Dobry Den!

Round Three: Praha

 

Today was my first day in arguably the most beautiful city in the whole world. I’ll get to that, but first a few notes on getting here.

1) Leaving: Always a bittersweet affair. Although it is sad to leave family, friends and a city that I love, it’s also kind of amazing. I always had the same feeling about coming/going at LSU—life is good when you’re able to leave one place you love just to arrive at another. This departure was made infinitely more special than any other by my sweet best friends—under the guise of a Secret Santa exchange that most were unable to attend, they planned a surprise going away party with all of our best friends from college and some from Mobile, too. It was far and away the sweetest, most memorable event of my life, and it made leaving a little easier because friendships like that won’t change no matter where in the world we are.

2) Flying: I’m obsessed with flying. Once I hit the big time and can shirk responsibility, I’ll probably go missing for hours at a time. If you need me, check the runway. There’s just something ethereal about the melding of the extremely human airport experience and the supernatural flying one. I love it.

3) I live in Prague! Driving into the city from the airport, I had to actively remember to breathe. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen or imagined. Jet lag spared no victims and it was beginning to get dark and rainy, so we spent last night setting up our phones and arranging our rooms. This morning, we set off on foot in search of some breakfast. We gradually realized that breakfast is a) not a thing and b) the Czechs sleep in until late morning. After we finally found a café in Old Town, we were able to concentrate on something besides our rumbling stomachs…we looked up and for the first time realized we are truly in the most beautiful place in the world.

Every corner we turned was more breathtaking than the last. We had to pick up our jaws from the cobblestone streets as we meandered through the city center. During WWII, Hitler preserved Prague because he wanted to have his own castle here, so the architecture is ancient and impeccably preserved (hello, communism). Pictures really can’t do justice, but I’ll give it a shot anyway:

 

That's all for the first day! Much more to come. Thanks for reading!