Praha = Gastronomical Euphoria

[Týnská Bar & Books]

Currently sitting in a dark little lounge lit by candlelight, eating olives and enjoying a glass of vintoski, lonesome [Týnská Bar & Books - Prague/New York]. This is my type of place - jazz music, dark mahogany, red walls, and shelf of books covering the wall behind me. All I think I have done in Praha is eat...eat and wander the streets. Whether alone or with company, I have tried to take as much advantage of the food this city has to offer. I have eaten at numerous swanky cafes with beautiful patios overlooking the Old Town Square, I have shared laughs at a restaurant on the top of a hill over looking the city, I have enjoyed Czech food in random side streets in front of various bohemian crystal shops, and of course frequented the many pastry, Trdelnik , and crepe kiosks. All I have to say is WOW....the food is amazing and the views make it even better!

[My solo lunch at a random cafe: caprese, goulash, bread/olive oil/balsamic vineger, finished off with a cafe latte and lemon sorbet]

[Eating yummy crepes for brekky]

This has to be one of the most beautiful European cities I have ever seen. It is so clean and safe - other than a smattering of obnoxious male attention, I have never felt safer! The people are friendly, the music is great, and the gothic architecture is divine. Every part of the city is beautiful, so you can literally just walk around and let yourself find new places to admire. Today was my last day in Praha and all I did is get lost (purposely). I walked around for about 10 hours, going wherever the cobblestone path took me. I saw random gardens, the Jewish Quarter, and of course a variety of trinket shops. I admired the stores full of garnet and amber (gem stones that the Czech Republic are known for), but alas I did not purchase any. This gives me yet another excuse to come back one day! I resisted getting a "I heart Prague" shirt, mostly because I am hoping that Lauren will bring me back an "I heart Moldova" shirt. I can't have TOO many "I heart" shirts in my closet...then I would just feel like a traitor. Unfortunately, due to my baggage and wallet limitations, I was unable to go crazy shopping here. I did however find a killer denim acid wash vest that I just love, love, love!! I'll find a way to squeeze it in, somehow. ;)

[Me in front of the Astronomical Clock]

[Random scene in Stare Mesto]

 [The Jewish Quarter - beautiful part of town with lots of history]

This trip has made me feel so very much unlike a backpacker...except for my accommodations and our little foray into a backpacker pub crawl yesterday! Details for those who would like to know more:

Accommodations:
Hostel Týn - amazing location, right beside the Týn Cathedral in Stare Mesto. Pretty bare bones accommodations though - extremely clean but really no luxuries. In fact, we only had hot water 50% of the time! Would I recommend it? For the location and the price, yes! However would not stay here if I ever came back, mostly because I feel like I have done the "backpacker" living much too much in my life and am ready for the luxuries of an actual hotel room with hot water on demand!

Nightlife:
Lauren and I tried to do the "local" thing on Friday night and wandered around Old Town area stepping in and out of lounges. Great music, but we decided to try to meet some English speaking people last night by joining the pub crawl that meets at the Astronomical Clock tower. Average age: 19. Average product mix: mostly female. Needless to say, we met more people walking around outside! Good line-up of lounges though, but probably would not recommend it as we have just become to old for these things (unfortunately...sniff). Places that I have heard about that are good: Karlovy Lazne (5 story club on eastside of Karlov Most - good club but lots of tourists), Lavka (next to Karlovy Lazne), Duplex (Wenceslas Sq - heard this place is quite good), & Roxy (live band type stuff).

[Lauren and I, getting our backpacker swag on]

Well I'm off tomorrow morning and beginning my long journey to Irkutsk. Flights: Prague to Munich, Munich to London, London to Moscow, Moscow to Irkutsk...I know, going west again before I go east - don't ask! I will get into Irkutsk on Tuesday afternoon.  For my mother - Happy Mothers Day!!! Love you and miss you lots, don't worry I am safe and I'm not taking candy from strangers. To the other best mother I know - Appa! Miss you lots and hope you had an amazing day!

Time to catch some zzz's before this crazy flight schedule! xox!

Bohemian Rhapsody

Prague's got style. Seriously. If Prague were a woman, she would be a timeless yet eclectic beauty...almost an enigma, if you will. Her cobblestone streets are lined with art galleries, cute little patios, and wonderful architecture. Everywhere you look is a beautiful scene that you just feel like painting!

My hostel is on a cute little street called Tynksa, right beside the Tyn Cathedral. I started off my day alone yesterday, and found tons of stuff to do by just letting the city be my guide. First I discovered a funky little vegan Indian resto near my hostel - Beas Vegetarianaska Dhaba. This place had an assortment of vegetarian Indian choices that you pile into a thaali and pay based on weight. Nothing better to beat jetlag than a wholesome Indian meal! Not to mention they had the most amazing ginger, orange, lemon and mint tea...on the house! This place was so cool it even had baby blue toilet paper. :)

[view of my thaali]

Then I wandered around Stare Mesto [Old Town Square] and soaked in the sites and sounds of the city.  I perused through a random Czech book store, admired the wares of a blown glass shop, wandered up alley ways full of art, and of course checked out the famous bohemian crystal shops. I ended up in a concert at the Church of St. Nicolas listening to the Prague Mozart Trio. It was a ton of fun however I have to say that the beautiful music was lulling me to sleep as I was trying to fight my jetlag (I had been up for 30 hours by that point). It's a good thing the church was so cold or I would have really fallen asleep! I needed a little pick-me-up after that was done, and found the best pastry ever! Everyone must try a Trdelnik - a crispy but soft structured hollow roll full of vanilla, almond, cinnamon and sugar. Oh so good! The Trdelnik gave me the energy to find a shopping area (surprise, surprise) with a bunch of cool stores. Lots of great style, but seeing as how my suitcase is already overweight I don't think I will be doing much shopping on this leg of my trip!

[Yum best pastry thingy ever!]

Lauren got to town in the middle of the night yesterday so it was nice to have some company today. We started off the day by meeting up with my friend Danijela's cousin, a local named Zlatko (thanks for the intro, D!) at the Astronomical Clock. He gave us a great tour of the city - we saw Nove Mesto (New Town), Vaclav Namesti (Wencelas Square), and the beautiful Karlov Most (Charles Bridge). Karlov Most is lined with little booths of trinkets and paintings, and has the most beautiful views of the city. The other side of the bridge is known as Malostranksa (I think - will confirm) and it literally feels like you are walking down a movie set. Everything looks so old and perfect - hard to explain and pictures don't do this city justice! We stopped for lunch at the cutest little shop that is owned by Danijela's uncle, Cafe Il Balcone. Zlatko gave us great ideas of places to go - always nice to have local advice!

[Caprese - tomato & buffalo mozzarella...what else do you need in life?!?]

[Lauren, Zlatko & I at Danijela's uncle's cafe]

[Cafe Il Balcone]

[Artist on Charles Bridge]

[Love the cello]

After bidding farewell to our new friend, Lauren and I trekked up to the Prague Hrad (Prague Castle). We stopped at random puppet stores and did the tourist thing...purchasing random trinkets along the way. We didn't make it all the way there though because we found a little restaurant overlooking the city on our way. One glass turned into a meal of Goulash (must try!), turned into glasses of bubbly, turned into 3 hours of great conversation while admiring the scenery! The warm pinks and burnished amber of the buildings looked absolutely divine when splices of sun would shoot through the clouds.

[One of the many random puppet shops in Prague]

[Amazing meal near the Prague Castle]

[Nothing better than bubbly!]

Came home to rest and blog until we head out tonight to check out Prague night life. Loving my new mini computer - perfect size for travel blogging this whole adventure!!! Ciao ciao!

Excuse me, ma'am, what is the status of your Visa?

Hmm…not quite sure!! We have been facing so many roadblocks this past couple of weeks that I am not even sure if I will be embarking on the adventure as scheduled….9 days from now!

This is the usual process flow:

Receive Letter of Invitation from Host University ---> Send to Russian Consulate --> Get Visa in passport --> Start LEADER adventure

However, everything that could go wrong in this process, has! Murphy's Law I guess.

Our Letters of Invitation (LOI) were sent for the wrong day (meaning we had to reschedule our flights so that we would be entering Russia on a later date than originally planned) and then we found out that we need to get certain blood tests because they sent us a different class of LOI then they usually do! This puts us in a very tight time frame…as the tests generally take 2 weeks to get back…and I am leaving in 9 days.

Silver lining:

Since I couldn’t go to Moscow as originally scheduled, I have re-routed to spend some time in Prague….which I am VERY excited about. Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic center of the Czech Republic for more than 1100 years and is situated on the Vltava River in central Bohemia. Castles, architecture, crystal, oh my! I am staying in Old Town (Staré Město) and cannot wait to check out the spired towers of Týn Cathedral.



That is, of course, if I can get my Visa in time to make my flight! These types of roadblocks teach me a very important lesson - there is no point in stressing out when it comes to travel plans. Life flows on and, as my dad always says, everything will work itself out. You have to go with the flow and hope that life is unravelling as it should...