Prague: We Came, We Saw, We Shopped

We arrived and checked into the Hotel Olsanka just before dinner. The students were in groups of 3 or 4 and often their rooms had 2 bedrooms. The meals were served in a cafeteria style room. Richard and Jeff greeted some of our students and played the first of many pranks on them...and me!!! The green "X" on our hands took a few days to wash off!! Overall, the meals were very plain and the least favorite of the group. We are not used to being served cabbage and potatoes for breakfast.After dinner we went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was more of a residential neighborhood so most of the businesses were closed but we stopped at a pub across the street from the hotel. The group sampled Czech beer and some ordered a snack.The next morning our bus driver Marco took us to Prague Castle. We were met by our city guide and she led us to the the castle gates. Our first stop was St. Vitus Cathedral. We had an opportunity to tour the cathedral which contained beautiful stained glass windows and religious artifacts. We also had a demonstration about the benefits of building cathedrals with flying buttresses.

Then we were led to the Golden Lane and the group had an hour of free time. There were opportunities to shoot a crossbow, do some shopping and buy a snack. We walked down from the castle and crossed the Charles Bridge. Our tour ended at the Astronomical Clock in Stare Mesto.

What a great surprise it was to find the outdoor markets set up in the Old Town Square. The Easter Markets in Prague run daily from late March until April 15. Wooden huts offer a variety of handcrafted products, such as crystal and glass-ware, jewellery, metal-ware, candles, wooden toys, embroidered cloth, and beautifully dressed puppets and dolls. The most common sight is brightly coloured, hand-painted Easter eggs.The Prague Easter markets are also full of food stands selling roast ham, potato dishes,barbecued sausages, Czech style french fries and a variety of traditional Czech sweets like 'Trdelnik', a hot sugary coated pastry. There is also an outdoor stage where folk groups and dancers, who travel from all over the Czech Republic (and other European countries) perform. Our group had free time in the afternoon and everyone enjoyed the shopping experience in Prague. Stephanie led us on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter before dinner. We saw the Old New Synagogue and homes and shops in this area of the old town.

After dinner we walked to Wenceslas Square to see a Black Light Theatre production called WOW. WOW is the biggest and most modern of all of the Black Light Theatre productions in Prague. Everyone enjoyed the production, even those who were surprised when the spiders startled them as they crawled over the seats and interacted with the audience.After the show we took a tram to U Fleku, a Czech beer hall. Unfortunately they were full, so we found a small neighborhood pub and restaurant where we stopped for a snack. The tram ride back to the hotel proved to be quite an eye-opener for our group.