Prague

Prague, Czech Republic was our last stop in Eastern Europe. We arrived at our hotel in the afternoon. Apparently Hotel Evropa’s dining room was the model for the one on the ship Titanic and it was also the hotel in which Mission Impossible was filmed. Our (Peter, Zach, and I) enjoyed the penthouse suite. The room was massive and comprised of three rooms put together. However, the room came with a price: we were forced to climb over ten sets of stairs to reach it. Although Kuhn, Red, and I had shared many rooms that were on the highest floors before, this was brutal. That evening we enjoyed another group dinner before everyone parted their ways.

We heard the city was wild, but we did not know it would be this wild. Don’t get me wrong: it was a lot of fun. The city was a bunch of hustlers, which reminded me of Budapest. We referred to walking down the street as ‘running the gauntlet’ because every five feet we were propositioned by promoters of bars, clubs, strip clubs, and cabarets. They would not take no for an answer, following us down the street. It was very annoying.

Saturday we visited the Prague Castle. The walk to the castle consumed our time and energy. The walk was over an hour, including the second half which was very steep. The castle overlooks the entire city and creates great views. The castle includes the St. Vitus Cathedral, which was very nice.

The picture below is the view from the Prague Castle.

My favorite part of the city was the beer called Budvar Budweiser Bier, which is not to be confused with American Budweiser. The two companies hate each other and have fought over the name. Overall, Prague was one of my least favorites due to the countless number of hagglers and hustlers that were impossible to avoid.