so we arrived at our hostel around 11 AM today. We're staying at the Czech Inn, which is also one of the top ten hostels in the world.
It's so nice - a lot more modern than the last one. (I did a little video tour again. It was too long so I had to divide it into two parts.)
We quickly moved into our rooms and had a little breakfast at the hotel before our walking tour started at noon. We walked around the city - there aren't really any huge landmarks or sites to see here, the whole city is just beautiful though and the buildings all look like doll-houses. We toured the city square along with a church. In this specific church there was what was said to be an amputated arm hanging on the wall. Supposedly there was once a thief who was not very good at stealing so he went to the church to pray and ask God to help him be a better thief. While we was praying he saw a beautiful gold necklace around the Virgin Mary's neck above the altar and realized that if he stole and sold that necklace he would be so rich he would never have to work another day in his life. So he hid in the church and waited until the priest left for the night. When the coast was clear, he made his move. When he went to grab the necklace from Mary's neck she came alive and reached out and grabbed his arm. She held it there until the next morning when the priest arrived and saw her arm outstretched holding onto the thief's arm. The thief explained what had happened so the priest got a sword and cut the thief's arm off. At that second, Mary returned to her statue state above the altar and dropped the amputated limb. The priest hung the arm in the back of the church as a warning to anyone who might ever try to steal from the church in the future. I saw the supposed arm, which was pretty cool! (I have pictures but again, gotta wait until Sunday - sorry!) The church itself was beautiful but I'm just in love with churches in general. Then we got Starbucks. My jaw dropped when the cashier asked for "one hundred and sixty three". The exchange rate here is just bizarre. Then we ended out tour at a restaurant where I ordered goulash because it's a popular meal on my dad's side of the family - so I though I would delve into my Czech roots and order it. It was not at all what I expected but still very good!
We quickly moved into our rooms and had a little breakfast at the hotel before our walking tour started at noon. We walked around the city - there aren't really any huge landmarks or sites to see here, the whole city is just beautiful though and the buildings all look like doll-houses. We toured the city square along with a church. In this specific church there was what was said to be an amputated arm hanging on the wall. Supposedly there was once a thief who was not very good at stealing so he went to the church to pray and ask God to help him be a better thief. While we was praying he saw a beautiful gold necklace around the Virgin Mary's neck above the altar and realized that if he stole and sold that necklace he would be so rich he would never have to work another day in his life. So he hid in the church and waited until the priest left for the night. When the coast was clear, he made his move. When he went to grab the necklace from Mary's neck she came alive and reached out and grabbed his arm. She held it there until the next morning when the priest arrived and saw her arm outstretched holding onto the thief's arm. The thief explained what had happened so the priest got a sword and cut the thief's arm off. At that second, Mary returned to her statue state above the altar and dropped the amputated limb. The priest hung the arm in the back of the church as a warning to anyone who might ever try to steal from the church in the future. I saw the supposed arm, which was pretty cool! (I have pictures but again, gotta wait until Sunday - sorry!) The church itself was beautiful but I'm just in love with churches in general. Then we got Starbucks. My jaw dropped when the cashier asked for "one hundred and sixty three". The exchange rate here is just bizarre. Then we ended out tour at a restaurant where I ordered goulash because it's a popular meal on my dad's side of the family - so I though I would delve into my Czech roots and order it. It was not at all what I expected but still very good!
Then we made our way back to the hostel where we showered and napped. My roommates all went out on the infamous "bar-hop" here, because Prague especially is known for being huge beer drinkers. Beer is actually their national beverage. Our tour guide taught us three words in Czech. The third one was "hello". The first two? "Beer" and "cheers". Welcome to Praha I guess!
(This photo was from earlier today at the restaurant. Our tour guide ordered us all beers without us asking. I took one sip and gave it away... Guess I'm not as Czech as I thought...)
Oh and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! I love anyone who is willing to sit through and read all my blog posts ;) But actually, I love and miss all of you so much! Hope you all have great holidays filled with lots of love and chocolate! (I had my fill yesterday, which you most likely saw in the excessive number of photos I posted for you.)
Beer is everyone's national beverage.....isn't it? We miss & love you too. I enjoy the stories/anecdotes added in...Enjoy sweetie love, mom
ReplyDelete