Defenestrations, Deadly Cobblestones, and Doors!

At first thought, this random collection of words: defenestrations, deadly cobblestones and doors may seem extremely unrelated. But it just so happens that these words describe my adventures in Prague rather well...


Once my friend Autumn arrived, we began to explore the city, starting off with a delicious Czech meal- pork dumplings with ham and sauerkraut and some non-Czech gnocchi (equally delicious!). In fact, every single meal we ate was delicious! Probably a combination of sheer luck and good recommendations from the Art Hole hostel owner, Luke who was immensely helpful in giving us ideas of what to do and where to go.

My dumplings and sauerkraut

We took Saturday at the perfect day to explore the city- and it was freezing. In fact, it was even snowing in the morning! We started out the day but getting up early and eating a breakfast of delicious toast, self-created mochas and boiled eggs in adorable egg-cups (a new phenomenon for me), then heading out to one of Prague's markets! There were so many stalls it was impossible to see everything, especially since we had limited time- but the common features were hundreds of scarves, clothes, purses, belts, shoes and random food stalls. The scarves were too beautiful and cheap to resist, so Autumn and I both bought some, and wore them the remainder of the trip! Oddly enough, all the vendors in the market were Asian, and I have no idea why... Also a random market tip- you will bargain. It's expected- and I recommended started at at least half the named price- so you can get the price down from 300 korunas to 130.

Part of Old Town Square

Autumn and I with our new scarves in the Old Town Square!

Czech money, or the koruna (crown) is very bizarre because one US dollar equals about 18 korunas, and 1 British pound equals nearly 30 korunas! So prices can look really crazy, because everything costs hundreds of korunas. Autumn and I realized that we started looking at anything under 100 korunas as cents... which can be a dangerous thing for consumers! Because you think, and generally rightly so, that everything is cheap! It is quite an experience to hold a piece of money that says 1000 on it, whatever the currency.


We then explored the city going on a free tour with this company called NewEurope, and ironically, our tour guide was Scottish! Turns out he's travelled quite a bit and has been living in Prague for some years now. But needless to say, I didn't leave Scotland expecting to find a Scot in Prague! We explored a lot of the famous sights in Prague, the Old Town Square, Mozart's house,  the Jewish Quarter, Wenceslas Square and more. And it seemed that everywhere we went, there was a story of how the Czechs defenestrating people. Also know as killed people by throwing them out of high windows. The city seems strangely proud of it to, as the tour guides note the location of the third defenestration.


I also began to notice these really cool, unique doors all over the city. That seems like a random feature, but it's true. Thus started the door quest- my effort to take pictures of as many cool doors as I could in an effort to create a Prague door collage!

Astrological Clock in Old Town Square, the only one like it in the world! In fact, the Czechs made sure of that by blinding the clocks engineer...

One of the many doors!

There was a tour following this to the other side of the Vltava River, but you had to pay because it included the castle. So, Autumn and I went off by ourselves to explore! The castle was beautiful! We ended up taking 2 days to see the whole thing, it's the largest medieval castle in the world, so no wonder. My favorite part by far though was St. Vitus Cathedral, a structure which dominates the landscape of Prague and the interior of the castle. The gothic architecture is incredible, awe-inspiring in its size, and magnificent with is stained-glass windows.

Inside the Castle complex

St. Vitus' Cathedral- gorgeous stain glass and architecture!

St Vitus' Cathedral

We also, in the tradition of all good explorers, managed to get ourselves a bit lost... but that's part of exploring any city! We were absolutely freezing by this point, having walked around for over six hours, we were numb and it literally hurt to walk on our feet. So back to the hostel we went, heading over the historic Charles bridge, which was still host to artisans selling their wares and a solo violinist.

I think he captured the entire day, the beauty and majesty of Prague in a haunting violin solo (from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack actually). I still have no idea how he managed to play. My own fingers were numb and I was wearing gloves! But when I heard him, as a fellow violinist, I was captivated; almost pulled into a trance by the beauty of the music and the city at night out across the water, over the bridge.

Our dinner that night was equally delicious, and somehow managed to last three hours! Greek salad with amazingly fresh vegetables to start, then our main courses (sirloin steak and chips for me), and then we each got a slice of honey cake for dessert. I'd been intrigued by this 'honey cake' all day, having seen signs for it outside all the restaurants. It was quite good, and the taste reminded me somehow of honey graham crackers.


Also, worth noting, is that Prague is a city of cobblestones! The streets are made of cobblestones as are the sidewalks, everywhere you go there is no pavement, attesting to the age of this city. So it's enchanting! And dangerous.... I lost count of how many times I nearly twisted my ankle or nearly fell over because of stepping wrong on the cobblestones! So fair warning to all ye who visit- Beware the Cobblestones!!


While I had to leave at 2pm on Sunday in order to catch my plane, we managed to squeeze in a bit more sight-seeing of the castle, and also the John Lennon wall. The Lennon wall is covered in graffiti and Beatles lyrics, all to defy the communist regime that was threatening the Czech people.

Lennon wall door!

Our names are now on the wall!- see if you can find them on the flaming peace sign

Charles Bridge! The sun seemed to be showing it off

While I was sad to say goodbye, I can't wait to see Autumn again over spring break- this time, in Barcelona! Flying back, taking the train and then cab to get home was exhausting and I gladly collapsed on my bed here in my Glasgow flat. So here I am, back to work with essays approaching and planning trips for Spring Break. It's a little bizarre to come back and jump into working after four days of simply traveling and exploring a city! Ah well, back to work. The weekends always bring more adventures!