Praha

I made it to Prague, Czech Republic yesterday after a long bus ride that can only be described as "epic." I left Amsterdam at 10:30pm and arrived in Prague at 2:30pm... My bus to Italy is even worse. On Friday (July 18) I have a 6.5 hour bus ride to Budapest, Hungary. Then on July 20 at 8:00pm I'm taking the bus from Budapest to Ancona, Italy. I'll arrive in Ancona around 2:00pm but then later that night I have an all-nighter ferry to Split, Croatia. It's more hectic and time consuming to do it this way, but it is considerably cheaper.

Now when you hear about the Czech Republic you probably think of the Soviet Union. And when you hear about the Soviet Union (or eastern Europe in general) you probably think of Buildings with huge holes in them and paint chipping off the walls, or something along the lines of these pictures:

While I did take those pictures in Prague, that's not what it looks like at all. Prague has surrendered to almost all European wars in order to preserve it's history. Prague was never bombed or anything so everything here is ancient. You can see huge golden tipped spires and cathedrals as far as the eye can see in all directions.

Today I took the metro to the Old Town Square and saw some of the sights there. The Astronomical Clock in the square was gigantic and very intricate. I even got the chance to walk up to the top of it. I also checked out the Salvador Dali exhibition they had going on in the square; Unfortunately I was unable to take pictures of the exhibit.

Here's the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn from the top of the clock.

Notice the gold on all the buildings.

Everything is very cheap here too since they don't use the Euro. A pint of premium Czech beer downtown cost me 22 koruns (pronounced crowns). That's like $1.51 American. The hostel I'm staying at has one of the priciest drink menus in town. Here I believe the same pint of beer goes for 46 koruns.

The day I arrived I was very hungry. I have been craving tacos for a long time now and I decided that an "authentic Mexican" Czech burrito would be a good substitute. And at 39 koruns from a local bakery, how could I resist? Well I now know why back home why there is Taco Cabana if you want a taco and Krispy Kreme if you want a donut. I also know why you don't see Mexican restaurants in the Czech Republic and why you don't see Czech restaurants in Mexico. Czech food is to Mexican food just like a goldfish is to a telephone pole.

It may look legit at first glance, but it's obviously not a burrito when you crack it open.

Also I tried a traditional Czech dish today. Goulash! I don't even know what to say about it or how to even describe it. It wasn't bad, but it was far from good. Interesting dish that's for sure.