If my alliteration didn't give it away, my family is visiting this week! My mother, sister, and Aunt Barb have been here since last Friday, when they arrived in Berlin, and since then they have accompanied me to Wittenberg, Leipzig, Berlin, and Prague! Prague was our fist post-Berlin airport adventure, and certainly one of the most beautiful (if not THE most beautiful) city I have seen so far. It is how I will always picture Eastern Europe--chaotic and ancient, proud and ornate, with a touch of accordion on most street corners and enough meat and potatoes to have you in a food-coma until your departure. As I learned from Poland, however, border proximity means absolutely nothing when it comes to language comprehension--my German rendered me mostly useless in the Czech Republic. The best way I can describe the Czech language is one of many syllables--I've never before heard anyone pronounce more syllables in a word than there are letters.
My family, thankfully, trusted my pieced-together train wisdom, racing along behind me for the four train stations, five trains, and five hours that we traveled to Prague from Berlin (as my sister would say after the many flights of stairs she was forced to sprint: wheeled luggage is certainly convenient, but stairs render even these absolutely useless). We arrived in Prague in enough time to watch half of a city marathon from our taxi (marathons mean pricey cab fare though, of course). After settling in we wandered and found our way around pretty well. Here are some images from our Prague-walk:
St. Charles Bridge
Aunt. Sister. Mom.
Sister.
I wanted to sit out here and read a book and look like I belonged. So badly.
A view of the St. Charles Bridge from across the river.
I love gargoyles.
Czech is more than impossible.
Prague is beautiful. Really,
really beautiful. To quote Anke, my German professor, "es ist wie ein
Traum," it is like a dream. And no one expects you to know Czech, thank God.
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