Prague and Vienna

 

 

Wow, this week has been a whirlwind! This week (Monday and Tuesday) was the celebration of Carnival over here in Spain (and other parts of the world as well). For those who don’t know, Carnival is basically the same as Marti Gras, and takes place the days leading up to Ash Wednesday. Because of this holiday, classes on Monday and Tuesday were canceled and all of us students took this opportunity to travel around Europe. For me that means, Prague and Vienna!

First stop: Prague

After traveling for most of the day on Friday, and finding free coffee machines in the airport in Germany (one of the best parts of the day, free hot chocolate for me!), we made it to Prague that afternoon. During our stay in Prague, we walked up to the Castle where we had the most amazing view of the city, we took pictures down by the river, we walked along Charles Bridge, saw the astronomical clock, and had a walking tour of the city. Prague was absolutely beautiful! There were hardly any modern buildings so stepping out of the metro station felt like being transported to a different time! It was absolutely amazing to stay in a city that takes so much pride in their history and that dates back hundreds of years. After exploring ourselves, my friends and I went on a walking tour with someone who was born and raised in Prague. She was extremely sweet and acted like a mother to all of us, making sure we were warm and understanding everything while on the walk! On the tour, we learned about the Jewish Quarter, the Astronomical Clock, the various cathedrals, and much more! It was really fun exploring the city with someone who had lived there their entire life.

Second stop: Vienna

The hills are alive, with the sound of …. Us singing … haha, the first thing we did after arriving at our hostel in Vienna was listen to the Sound of Music soundtrack. Although most of the scenes from the movie weren’t filmed in Vienna, they weren’t far away, so we decided (or at least I did), we needed to embrace our inner Von Trapps and sing while we were there. While in Vienna, we visited an art/history museum, went to some amazing palaces, took our own self-guided walking tour, and, the best part, went to the ballet at the Vienna State Opera House!!!!!! Although it was a little difficult coming from Prague, where everything is clean and all the buildings are well-kept, to Vienna where there were a lot of more modern and less well-kept areas, the old part of Vienna was incredible! Our walking tour took us to places such as Castle Park, the Anti-War and Fascism Monument, the Capuchin Imperial Crypt, St. Stephen’s Church, and Michael’s square. These parts of the city were absolutely fantastic and, although we didn’t get a chance to see the National Library, we had a great time exploring! After our tour, we went back to the Opera House where we saw the ballet, Onegin, which was an unforgettable experience! I never thought I would have the opportunity to be able to go to the ballet at the Vienna State Opera House! It’s something I will never forget.

 

 

Here are 2 pictures of Prague at night. The first is of Charles Bridge which was named for King Charles who was also the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire for a time. The second picture was taken when standing by the Castle in Prague. It doesn't fully capture how beautiful the city was at night.  

 



Here is the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. The pictures don't do it justice because this palace is enormous! If you look at the smaller buildings on the sides, most of them connect and also form an even bigger perimeter around the palace.

 Final info:

Although traveling throughout these cities was extremely fun, it aws also really exciting to return back home to Spain. While away for the weekend, it was really difficult to be in places where we did not speak the language. Although we were able to get around using English, the main languages in Prague and Vienna are Czech and German. It was extremely strange not using Spanish when we had a question for someone, and we had no idea how to pronounce what the signs said, but we managed!     

 Also, because Prague is in the Czech Republic and not a part of the Euro Zone, we had to figure out how to use their currency. The conversion rate is extremely difficult to get used to because 1 dollar is equal to 23 Czech crowns. Paying about 100 for a dessert was extremely difficult to grasp, but I think we figured it out!

 

That is all for today, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my trip and that you maybe learned a little. I'll be sticking to Spain for awhile now.  

Next stop on the list: Madrid!