Well I got on the bus and found that ever seat was full...that meant no stretching out. Problem number 2 the seats were just large enough for my backside to fit into. Problem number three before the seat was leaned back I could squeeze a dime in-between my knee and the seat in-front of me...once the seat was tilted back I could no longer feel my legs at all. So in stead of having a relaxing trip up to Prague I napped uncomfortably squished into the seat trying to keep my toes from turning blue.
We arrived in Prague at 6am and were told we couldn't check in yet and so we had to change in the one public restroom the hotel had...this was quite the ordeal as 2/3rds of the bus was female and there was only 5 stalls to change in and 4 sinks in front of the one large mirror for all of us to share. After that debacle we shuffled upstairs to the dining room for breakfast where we had a buffet of traditional European breakfast foods were available like breads, jams, yogurt, granola, salami, cheese, and fruit.
The schedule now led us up to Prague castle and a walking tour of the city by a local guide. The tour was a bit disappointing as she showed us some spectacular buildings but due to time we couldn't go into any of them. The one I especially wished I could have seen the inside of was the cathedral built in a courtyard of the Prague castle that took from the 1300s to 1920 to build. It was the most spectacular cathedral I had seen in all of Europe. The tour finished at the Powder Tower in the middle of old town and we were told we were free to wander for the next 5 hours until the bus came to pick us up or we could us the metro to get back to the hotel. Again I was a bit disappointed because the guide gave us very little advice as to where to go in our 5 hours. She had pointed around the corner and said there was a shopping center down there, hoping it was some black market stuff we eagerly went down the road only to find a large very American looking mall! Eager to see what our money could buy us in Prague we went in. I was able to find a very nice summer dress with pockets for 13 Euro.
The Czech Republic doesn't actually use the Euro, instead it has the Czech koruna. 1 Czech koruna is about 5 cents in the US...this made for a very interesting exchange rate and very hilarious checks. Most items were for sale for 300 koruna which sounds like a lot of money, but in actuality that's only about $16 or so. But the whole trip I was having the hardest time wrapping my head around this exchange rate, luckily most items also post how much it would be in Euro.
After walking around the shopping center for an hour we were pretty tired (tired from not getting any sleep on the bus and then walking around all morning...at one point I actually fell asleep standing up while on the tour). We made our way to Wenceslas Center where the metro could be found. The hotel was right across from one of the metro stops and luckily our tour guide had pointed this out before unleashing us on Prague.
The hotel had quite the hook-up as far as amenities go. The basement contained a beauty spa, an aquatic center, a bar, and a bowling alley, as well as other things I didn't take note of. We excitedly looked through the services the spa gave and found that they gave really cheap pedicures. After an hour of rounding other people from our group to come with us to get pedicures we got downstairs only to find out that the spa had closed an hour prior not to open again until 10am the next day. Instead we reserved a bowling lane for later that night.At that point it was time for dinner and we went to the same dining room we had for breakfast and received a buffet full of "traditional Czech food" including curry, fish in white sauce, spaghetti, and cous cous. There was also plenty of chocolate pudding like desserts to choose from.
Our guide had said we would have to pay for our drinks at dinner but we were pleasantly surprised to find that we didn't. We kept looking around at the other tables looking for the rest of our group, but they never came. After dinner we discovered we were eating in the VIP room and that the rest of the group had been turned away and did have to pay for their drinks, but had the same options of food. Oops! haha.After dinner a few of us gathered for bowling in the basement while the rest of the group went out for a Pub Crawl to celebrate one of the Camp Adventure girls's birthdays. We enjoyed a relaxing game, although there were a few frustrations as the lighter balls kept getting stuck in the back gutter and refused to come back causing the computer to think that it was still the player who threw the ball's turn. We finished in the bowling alley around 9pm and being exhausted I went upstairs, showered and was asleep by 9:45pm.
The group that had gone on the Pub Crawl was later reprimanded for "excessive alcohol use" and spent their last day of camp being upset for going...so I was very glad I chose to go bowling and going to bed that night.Sunday morning we put our luggage on the bus and road for 2 hours to a place called Karlovy Vary. It was truly an Oasis of beauty. The city has a river running through the middle so there are bridges every block and beautiful painted buildings on either side. Karovy Vary is especially known for their crystal work so many shops boasted beautiful crystal pieces including chandeliers and jewelry. We got to wander around this pretty little town for a few hours and I bought some nice crystal earrings for 250 korunas each and had lunch along the river. At the end of our time in Karlovy Vary I had 7 korunas left...that's less than a dollar! I was frustrated because I knew I would never be able to exchange them back for anything and 7 was just a big much to bring home as souvenir money.
Before we boarded the bus to go back to Ramstein I went to use the public toilette and thankfully the toilette cost me 7 korunas exactly. While it would have been fun to bring at least 1 back, I was just glad to be rid of it.We made it home by 10:40pm that night and since it was daylight the person in front of me didn't tip their chair back, so I was able to feel my legs the whole time.
The Czech Republic was a really different place for me to go to. Before I left for Germany, I never even considered going there, but I'm so glad I did. Prague has a really rich history full of many different forms of government. There are still some remnants of the communist Czech such as the speakers they used to make announcements throughout the country are still left on electric poles.Pictures: 1)at the Prague Castle looking over the city of Prague or in Europe they call it Praha 2)the beautiful cathedral I didn't get to see the inside of 3)on Charles Bridge in Prague 4)eating with some old Czechs back at the hotel 4)in the bowling alley 5)first view of Karlovy Vary 6)wearing my new summer dress in front of the colonnade where several natural springs rise up, people drink these waters for healing 7)a speaker leftover from the communist rule
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