Not nearly as good as a gay, Prague proposal…

We started our day on the alex railways train #355, aka the Albert Einstein, enroute to Prague. Well, to be honest, we didn’t board Einstein until Munich at 9am. By that time we had already done 2 hours of rail riding, including one train change in Buchloe and a 5:51am departure time. We began our day annoyingly early so that we could get to our next destination at a good time and so we could complete the whole journey by train…we could have left later but would have had to take a bus. #355 was supposed to go direct from Munich to Prague, but for some reason it decided to actually end at a random Czech town and we had to switch to a local line. No big deal, except that we ended up getting in over an hour later than originally planned. This is how Kristin…and then Justine…spent their time on the train:

When we arrived in Prague we had a new challenge to deal with: the money. We have changed currency once so far (pounds to euros) but we came with some of each. We did not come carrying Czech crowns. So we hit the first bank machine we saw and this is what came out:

Those really are two two-thousand crown bills. Money in the Czech Republic makes you feel really rich…but exchange rate is approximately 20Kc to $1, so we are not as rich as we appear.

Our hostel was a short metro then tram ride away. It’s a hostel/hotel so it’s super classy. The lobby looks like we shouldn’t be dressed like hobos as we walk through it and the room is huge…6-person room with 3 bunk beds. The people we are sharing with seem really nice, and we are the youngest in our room…which seems a little odd, but then again this place is a little more upscale, not a place packed with drunk 18 year olds. We went for supper at a small, classy looking joint. Prices are lower here (well when you convert them they are lower…still in crowns everything looks super expensive, like 35Kc for a glass of coke) so we could afford a nicer place. Justine had some fancy chicken strips with a potato/tomato/red onion salad. Kristin had a concoction that consisted of a baked potato with chicken, corn, tomato, mushrooms & a saffron sauce piled on top.

Prague is one of the 6th most visited cities in Europe. During its 1100 years Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of central Europe. The city has been the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, an important city in the Hapsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empire. After WWI it became the capital of Czechoslovakia and more recently the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague is one of the best preserved cities in Europe, many of it’s famous cultural attractions survived the wars of the 20th century. As a result, the historic centre of Prague is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We set out to do a little evening exploring. Winding through the streets we made our way to the Old Town Square and out to the Charles Bridge. We’ll give you the low down on Prague’s sights tomorrow when we go on the walking tour, for now you can just enjoy some nighttime photos:

Highlight of the Day:
– Breaking our 2000Kc bill at the train station so we would have change for metro tickets…but the best part is where we made our purchase:

And just for funsies, let’s throw a question out there for our followers. The points race is still tights so you should definitely answer! We mentioned that Prague is one of the 6th most visited cities in Europe, now you are going to tell us the other 5…but you can only name up to two cities! Only two!!! Ok…go!

Love, Luck & Large Bills,
K&J