The City of a Thousand Spires

Back in the fall, a friend asked me where I was planning on travelling to while abroad, and, afterward, told me I had to go to Prague, telling me how amazing it was. I had never really thought about going to Prague, seeing as it’s not one of the big travel destinations of Europe (most people tend to go to Paris, London, Rome, and Barcelona), but kept it in the back of my mind. Fast forward to December, when I received an e-mail from DIS saying that my study tour to Paris had been cancelled, and I would now have to pick another option, which was either Berlin or Prague. I’d wanted to go to Berlin, but remembered what my friend had said, and chose Prague instead. I’m so glad I did.

Prague was, honestly, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited in my entire life. The city looks as if it hasn’t aged at all…apart from the cars and modern clothing, it wouldn’t be insane to imagine a horse and carriage riding down the street, or people in medieval clothes walking about. The entire time I was there, I felt like I was in Disney World or a fairy tale.

Our study tour started bright and early on Sunday morning, with a 5:30 meeting time at the airport!! After meeting up with our professors, checking in, and going through security, we were off to Prague! We landed around 8:30 and, after getting our bags, using the restrooms, and getting some Czech krones, we headed onto a bus towards our hotel right in the heart of Prague. Once we briefly settled in, our professors, Jakob and Brian, took us on a walking tour of the city. Although we were all groggy and walking around the city was the last thing anyone wanted to do, it was a great way to start off our study tour. They brought us around to all the main sites, such as Wenceslas Square, the Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, and the Charles Bridge.

Old Town Square

I loved Old Town Square, not just because it was near an outdoor market with cheap goods (Earrings for $5? Two prints for $10? What’s not to love!) but because of the large church which, on its one side, contained a large clock. called the Astronomical Clock. The clock itself was interesting enough, but on the hour, the clock would change, and all the apostles would appear in a window above it. Surrounding the clock were four figures: a skeleton (death) and three men symbolizing vanity, greed, and pleasure. As our professor told us, the skeleton rings a bell and nods his head up and down as if to remind us that death is coming for us all, while the men shake their heads no in disagreement.

The Astronomical Clock. As cool as it looks, I have no clue how to tell the time!

After watching the clock change and grabbing lunch, we headed through the Jewish Quarter. Later on during our trip, I was able to visit the Jewish Museum there, which actually consists of the Spanish synagogue (beautiful!), the Jewish cemetery, and an old synagogue, which now serves as a memorial to victims of the Holocaust. The walls are covered in the names of those who died, while upstairs is artwork done by children living in Jewish ghettoes and concentration camps. But the synagogue also serves another, more interesting purpose. According the legend, the attic of the synagogue contains the remains of the Golem. The Golem was a creature created out of clay by the Rabbi Judah Loew , whose remains reside in the aforementioned cemetery, to protect the Jews from antisemitic attacks. However, the Golem became more powerful (similar to an out of control robot) and was destroyed, but his remains lie in the attic, ready to be reawakened if the need arises. As you can imagine, this has inspired quite a few monster movies!

After our visit to the Jewish Quarter, we headed towards Prague’s Charles Bridge, a long bridge across the Vltava, filled with artists and tourists and lined with statues of various saints. The bridge also offers an amazing view of Prague, so we were sure to take a lot of pictures!

Posing on the Charles Bridge

After crossing the bridge, we visited a few sculptures and passed a few museums, then headed up a tram to the top of a hill, Petrin, where we warmed up with some delicious hot chocolate (it was seriously a chocolate bar in liquid form…soooo good!!) then explored the park a little. We also climbed to the first floor of what we call Prague’s Eiffel Tower, because it looks like a miniature version of the Eiffel Tower. While it was a rough walk up, one that left us all breathless, we were rewarded with a breathtaking view of all of Prague. In addition to receiving a free souvenir coin, the walk up the tiny winding staircase was worth it.

The next two days of our trip consisted of presentations from notable Czech people, such as Jaroslav Hutka, a folk singer who played a key role in the Velvet Revolution, Filip Remunda, a filmmaker and the Czech version of Michael Moore, and David Vaughan, who runs Prague Radio.

St Vitus. Way to big to fit into one picture, but I did my best!

But while it was a study tour, we didn’t study the whole time! We also managed to fit in a little shopping, a really fancy dinner followed by a symphony performance (DIS gets brownie points for that one!), and visits back to our favorite sites. We also got to have a little fun with a visit to Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in Europe. Having said that, we didn’t actually get to see the whole castle, but what I did get to see, namely St Vitus Cathedral, was worth it! The cathedral was massive, but truly spectacular. I could have spent an entire day in the cathedral, looking into each side chapel and studying every detail! At Prague Castle, we also visited the Basilica of St George, filled with beautiful frescoes, then started our descent down a long staircase to the bottom of the hill to meet back up with our class. Of course, the top of the hill offered, once again, a spectacular view of Prague, and so a mini photo shoot was necessary!

Picture time!

After taking a ton of pictures, we met up with our class and headed to Lidice. Lidice is the site of a former village which was completely destroyed by the Nazis during WWII in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi official and one of the main architects of the Holocaust. The men were all shot and killed, while the women and children, except for 7 children who “looked German” and were sent to live with Germany families, were deported to concentration camps, where many died. Today, it is a park; the foundations of some of the buildings still remain, but memorials and a small museum tell the story of Lidice to visitors. Although it was a sad experience, it was at the same time memorable, and really made the horrors of WWII much more personal and real.

The next morning, we again woke up early and headed out on a bus to Cesky Krumlov, a small town on the Czech border. But of course, my bad luck (remember my 8 hour delay at Heathrow?!) struck again…our bus broke down an hour into the ride in Cesky Sibir! Having been asleep, I opened my eyes to a snowstorm outside and discovered it would be 45 minutes until our next bus came. Therefore, we would be getting off for coffee at either the Sitting Bull Cafe or the Cesky Sibir Hotel. Luckily, it was the hotel! I would later find out that Cesky Sibir translates to Czech Siberia…how fitting!

After our short detour and boarding on a much nicer bus, we were off to Cesky Krumlov, a small town which I can only describe as looking like Pinocchio’s Village! Our hotel, which was absolutely incredible, was situated in the town square, which consisted of a variety of cute little shops and restaurants! Although it was freezing (but not snowing…apparently it only snows in Cesky Sibir!), we took a guided walk around the town, which included a visit to the town’s Baroque castle! Even more exciting, the moat outside was filled in and home to a trio of bears! (I sadly didn’t get to see them, even after I came back the next day in the hopes they were out!) Although the castle was closed in the winter due to preservation, we were able to go inside and to see a few of the rooms, including the ball room and the theater, which is one of the best preserved Baroque theaters in Europe and was absolutely incredible.

After our visit to the castle, we were given a little bit of free time to walk around (which, for us, meant another photo shoot!) before meeting up for our last group dinner. Our class had truly bonded during the week, not only with each other, but also with our professors, Jakob and Brian. The two of them constantly told us how great of a class we were, and how respectful and kind we were to each other, and so our last dinner together was a sad affair. However, after once again telling us how great we were, Jakob and Brian invited us all to a local brewery with them for drinks…and everyone, of course came! Although I wasn’t a big fan of the beer (I ended up giving mine away after a few sips…too bitter for me!) I still had a great time, laughing and talking with my classmates and listening to our professors stories.

Most of the girls. Jakob and Brian are the two guys standing awkwardly in the back! (And no, Jakob, the one on the left, does not have mutton chops...it's just the lighting!)

The next day we were given a little more free time to walk around and shop (a chance for me to use up the rest of my Czech krone!) before it was time to head back to the bus for our 3 hour ride to Prague airport. Although I was sad to leave the Czech Republic and my new friends, it was nice to head back to Copenhagen and to see my other friends, as well as to hear all about their amazing study tours! Besides, all the memories I made on this trip will last me a lifetime! Like I said, I’m so glad I listened to my friend!