Chapter 2: Jess

So, we have finally made it to Prague! Nine legs of the trip, all weathered boldly! The legs are as following:

1) Edwardsville to Dustin's house

2) Dustin's house to Amtrack Station

3) Train to Chicago

4) From Chicago's Union Station to Mike's house

5) From Mike's house to O'Hare Airport

6) Board plane bound for Vienna (cold, rainy Vienna)

7) Change planes to fly to Prague

8) Get picked up by driver (which took an extra hour and a half. He had left because he hadn't seen us, so we were just waiting and waiting and waiting until we called someone from the school and figured things out. This would not have been a leg of the trip if things had gone smoothly.)

9) Drop things off at our flat and wander around Prague to find our school and meet with the rest of the group.

The rest of the group is mostly great. A lot of the people are pretty cool, but as with any mixed crowd, there are some who are less savory. I may write caricatures of them later as I see fitting. 

We went on a walking tour of Prague with our class. I took a ton of pictures, and we saw a lot of great, beautiful structures and a lot of unforgettable, spectacular views.

Prague Cathedral, which is built onto Prague Castle.

A view of Prague from the gardens at Prague Castle.

It's really an amazing city, and I'm so excited to spend real time here! Hopefully I'll come back with plenty of good stories (of course) and adequacy in speaking Czech.

We had dinner at the Medieval Tavern. It's really a medieval tavern: Rudolf II's royal alchemists used to haunt the place, we were told, drowning their leaden sorrows in liquid gold. It was a really cool restaurant. Cobblestone floors and walls constructed at least three cramped dining areas, all lit by candles. Despite the lack of wiggle room, a fire eater and a sword dancer performed. It was really cool. After their performance, I fell asleep at the table and knocked my head on the cobblestone wall. Fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Talent.

I guess it's appropriate to mention that I haven't slept for 31 hours, so falling asleep as if narcoleptic is forgivable in this situation.

I'm at our flat now, ready to go to sleep, but I did notice something about my room. My room in the flat, first of all, is great--it's big and has a huge window. I love the airiness and natural light. However, the view outside the window...

Is just straight up creepy.

But, O Prague! you are worth frustrations, bumps on heads, blisters on feet, sleepless hours, and creepy climbing babies. What an amazing city!