SOLO EURO: DAY 10 & 11 [PRAGUE]

by the next day i my mood and health improved. it was raining, but it stayed pretty bright outside. i started my day early so i could go to prague castle right when they opened (i heard it gets really busy). the tourist sites are pretty walkable, but like most castles this one is up a hill. i decided to take the city rail system up to the top of the hill so i could visit the attractions while going down hill. on a side note, the easiest way to buy rail and bus tickets is to use the ticket booth managed by employees (there are very few automated ticket machines).

the complex was founded in the 800s and housed the kings of bohemia, the holy roman emperors, and the presidents of czechoslovakia. to enter any of the buildings you have to buy a ticket. there are 3 different 'citcuit' tickets that allow you to go into a set number of buildings.

i decided to go one stop past the castle to see novy svet. down this narrow street is where the castle workers were housed.

prague has some complex building designs. i enjoyed all the little details.

the first stop was st. vitus cathedral. this building is definitely one of the most popular attractions in the city. even though it was my first stop, there were still a swarm of people. it is in the gothic style (c.1344) and houses the tombs of bohemia royalty.. i've never been to paris, but i felt like i was in the disney renaissance classic, hunchback of notre dame.

the good thing about the rain was i was able to see the gargoyle drainage system at work.

now i have not been to many epic catholic churches, but i noticed there is a trend. i love how they are never uniform. each chapel is created in a different time for a different person and therefore has its own style and personality. there was so much stained glass, but in different artistic styles.

of course my absolute favorite was the one created by alphons mucha. i knew right when i saw it thar he designed it.

after visiting the cathedral i also went to the old royal palace and st. george's basilica. while working my way downhill, i visited zlara ukicks, golden lane. these cute little buildings were my favorite part of the complex. there is even a little cafe in one of the buildings.

i had to get a latte, how often do you get to enjoy an espresso drink in a castle?

the little houses were originally built in the 1500s to house the castle guards. not too long after, artisans moved in and eventually the area became a slum. they were private residences until the 1930s. today, they are souvenir shops or educational exhibits. luckily, it was not too busy. i heard this street gets swamped by the late morning.

                         

to the left is a herbalist's house. to the right is the house of an amateur film historian. he safely hid czech films during the nazi occupation.

there are about 5 souvenir shops that sell crafts made by locals. i bought something in almost every single shop including a stained glass magnet, a handpainted little cermaic dish, and a leather and metal bookmark. i then made my way towards the exit.

the view from one of the castle walls. 

statue of karel hasler, a czech musician who died in a nazi concentration camp.

i then made my way to the wallenstein gardens, but unfortunately they were closed. on the locked gates, it did say they could close due to bad weather, but this was just a small southern california rain. so i made my way across the river to the old jewish quarter of prague. jews settled here as early as the 10th century, but most of the quarter was demolished by the beginning of the 20th century.  

pinkas synagogue (c. 1500s) is now a memorial to victims of the holocaust. 

the interior walls of the building are the painted of names of over 78,000 czech and moravian victims of the holocaust.

the old jewish cemetery. there are as many as 12 layers of graves.

the old new synagogue (13th century gothic) 

for the most part, the inside of the synagogues are modest, with the exception of the spanish synagogue (which is only spanish in design). it has some pretty crazy domes.

a star of david light fixture.

i next went to a little cafe across from the synagogue. you can never have enough coffee. i literally felt like i was being served in somebody's kitchen. i also stopped at some shops and ended up buying a green amber ring.

as i have said before, i really love the concept of sitting in to drink coffee. i also discovered my taste for flat whites (but they are so expensive here in the states!)

monument for the velvet revolution.

after getting lost many times, i attempted to find my way back to my hostel. i ended up having dinner at narodni kavarna, the nationalist cafe. founded in the late 1800s, up to the mid 20th century it was a meeting point for literary people (i found this out after the fact). stepping inside is like a time machine. it feels very 1920s-30s. i think it's considered a little fancy, but the price is reasonable in american dollars.

mushroom soup, fresh bread, and peach tea. 

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now for the hostel. during my entire trip, this was the strangest one. as i said before, it was on the third floor of a strange building (there was a thai massage place and casino inside too), but why i would not rate this the highest is the vibe. they had signs saying you were on camera (not a very homey trait).

also, all the lights in the common areas (hallways, kitchen, bathroom, and living room) were motion detected and would turn off right when you stepped out of its proximity. so when you walked down the long hallway reminiscent of the one in 'the shining' you would just see a trail of lights turning off and on. once one shut off the next one turned on. i thought it was creepy.

entrance to the hostel.

also this was the quietest hostel i stayed at. nobody talked and in the mornings no one else was in the common areas. it's not bad, but normally in hostels people are quite social. the only person i ended up having a conversation with was this italian girl who was here for school. she knew very limited english and said she was having trouble with adjusting to a english speaking school. she was very nice though. she always said good morning and good night to me. for being such a quiet hostel, she was probably the kindest fellow hostel-goer i met during this trip.

my female dorm room

now for some pros. the location was perfect. it was on one of the main streets of old town and very close to public transportation and stores. also for being so close to a busy center, the hostel was quiet. the view was also really great. there were tons of opportunities for people watching. on a side note, central europe does not do window screens. you could literally crawl out the window if you wanted to. i experienced this at every hostel and hotel, but because of the it being fall there were no bugs.

the view from the hostel.

now for a song! i think i am just going to pick old songs from my ipod since that was all i had (and i am running out of ideas). i heard this song back in the 10th grade in a 90s playlist itunes put together. since then, i have never heard of this band or song. 'crazy town',' by velocity girl. enjoy!

p.s. i am going to change things up because this is my blog and i can. i just got back from a solo road trip through 3 southern states. i am going to start posting those because i am more motivated to write about it and i don't want to make the same mistake with this trip (taking absolutely forever to post), so look forward to that.