Eastern European Updates on the Fly: Prague

Our journey from Budapest to Prague started off in traditional Colleen fashion: our coach bus got a flat tire before we were even out of Hungary. Being stuck in the middle of Hungarian farm fields was something I never thought would happen to me, and as I began to imagine what the walk from Hungary to Czech Republic might be like, I think I started to grasp how much I love my Cabrio.

After a tumultuous ride through industrial Eastern European bus stops (really, not the prettiest way to see the world), we arrived at 11:30 at night in Prague. Greeted by Rob and McDonald's meal #5, life in Prague was clearly going to be better than life in Hungary.

And that it is. Prague is B-E-A-UTIFUL! It is quaint and charming and pretty and interesting. We got one day of rain and two days of sun, and saw the entire place. The buildings are stunning-- including the biggest castle in Europe. While I don't think anyone ever told Budapest the Berlin Wall came down, Prague looked around in 1990 and decided to move into the next century with the rest of the world. There are cafes, restaurants, bars, courtyards, boat rides up and down the river. It was like a charming part of Disney World, but real.

My favorite Czech-ian thing we did was go see Don Giovanni. I've never been to an opera and never really thought I would go to an opera, but Mozart lived in Prague for a bit in the 1800s, and they locked him in a room until he finished Don Giovanni. So they show it all the time here. So we went! We got standing room seats for something like $1.50-- you had to read the subtitles and stuff but it was so cool.

Also, because Sinead and I are major scammers, we not only managed to ride the public transportation around the city free all weekend, but get our hostel for FREE, too!!

Now we're off to catch a bus to Vienna, which should only be about three or four hours. I'm excited to eat Austrian food and sing things from the Sound of Music. It's weird going to all these places I never really knew anything about or thought I would go to-- apparently there's a whole other world out there! Ah, anyway, I'll keep you updated!