Hidden Secrets of Prague

My favorite photos from Nikki's visit! I was pointing out the city to her at the top of the Astronomical Clock Tower.

(Photo Credit: Nikki Fisher)

Sunday, November 3

I saw a band called Tegan and Sara at a club called Roxy tonight! Their show was great and the venue was awesome. They're an identical twin duo from Canada. Their music has gotten a lot of love from shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Gossip Girl, etc. (pretty much all of the shows known for great soundtracks) and it was really cool seeing them live!

Tuesday, November 5

Every Tuesday night, a really cool, trendy bar called Bukowski’s has free sangria for ladies. I've been wanting to try it out for a  while now and since most of us were done (or at least mostly done) with our midterms, we decided that tonight would be the night! The bar is in a very cool neighborhood of Prague 3 called Žižkov. The sangria was delicious and it was fun venturing outside of my neighborhood for the evening.

Wednesday, November 6

On my walking tour class, we went to The City of Prague Museum (Muzeum hlavního města Prahy). It is home to Langweil’s three-dimensional model of Prague from the first half of the 19^th c. It is crafted from paper and wood and measures about 20 square meters. It is quite a sight to see. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the model, so I'll include an image from google so that you can get an idea of it. Langweil was determined to get precise measurements of every building, corner, street, and detail of Prague; a daunting feat, which took over 9 years. He then began the construction of the model. Its accuracy is amazing and it was very cool looking at the model and seeing recognizable sights and streets. I was even able to locate where my apartment building is! The model only shows Old Town (Staroměstské), Lesser Town (Malá Strana), and the Castle District (Hradcany) because Langweil died before he was able to create more of Prague, but the model is still huge and incredibly impressive.

Images courtesy of google:

Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square)

 Karlův most (Charles Bridge) and the Vltava River

 Hradcany (Castle District)

St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle 

 Old Town

Hradcany (Castle District) with the Charles Bridge leading to Old Town in the background 

The entire model behind its glass enclosure

Thursday, November 7

One of our program managers organized a little field trip to the Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty headquarters in Prague 3. RFE/RL is an organization funded by the States to bring unbiased and truthful news to countries without free press. We learned a lot about how RFE/RL navigates around various oppressive and controlling governments in order to deliver global and local news to citizens. It was an interesting field trip and an organization that I had no idea existed in Prague. The building was protected by intense security and we had to go through many check-points before entering the building.

 L-I-B-E-R-T-Y display outside of the headquarters

Friday, November 8

Today, UPCES took us on a day-trip to three small towns in the Northwest region of Bohemia. The towns are called Litoměřice, Ploskovice & Velké Žernoseky and are among the Czech Central Mountains. This region is perhaps the most beautiful region in the country and we were lucky to have travelled here. We did something different in each town and the trip was incredibly fun. We toured Litoměřice and had a wonderful lunch there. Ploskovice is famous for an 18^th c. Baroque chateau, so we toured the palace. The coolest part of the building was the underground grotto/cellar. It contained beautiful carvings and old frescos. This palace was gorgeous, but was different than the other palaces I’ve visited because this one is lived in. While it is extravagant and over-the-top, it is cozy and feels like a home because a family lives here. We then traveled to Velké Žernoseky for a wine tasting. This was my first wine tasting and it was wonderful! It was so neat learning about different wines and having an opportunity to sample them. The vineyard dates all the way back to the 900s, and we had an opportunity to explore the underground cellars that were originally built by monks in the 10^th c.  I loved this trip. It was really well organized and was a fun-filled day of good wine and great food!

A Plague column in Litoměřice. Many Plague columns were built throughout Europe as a memorial to the dead, but also as a celebration for the ending of the Plague.

Beautiful Ploskovice palace & palace grounds:

My flatmate, Abby, and I in the grotto under the palace. This picture is misleading because I am not actually that much shorter than Abby...A matter of perspective maybe? I don't know.
(Photo credit: Maddy Rossi)

Wine cellars in Velké Žernoseky:

Saturday, November 9

I really wanted to take the day to explore a new area of Prague, so when I proposed the idea to James, he took the initiative to Google “hidden secrets of Prague” and he learned about these beautiful woodlands in Prague 6 called Divoká Šárka. So many aspects of his research cracked me up. First, Prague is a medieval city, so when he Googled “hidden secrets,” I expected him to find lists of the various mysteries of the city; for example, “this king was thrown out of his palace window (this was actually a common occurrence here. It’s called “defenestration”) in the 12^th c. and now his ghost roams this square and haunts all those who pass by.” And second, I couldn't believe he discovered some “hidden” woodland right in the middle of Prague. Prague is divided into 20 or 22 districts (sounds like The Hunger Games, I know) and Prague 6 (where this nature reserve is) is pretty central. We were both excited to explore, so we hopped on a bus to where we thought it was and we were greeted by a McDonalds. But when we looked behind it, we saw the most vast, beautiful expanse of mountain ranges!

We followed a path to a concrete trail that followed a small stream. It’s difficult for me to articulate how wonderful this little adventure was because it was just so beautiful and almost unworthy of words, so I’ll attach some photos to give you an idea of the sheer beauty of the place. As we hiked through the trees and the fallen leaves crunched beneath our shoes, I was reminded of how blessed I am to be here. It was such a beautiful and perfect day and I’m grateful to James for doing some research and discovering this place.

Czeching out,

Grace

Prague is so beautiful at night