Adventures in Prague!

I have almost been in Prague for a week now and have seen a lot of the city. One interesting fact about Prague that I did not know prior to coming here was that this is considered the "most romantic city" in all of Europe. At first this information shocked me because I have always heard as Paris or Venice being quite romantic, and never Prague. But after talking to different people and hearing other tourists talk, I have learned this to be true. It make senses while people would say this. Prague is absolutely gorgeous and has amazing architecture. What makes Prague so unique is its architecture diversity-- everything from castles to ancient Catholic Churches to even more modern forms. The style of buildings are totally diverse as well. Prague has often been dubbed the "textbook of architecture" because the city has captured architectural structures from the 10th century onwards to the present. The different styles that I have seen within this city have been romanesque style, Gothic style, Renaissance, Baroque, Classic style, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Functionalism and contemporary architecture. I have thoroughly enjoyed walking around this city and checking it's magnificent buildings and structures.

Yesterday I went to the Franz Kaftka museum. He was and still is one of the Czech Republic's biggest and most influential writers of all time. Kafta lived a dark life and often wrote about all the darkness in his novels, letters, and short stories. What makes Kafta so amazing is his ability to use dark and depressing words and turn them into beautiful sentences. He can capture so much within one sentence to the point that you almost forget how dark and depressed he found his life to be. I found the exhibit to be quite interesting and I really was able to read a lot of his passages, and sentences. I ended buying one of his books which is titled America. After learning a lot about each book he wrote, I was intrigued by this story. To finish off my day yesterday, Jake and I walked around his school (Charles University.) We walked through the cementary, by the gorgeous Catholic Church and we walked up to the beautiful view of the city. The university is up on a hill so you can really get a great sky view of the city. Jake told me everything he knew about King Charles the IV and the time that he ruled.

One other fasinating thing about Prague that I did no know until I got here, was that 94% of the city is athiest. That was shocking to me because there are so many churches and synagogues here.

I experienced my first gay bar in Europe called Friends. It was a fun place to go and meet cool people. My brother and I met up with an friend from high school who also studied aboard in Prague as well. We had a blast getting back together and having fun. It is a Karoke bar and there is nothing better than seeing gay Czech guys trying to sing to American pop songs! I also went to a Herda bar, which is a 24 hour bar and casino. The casinos are so funny and so small here. Lastly, I experienced my first Lesbian bar as well. I danced the night away while we were there. Overall it was an interesting and very cultural experience. Tonight we are going to a couple new bars, hopefully one can be a straight bar for myself (not that I did not enjoy both the gay and the lesbian bars) because I did. It would just be nice to mix it up a bit.

I am headed to the Jewish Quarter today to explore that section of town, and eat and drink some delicious Czech food and beer! I am also hoping to explore a few more musuems before we depart on Sunday.

Love and miss you all,
JENNA