Sunday, May 15, 2011

it's true what they say about Prague

Oh my gosh Prague is AMAZING!! Today I was a little late for church since I was dumb and got on the wrong tram. Luckily I caught my mistake soon enough and was able to walk quickly enough to make it time for the sacrament. It took me about 40 minutes to get to church from my hostel. It took me 6 hours to get back. That's how wonderful Prague is, that's how much it sucks you in.
I went to the park next to the church to nibble on some bread, and soon got sucked in to wandering around, taking pictures. One thing I noticed was the graffiti. I'm no stranger to graffiti-the profane, the ugly, the beautiful, and the outright hysterical. It is everywhere in the Baltics too. But here, it breaks my heart. This is such an amazing, magical place, that to disfigure it like that is unforgivable to me.
After seeing a couple of monuments and a park or two, I found myself being sucked into the general flow of tourists on that side of the river. It started as a little trickle and then joined another little trickle and another until I was part of a mob. None of them ever looked like they were looking for anything specific. They appeared to be, like me, just wandering, captivated by this city. If that is ture, then we were all undeniably drawn to Prague castle, and when I got my first glimpse of that place, I was speechless, and not just because I don't have anyone here to talk to. It's so much more impressive than any photo lets on. It is the single most breathtaking and captivating man-made thing I have ever seen. Whether that speaks to my status of novice-traveler or to the astounding beauty of Prague, I will let you be the judge. In the end, the only thing that could take me away from it was the thought that, if I feel so inclined, I can come back tomorrow.
"OK," I told myself. "You've seen the castle. Now go home." I have laundry that I've been putting off. I am in a skirt and my church shoes aren't walking shoes. I am hungry. I am tired. It is cold. It is windy, and again, I'm in a skirt. None of these reasons could seem to get me home. Then my feet and back started to ache, but although it only grew worse, the wonders around every corner here kept me still for hours. Now, back at the hostel, I feel certain that I couldn't go another step today. Wish me luck getting up the billion flights of stairs to my room!

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