After a quick bus and metro ride, we arrived in the center of the city. We walked towards our Hostel, near Old Prague Square (the older main plaza) and saw Christmas everywhere. There was a giant Christmas tree in front of the beautiful Basilica and little shops and Christmas markets filled the plaza. Later that night Steve and I dropped our stuff off at the Hostel, met up with our friends, and walked around the city before calling it a night. We even met some new friends, Josh and Milli, who were visiting from Australia who hung out with us quite often.

The next morning we decided to explore the city on our own until our other friends, Sean and Michi, arrived later that afternoon. We saw the tombstone dedicated to Jan Palach in front of the Natural History Museum. Jan Palach was a Czech who committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest against the communist rule of the Soviet Union. We also visited the Church of Our Lady Before Týn, which is the main church located in Old Prague, and also one of the most recognizable buildings in Prague with its heavily Gothic architecture. Then we walked around visiting the Christmas markets throughout the city seeing what each one had to offer. We then took a trip up to the top of the Astronomical Clock of Prague. The Astronomical Clock is mounted on the southern wall of the Old Town City Hall. The Clock is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the sun and the moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of the Apostles and other moving figures; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. After the Astronomical Clock, we walked through the Jewish ghetto of Prague and the Jewish cemetery which is a monument to the many Jews who died in the Holocaust. We then went to the Cubist Cafe which is located in a building with a very rare architectural style known as cubism (think Pablo Picasso).

Later that afternoon our friends Sean and Michi arrived and we then made our way out to a traditional Czech restaurant. This would be the closest I could get to traditional Polish food (my heritage) without spending a ridiculous amount of money travelling to Poland. I got to eat some dumplings stuffed with ham and onions topped with some sauerkraut. After dinner we enjoyed what Prague had to offer during the night before heading to bed and beginning the next day.

The next day we took a walking tour throughout the city from our awesome half-American and half-Czech tour guide from Boston, Katka. She made lots of American jokes and I don't think many of the other English speakers there really understood them fully. After our tour through the city and a lunch pit-stop at Bohemia Bagel (I haven't had bagels in forever and it was amazing!), we joined another English tour of Prague Castle. We started at the Charles Bridge and worked our way up the hill town until finally reaching the castle. On the way to the castle we stumbled upon the John Lennon "Imagine Wall." When Lennon was shot and killed in 1980, young Czechs started an impromptu shrine to him on the wall of a garden. At first the police got upset, but eventually they let it grow and let it become legal to graffiti this wall. I scratched my own little saying into the paint myself saying, "Live Love Music," leaving my little legacy behind. We then made our way to the Prague Castle and witnessed the changing of the guard. After visiting the castle we walked to the cathedral at the top of the hill and it was one of the most impressive Gothic structures I've ever seen.

After our tour we made our way back down to the Old Town Square and enjoyed a cheap dinner before spending the end of our night walking down the Charles Bridge and reflecting on how magical this place was. Being in Prague was like being in a magical fairytale land with Christmas everywhere. It is probably one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in Europe, and what is also great is that the entire city is in walking distance. It really was a great trip and one of my favorite trips I've made this semester. I highly recommend visiting this Eastern European city if any of you have the opportunity. Photos of my trip to Prague are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/djruemenapp.

"Alright already we'll all float on, ok / Don't worry we'll all float on / Even if things get heavy we'll all float on."