Prague, June 9-12

Ah, Praha. After all the heinousness of getting to you, you weren't too bad, but for the heat. It was SO. FREAKING. HOT. All the time, everywhere we were, inside and out, it was hot. The city itself was not too much to look at for the most part, old buildings in need of repair and new buildings in need of repair... The historic quarter is better taken care of, but more out of a renewed interest in the revenue of tourism than any real desire on the Czech's part to beautify their city.

We walked (a bad idea, but doable) from our hostel on the outskirts of Prague proper to the center of town, and then back. I say bad idea because of the heat and the length more than anything, though there were certainly times when the sketch-o-meter found itself wigging out. We went to Prague Castle, an interesting place but there isn't much open to see right now. We wandered through some cathedrals and over to the Charles Bridge, which lies next to Bohemia. Looking back, I wish we had explored that portion of town more, but we were very fed up with the weather and at the point of our trip where we were all annoyed at each other for something or other. We got over it pretty quick, though, so that didn't follow us past Praha really.

What else to say about Prague? We spent three days there, met a lot of interesting people and had a generally good time going out and about, but there wasn't too much memorable about the city proper. We had more fun talking to the hostel people and wandering the area nearby than we did in the city. Air says that of all the places we've been, she liked Prague the least. I thought it was nice, a little dirty and rough around the edges, but what city isn't at some level? Through the dirt and smell, I'm sure that, given more time and a better mood, Prague would be a wonderful place to be.