Short Week in Barcelona

I only two days in Barcelona this past week, so I don't have any exciting news to report.  Wednesday night a group of us went to Bar Marsella Cafe.  Dali, Picasso, Gaudi, and Hemingway used to drink absinthe here.  It wasn't in a great part of town, but the inside was really neat.  I don't think anyone has cleaned it/dusted it since all of the famous artists were alive.

Aly and Emily.  There are better ones to come!

Last Day in Prague

We ended the trip with brunch at Café Louvre.  I got a tasty omelet, but Camille ordered completely wrong and ended up with toast with a pound of butter and sliced boiled eggs on top - sick.  Apparently many world-renowned celebrities used to dine at the Café, including Albert Einstein.  We sat around the Old Town Square, then walked through the Old Jewish Quarters and saw the Old Jewish Cemeteries.  We had time to spare before our flight so we sat at the same Italian place on the river and got lemonade and iced coffees.

Prague was one of my favorite places I have ever visited.  I had such a fun time.  And it was soooooo cheap!!  I would love to come back again.  Hopefully sooner than later!

Day Two of Prague

We went to Petrin Hill on Monday.  There is a rose garden right by the tram stop at the top of the hill.  Camille and I explored then headed to the tower.

We had lunch at Bohemian Bagel, recommended by many of our friends.  I got a chicken salad bagel sandwich.  It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.  So yummy.

Camille and I made a pit stop by the John Lennon Wall after lunch.  This time we came prepared with a sharpie.

We walked around town and stopped for an iced coffee at a cute restaurant by the river.  The iced coffees were basically coffee floats.

Sunday night we did a pub crawl around Prague.  It was nice to go out with a group, it's a lot easier than trying to find something fun to do at night with just two people!  

First Day in Prague

Our hotel had the most amazing breakfast.  We stuffed our faces and then headed out to explore the city.  Prague is unlike any place I have ever been.  The architecture and streets made me feel like I stepped back in time.  

We first went to the Old Town Square.  

The Astronomical Clock.

 Camille - the ultimate tourist - in front of a yummy sweet bread stand in the Old Town Square.

This old man started singing to us in the middle of the Square.

We headed towards the other side of the river to see the John Lennon Wall, St. Nicholas Church, and the Prague Castle.  There are a lot of bridges connecting Old Town to Lesser Town, but the Charles Bridge is famous for its statues and is filled with street vendors.

 Behind us is the Charles Bridge.

Camille and I had the John Lennon Wall to ourselves.  We had so much fun messing around with the hotel's umbrella as a prop (real mature, right?).  We spent over an hour messing around and taking pictures.

Here is a little history on the wall:  John Lennon was a hero to the pacifist youth of Central and Eastern Europe during the totalitarian era.  When communism ruled, pop music was banned by Communist authorities.  Communists especially didn't like John Lennon because his music praised a freedom that didn't exist in the communist countries.  After John Lennon's death, his picture was painted on this wall, along with other graffiti defying the authorities.  People continued to graffiti on the wall, writing their hopes and dreams.  The police tried to whitewash over the Lennon portrait and messages, but could never keep the wall clean.  Today, the wall is covered with messages of love and peace.

The John Lennon Wall.

The John Lennon Wall.

We then headed to the St. Nicholas Church.  It was small, but one of the prettiest churches I've seen yet.

The weather cleared up, so we hiked up to the Castle hoping to get a good view of the city.  Prague Castle is the biggest castle in the world.  It was packed with tourists and a little overwhelming, but I'm glad we made the effort to go see it.

 

When researching Prague, I read that you can get a great view of the city by climbing up the Staromestska Mostecka Vez Tower on the Old Town Side of The Charles Bridge.  

Paddle boating the river was at the top of my Prague checklist after Rachel told me how much fun she had one lazy afternoon while she was in Prague.  Camille and I took advantage of the good weather, nervous that it wouldn't last the entire trip, and took up Rachel's recommendation.  Camille and I drank Czech beer and listened to the iPod while paddling around for two hours.  This was probably my favorite activity of the entire trip.  

We had good Italian right on the river for dinner.  We were there for over two hours, but had a good view of the Charles Bridge and Castle at sunset.

 Grossetto Mariano!  Our dinner spot - another Rachel recommendation.

We tried to explore Prague's night life, but it was pretty slow being a Sunday.  We went to a small pub recommended by an older Theta for a beer and called it a night.

Prague Castle and Charles Bridge at night.

First Night in Praha

Camille and I had a rough start to the trip...

We got on the wrong train in Barcelona.  We thought it was headed for the airport, but we ended up in some town just outside of the city.  Thankfully, we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Just off the train - NOT at the airport.

We landed in Prague at midnight and headed for our hotel.  We booked a four-star hotel with a perfect location on booking.com for a really good deal - cheaper than all of the hostels we were looking at.  A couple of days after we booked the hotel we got an email from the hotel telling us that it had an electrical issue and that we had been up-graded to a FIVE-STAR hotel in the same location.

My best friend from home, Rachel, studied in Prague last semester.  Her and a couple of other friends from school gave me a list of things to do/see/eat in Prague during our stay.  One of our guides told us to try the street food for a great late night snack.

Saturday in Barcelona

I have a TON of catching up to do.  It's been crazy busy here with a lot of fun travels.

Two Saturday's ago, Camille and I went to Prague - by far one of the best vacations I have ever been on.  We had the entire day in Barcelona before we took off, so we headed to Tibidabo, a mountain overlooking the city with a church and an amusement park (random combination, I know).

After Tibidabo, we walked around the Labyrinth Park in Horta.  It was nice to go somewhere so pretty with no tourists.

 

"Recovery Brunch" at Milk

Camille and I checked off another restaurant on our Barcelona bucket list this morning.  All of our friend's Barcelona guides told us to get brunch at Milk, a cute restaurant opened only on Thursday-Sunday 10AM-4PM.  It POURED on us trying to get there...but it was worth it.

Cute store front.

Camille's yummy french toast.  I got blueberry pancakes but they weren't nearly as pretty to look at.