Prague: Day 1

September 6th- So we got off the train in Prague and got to our hostel, but let me explain to everyone a little about Czech Republic. So in Munich we got on a train that was just super. There were boyscouts cheerfully chattering in German, parents were running alongside the train to say goodbye to their kids, people were normal. We went for an hour or two on the train, watching the German countryside change from city to lush green hills and then we arrived in Nuremberg. Now I have no problems with Nuremberg, and I was sort of excited to switch trains because some little kid was having a seizure in the seat in front of me and taking advantage far too often of the reclining seat, but when it came to switching trains, we got a janky ghetto train. There was graffiti on the sides of the train, the people waiting for it were staring at their feet and slowly walking to the train like it was a death sentence. This atmosphere can be applied to all of the Czech Republic. The shadiness factor went up tenfold when we crossed the border, and they made us buy their Czech monopoly money. I believe I asked for 48 American Dollars and got a crisp 1000 Czech bill...

We got to our hostel pretty quickly and checked in. Of course it didn't disappoint, as shady as the rest of the city. Where wombats in Munich was top shelf, the Traveler's Hostel was beer in a can. When we went outside, however, we were pleasantly surprised to find that some parts of the city looked beautiful. We took a short walk towards the river in the city (which is disgusting by the way, like most other rivers in Europe) and stopped by a little stand where I got a huge sausage for 50 Czech monopoly dollars. We continued on towards the river and passed over a bridge where we saw the most amazing castle I have ever seen. I am still in awe. It is the largest medieval castle in the entire word, and nestled up on top of the hill is the most amazing Church I have ever seen, just gorgeous. When were were walking around we were sort of looking up the whole time, just admiring the fantastic architecture. There was also a lady playing a violin on Charles Bridge and it was pretty cool. She was charging about 300 Czech monopoly dollars for a cd, so she must have been really good, or maybe she was taking advantage of people feeling like they had a bajillion dollars (which would have been about 116 US dollars). We walked back to the hostel, went to bed, and prepared for an excellent adventure day 2!