Refreshed in Prague

It was a busy, stressful week, but I am thankful for the refreshment I received in Prague.

Last week was one of those frustrating ones; one of those where you feel like you’re behind the 8-ball no matter what you do, and the worst part is you know you put yourself in that spot to begin with. After lazing around for the most part last weekend, I began Monday with a hefty workload—reading and lectures for classes, writing last week’s blog, scheduling classes for next semester, catching up with friends back in the States, preparing a speech for fraternity elections, and (the biggie) writing my History of Art essay. I wasn’t sure I should travel on the weekend with all the work I had to do, but then I thought, “What the heck, I’m in Europe for just a few more weeks, and I’d kick myself if I didn’t squeeze everything I could out of it because I was scared about losing some sleep to complete all my work.” So, buoyed by that sentiment, I bought a ticket to Prague for the weekend. By Thursday night I hadn’t written nearly as much of my essay as I had wanted to, but I packed my computer and reassured myself that I’d be able to find some quiet cafe in Prague where I could finish writing.

My week wasn’t all work, though. On Wednesday it was once again my turn to cook dinner for my flatmates. I made a spinach ravioli lasagna served with bread and carrots and cookies for dessert. The cookies are a family recipe, though I had never made them, and while they weren’t as good as when my sister Maggie or my mom — the bakers of the family — make them, they tasted pretty good! My flatmates enjoyed everything, and I even had leftovers for lunch the next day.

My culinary pursuits didn’t stop there. On Thursday I chewed up the venison steak that I bought at the farmer’s market the weekend before. I kept it simple and seasoned with salt, a sprinkling of Monterrey seasoning, and cloves of garlic stuffed inside slits in the meat (a trick I learned from my PaPa). I cooked it on the stove and probably kept it on too long, but the flavor was still terrific. The only real downside was how small of a portion it was.

On Friday morning Joseph and I got up at 4:30am to head to the airport. Our flight left a little after 7, and I listened to the oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the recent tariffs case as we flew.

It was a bit of a pain getting through immigration and security at the Prague airport (the Brits around me were complaining about the lack of “queues”), but luckily Prague has one of the best public transportation systems in Europe. So, once we actually exited the building, we were able to catch a bus and a train into the center of the city for approximately $1.50!

We headed for the Old Town square, which is home to a memorial to Jan Hus (a Czech reformer killed in the 15th century), the Prague Astronomical Clock, and one of 7 buildings of the National Gallery. It was a chilly but pleasant noontime, and I had a hearty meal of bread, sausage, and beer.

From the square we headed toward Charles Bridge (built by Emperor Charles IV in the 14th century and still functioning today), but we stopped in St. Nicholas Church first. St. Nicholas is a part of the Czech Hussite Church, which has a long and tumultuous history of which I know quite little. The church was beautiful, and we stayed long enough to hear their choir practicing for a performance. The Czech Republic has some of the lowest church attendance numbers in Europe, so many of the churches put on concerts to earn enough money to keep the lights on.

The Charles Bridge is one of Prague’s most famous landmarks and was packed when we got to it. We didn’t walk the whole way across that first time, but we took some picturesque shots of the Vltava River, which runs through the city. After walking along the river for a while we took some steps up to Letna Park to watch the sunset (which, thanks to Prague’s easterly location, happened ~4:00pm) on the recommendation of Nia, our flatmate. It was beautiful, and we had a tremendous view of the city. The orange and brown leaves of the trees and the heavy, cool air reminded me of Fall in Indiana.

We were really hungry at this point and decided to grab some dinner. We searched for some traditional Czech food found some at Bohemia Restaurant. I had Svickova, a classic Czech dish of beef tenderloin, cream and vegetable sauce, bread dumplings, cranberry sauce, and a lemon slice. In short, a very hearty meal. After dinner we got some trdelnik, which is a Hungarian dessert but is very popular in Prague. It consists of a doughy cone sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar or some other topping. You can get pretty much any filling too from berries or cream to Nutella or ice cream. I opted for a mix of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and, wow, it could have been my dinner. 10/10.

After tredelnik we headed to Moskyt, a small bar recommended by our friend Luis. It was a small establishment, decorated with darts memorabilia and signs for Czech Pilsner (Pilsner was first brewed nearby Prague in the city of Pilsen). We sat down at one of about six tables, half of which had no occupants. We got mugs of Staropramen, which is brewed in Prague and is a delicious 5% beer. A good end to a long day, if it had been the end. I went back to the hostel and worked (pretty inefficiently) on my essay for a couple of hours.

We set out from our hostel a little after 9. I got a cinnamon roll from a bakery across the street, and then we walked across the Charles Bridge, which was shrouded in a morning fog, to a gingerbread shop that Joseph wanted to try. The shop was small but quite lovely and absolutely covered with cookies. Seriously, I could have spent a lot of money there. I restrained my gluttony and settled for only a couple types of cookie. From there we met up with a walking tour we booked. It lasted about 2.5 hours, and, frankly, I wasn’t blown away. The tour guide included some fun facts but really didn’t add that much I couldn’t have read on a Wikipedia page about Prague. Joseph disagreed, he actually enjoyed the tour, but I thought it was a bit meh.

After a break by the Vltava, we did another walking tour. This tour focused on the monastery and castle area of the city. Prague Castle dates back to 880, and the monastery was established in the 12th century. The monastery also has a still-functioning brewery, which dates to the 16th century and according to Joseph (I didn’t get the chance to try some) has delicious beer. Prague Castle has an incredible mix of buildings and architecture; I would highly recommend visiting if you ever find yourself in Prague.

For dinner we went to a great restaurant called Pork’s. We didn’t have a reservation but only waited ~45 minutes for a table. It was well worth the wait. I got pork ribs and garlic bread to pair with my Czech Pilsner. After dinner we headed to a bar called U Sudu that our friend and fraternity brother recommended (thanks Will!). Then we headed back to Moskyt, where we spent the rest of the night before we got back to the hostel.

The next day I spent most of my time at the National Gallery. There are actually 7 buildings that comprise the National Gallery, and they’re not all in one location. Thankfully, though, 2 of the 7 are located across the street from each other right by the castle. There weren’t many other people there, and I had a peaceful few hours looking at art and listening to music as I walked.

After dinner at a local restaurant called Lokal, we spent our last hour in Prague city in a quiet cafe. I got a little bit of work on my essay done, and then a little more done at the airport, but by the time we got back to Edinburgh at 11:30pm I still had more to do. I was up pretty late, but I don’t regret traveling last weekend at all. I’ll likely never have a chance to do something like a semester abroad again, so it seems imprudent to not make the most of every weekend I can.

In other personal news, on Monday I was elected president of my fraternity chapter at Wabash — Lambda Chi Alpha. Because I won’t be back in the States until December 20th, my first month as president will be atypical. But I’m really confident in the other elected officers of the chapter, and I’m lucky to have many supportive friends and mentors to guide me through the first month and beyond of my 1-year term.

I also registered for Spring term classes at Wabash today. I got into all the classes I wanted to, including a few where my dad will actually be my professor, which is not something most college students can say. Registering for classes at Wabash reminded me that I don’t have much longer in Edinburgh (about 6 weeks). The feeling is bittersweet.

This weekend I’m gonna stick around in Edinburgh. I was thinking of going to Brussels this weekend, but luckily its proximity to Edinburgh makes traveling there easy, so I’ll have a chance to go later on.

Love to all back home!

MEDIA

1–2: My attempt at ravioli lasagna and chocolate chip cookies

2–4: Venison!

5: I thought this view from my seat on the flight to Prague was neat. Reminded me of salt flats.

6–9: The Prague Astronomical Clock, the Jan Hus monument, and my lunch. The Clock has three forms of time—old Bohemian time, Germanic time, and Babylonian time.

10–12: Part of the exhibit in St. Nicholas Church

13: Choir practice from St. Nicholas

14–22: Views from the Charles Bridge and Letna Park. The last picture is of AC Sparta Praha’s stadium; they’re the best football team in the Czech Republic.

23–31: Svickova, tredlinik (I included three pics so you can see my devouring process), a night pic of Church of Our Lady before Tyn, a statue of a character from a Mozart opera outside the Estates Theater (I forget the opera and the character’s name), Staropramen.

32–40: Pics from Saturday morning. The fog hanging over the river was beautiful. The second to last pic is the most interesting, though. Small plaques like the one in the picture can be found around Europe. They contain the names and basic biographical info of the closest building’s former residents: Jews who were killed during the Holocaust.

41–49: A view inside the cathedral at the monastery, another pic of the city, Prague Castle, the city, and pics of the Cathedral of St. Vitus. St. Vitus was under construction for centuries before being finished in the 20^thcentury. The fifth picture is interesting. That stone slab was constructed by the 1^st or 2^nd ruler of Czechloslovakia (I forget). He used it to practice his speeches because when you stand on the center of the slab and speak at a normal volume, your voice reverberates back to you off a set of stairs and sounds like you’re speaking from loud speakers. My jaw dropped when I tried it because of how loud my own voice sounded to me.

50: St. Vitius

51–52: My dinner at Pork’s. Don’t know what sauce was on my ribs—it wasn’t barbecue—but they were divine.

53–61: My favorite works from the National Gallery. I’d encourage you to look especially closely at the second picture and the last picture.