prague.

prague is my new favorite city. maybe whatever city i happen to be in will be my favorite. except rome. i just didn't totally dig rome. i wouldn't want to live here (like i would want to in vienna), but maybe study here for a few months--or spend a week. the beauty is just breath taking. and it is madly romantic. i may be biased here because i had the most wonderful experience ever. i think my life could be a movie. my only complaint is the cobblestone streets. it is very difficult to walk on and hurt my hip.

after i dropped my things at my hostel (which was very nice), i went to (one of) the st. nicholas churches that is directly across from the hostel. i climbed the tower and saw a spectacular view of the city. it was the bell tower and there was a whole museum on the use of bells in prague. quite fascinating. i was the only one in there so i was making up this whole crazy story in my head about how i might die and be a part of the show dexter. at the top was a museum about the spys in czech. they had all the equipment they used to spy on the american embassy and pictures and stories of all that craziness.
i got a hamburger at this irish pub and then walked to charles bridge. i was taking some pictures and spotted a handsome man that i would ask to take my picture. he asked if it was good and i looked at it and just started laughing because he only took it of my face--a few pictures in fact. i asked why he did not include the background. he said in his french accent, "because i prefer just the picture of you." somehow he made it not cheesy at all. i asked where he was from: france. i asked what he was doing here: visiting a friend. i said i had just gotten there and was on my way to the john lennon wall. would he like to join. he answered, "why not." (the park is just really cool. i've been to a lot of parks in my day and this one wins the coolness factor)


so we walked to the wall, which was maybe my favorite thing in the city. before 1989 when the czech republic was freed of communism, every night people went and wrote on this wall as a memorial to john lennon. and every day, the government painted over the vandalism. once it was freed, it was no longer painted over. i love love loved it as you can see by all the pictures i included. we got out a pen to write on it as well. i was kind of nervous and didn't think of anything cool to write. i just wrote my name. then he wrote something in french. i asked what it meant. "i love the girl from chicago." --jord. it was so cute.

we spent the next five hours wandering the city. we were trying to find these dancing houses that i had read about. we kept getting lost. we went into a french cafe and had a glass of wine. we talked and talked. his name is jord and he works on making government buildings more environmentally friendly in france.
one of the statues on the charles bridge. see those gold things at the bottom? you have to touch them both at the same time for good luck. there was another statue to touch for luck on the bridge. i found out the next day that you are only supposed to touch one of the two plaques. i touched both. one is for good luck, one for bad luck. so i guess it evened out.

the astronomical clock.

a door painted my favorite color.


this gigantic chair. isn't he handsome?

overlooking the city at sunset.

after he kissed me, i looked up and saw these two birds kissing as well. little love birds.

and finally we found the dancing houses.
walking back over the bridge at night. gorgeous.

jord called me princess erica. he thought i looked like jane birkin. he asked me if i were english. the best part, which he told me later, was that he thought i was a gypsy. he thought when he took my picture, someone would come and steal his bag. he said i was too beautiful to have asked him for my picture.

everything was so perfect. like a movie. i guess these sorts of things really do happen. he had to leave really early the next morning to catch his airplane. i am going to see him when i am in france :) :)
the next day i woke up and went to the kafka museum. it was really interesting and well done.

then, i went on a free tour of the city. it was nice to finally learn some history behind the buildings and squares. i probably should have invested in all the other cities. i might have gotten more from it. this is the only cubist architecture in the world. cubist cafe.
the old new synogague. hitler didn't knock this one down because once he had eliminated all jews from the world, he planned on making this the museum of an extinguished race.

the castle.

the churches were amazing inside.

the largest collection of keys in the world. at one of the memorials of 1989, all the czechs brought keys. now the biggest collection.

i just realized that i forgot my alarm under my pillow in my hostel. darn. i keep leaving something every place i go.

i'm trying to figure out the last part of my trip. i will take a vote. should i go to berlin? i have two weeks and am going to go to barcelona, madrid, and paris for sure. but i don't think i need two full weeks for that. thoughts?