Vienna, Prague and Five Story Discos.

Vienna... wow! What a beautiful city! I was not expecting it to be so grand. We got there late Thursday night. Luckily our Hostel, Wombats, was literally two blocks from the train station.

This hostel was definitely the nicest hostel we have stayed in all trip. We had our own room and bathroom and had to have a key to get anywhere into the hostel. The Wombat called the Wombar... very convenient. As soon as we dropped off our stuff and freshened up we headed to old town for dinner. After walking around trying to find a restaurant Rick Steves suggested we finally just ended up at a random restaurant. It wasn't that bad. I had a Quattro formaggio tortellini , it was pretty good! It was about 11:30pm when we left dinner so we headed back to the subway to go back to the hostel. Wombat guests all got one free drink at the Wombar so we figured we would start there for the night. After my free drink one of the guys, Dylan, bought us a round of tequila shots for my birthday! Which we took at exactly midnight.

took a screen shot as soon as it became my birthday!

We left the Wombar in search for  this cool disco that someone suggested to us. After taking a couple subways we end up in an abandoned amusement park. Obviously this is not what we were looking for but we were in the right area. So we had to ask some creepy locals how to get to this disco and I'm pretty sure just walked in circles. The last person we asked was a security guard who told us to go down this random road. We start walking down this road and I see a girl dressed pretty nicely just sitting on the street corner. Then a little more down the block there were more girls in high heels and metallic outfits. It took awhile for us to realize that these were prostitutes!! It was confirmed when one, rather large african american woman, screamed at a car driving away from her. At this point it was almost 2am so we just decided to call it a quits and head back to the hostel. 

The next morning we woke up got ready and headed to a pastry shop for breakfast. And oh my gosh I literally had the best croissant in my entire life. It was called like Marzipan something croissant, I'm pretty sure it was almond filling on the inside. Mother, way better than local coffee! Then we took the subway and headed to old town Vienna. We went through churches, palaces and libraries. My favorite was definitely the Schönbrunn Palace. Even though it was a dreary day it was still incredibly beautiful. For lunch we had no idea where we were going so again we found ourselves just walking in circles searching for a decently priced place. We came across this cafe that looked some what normal but was very interesting. We were only allowed to order three things from the menu. I thought I ordered a sandwich. But it was a very big flat piece of bread with pesto, tomato and melted cheese on top. It was good, just really strange! It was almost like it was a sandwich pizza. Then we went back to the hostel picked up our bags, headed to the train station, and left for Prague. 

train station in Vienna

 (Sarah, David, Dylan, Michelle, Danielle, Robby and Me)

As excited as I was that it was my birthday and that I was in Europe it was not very exciting to be on a six hour train ride to Prague. It was pretty miserable actually. But once we got to Prague it was definitely worth it! I had no idea what to expect of Prague, I had never hear much about it other than it's night life. We got off the train, got some money, reserved out car for the train ride home and head out in the Czech air. There isn't much right around the train station. So we headed straight to our hostel, Old Prague Hostel. It was a very eclectic hostel. The walls looked like they could have been painted by my sister's kindergarten class. This hostel was more dorm style. We were in a room with 8 beds, 6 belonged to us. The bathroom was down the hall and there was a common room on each floor where they had a kitchen you could borrow. As soon as we put our stuff in lockers we headed out for dinner. We ended up at an Italian restaurant where we went through this narrow stone tunnel to get to the restaurant underground. The food wasn't that good, I've had better gnocchi in my life. After dinner we rounded the corner to the main old town square where we found a casual bar to sit at and have a drink, hoping it would wake us up. It did the opposite. It just made us all more tired. It was a little past midnight so we just decided to call it a night. We also made an executive decision that because my birthday day was uneventful that my birthday would just be the whole weekend.

The next morning we got up and started our day. First stop was the Saint Charles Bridge. It is the longest bridge in Prague and a very popular tourist location!

From there we hiked up to the Prague Castle

view from the top

Once into the castle we went to St. Vitus Cathedral... 

Then the Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica and Golden Lane. From the castle we headed back down to the city to walk around. We did more touristy things like taking pictures along the water... 

(Saint Charles Bridge in the background)

... Visiting Prague's locks bridge...

... John Lennon wall... 

After the John Lennon wall we went to a Czech restaurant for lunch. It was so good! I should have taken a picture. It was spinach wrapped in chicken with melted cheese and some heavenly creamy sauce on top. SO SO SO GOOD! Of course it was accompanied with a beer! After our late lunch we made our way back to the old square. We stopped once to get some souvenirs, I bought a shirt that has the Czech flag on it and says "Praha Drinking Team." I should have worn it out that night. When we got back to the old town square we witnessed the clock tower performance. Then climbed, as in not taking the elevator, to the top!

On our way back to the hostel we pass by this restaurant/bar called Bed. The bar had this giant white bed against a wall to sit at and have a drink. So of course we went it. I cannot tell you how many strange and funny looks I received as people walked by! The front of the bar was all windows so anyone who was walking by could see six people sitting together on this giant bed drinking fruity cocktails at 5 in the afternoon! I mainly laughed when people started and pointed.

For dinner we went to a restaurant that some of our friends recommended. It was called lokal and had the best food all trip! When we sat down the waiter automatically brought us all a beer. I ordered the chicken with mushroom and butter (real name on the english menu) and spinach. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I will never forget that meal! Then for dessert we had these things called lokal pastries. It was like a cream puff but the puff was coated in icing. Again, mouthwatering! After dinner we headed to this bar Tretters. One of the guys on my trip, David, was told by his uncle to stop at a bar he used to always go to. The bar was really cool. It had an twenties new york theme. So of course I order a drink to go with the theme of the bar. The waiter helped me pick out an Old Fashion Barrel. I have no idea what was it in but it sure was good. If anyone knows the ingredients please share! 

After the bar we headed to a pub crawl. It started at 9pm when a power hour, all you can drink in an hour, at a bar that through the program. This included Absinth. Never ever ever will I ever, willingly, take a pure shot of absinth. At 10pm we headed to another bar. At each pub you go to they greet you at the door with a free shot of vodka.This one was cool! You walk into the bar and have to go down spiral staircase to get to the bar. There was also a dance floor through a stone tunnel! At 11pm we hit our last bar.

(from bottom to top: kahlua, bailey's and absinth)

Soooo much Veuve

me and my roommate

At midnight when that was over we were herded and taken to the five story night club. Words cannot describe the size of this club. It is the biggest one in central europe! Each floor of the disco had its own theme and was very crowded. My ultimate favorite was the seventies dance floor! It had the tiles that light up just like in Saturday Night Fever. About 90% of the people on that floor were extremely flamboyant gay men. So of course when they see a straight female they all flock around you! One ripped his shirt off for me and Michelle then expected us to pay him for it... Very questionable place. After an extremely fun night we got in a cab and headed back to Old Prague Hostel. The next morning we just checked out and made our way to the train station to start the 7 hour journey home.

Right now I am typing in bed, about to pass out, going over my check list for tomorrow. I have to wake up, study, finish packing, go to school, take a test, eat lunch, shower and head to the train station before 2:30pm. This weekend I am going to AMSTERDAM!!!!! I CANNOT WAIT! This trip will be different from the rest. I am going with a group of girls I have become friends with on this trip and I'll only be going to one place. So that means not having to pack lightly! I just go "straight" from here to our hotel in Amsterdam. When I say straight I mean a fourteen hour over night train ride with a 5 hour stop in Munich. Hopefully I will survive and will be willing to turn around and do the same thing all over again on sunday!

Sorry this took so long to publish, I'll be better next week!

Good night and sweet dreams!


P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOTHER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! LOVE YOU JHEY!