Prague: Tredlniks and Fertility Sticks
I ended my seven-weekend stint of traveling with a bang, heading to Eastern Europe before hunkering down in the Netherlands for the rest of the semester. To be honest, it was the smoothest most stress-free weekend of all of my travels, making me half wish it wasn't my last.
For once, I flew into my city of travel with zero cancellations, delays or major issues. Upon arrival at the Czech airport, I even ran into a friendly Theta face - hey, Nikki! - which further solidified the fact that this world is one small place. I cabbed on over to meet up with my hosts for the weekend, Mackenzie and Carleigh, where I was met with wine and hugs.
We got ready quickly and headed out to a super cool bar called U Sudu, which is literally a maze of underground tunnels, filled with cancerous cigarette smoke (the Czech can legally smoke indoors, and they take full advantage of this) and varying kinds of hip music/drinks.
After meeting up with a group of friends, we made the group move to a bar called Double Trouble, though not before literally running into two USC friends, Caroline and Annie, on the street on the way there. Prague is apparently the size of my high school. At Double Trouble, we danced, downed mojitos and shots, and made friends with both British teachers and French mimes. Honestly, the high school gang is all here.
On Friday, we rolled out of bed at a leisurely alarm of 11 a.m. The day consisted of a stroll through Old Town Prague, where we dined on sausage and cider amidst a in-depth conversation about the political ramifications of the current Russia/Ukraine sitch. Carleigh convinced me we're still in a Cold War so happy vacation thoughts to me! Kidding, we all know I love a good political convo. Other sights included the famous Astronomical Clock and pretty views of the Prague Castle.
For a snack, we decided to grab some strawberries and white wine from the market and havea picnic on the Vlatava river water front. It was a truly magical experience, with the sun shining directly down on us and our conversation taking a turn for the inquisitively religious. The most important sentiment that came out of this conversation: "Sometimes, the booty call can be the mature thing!" Word.
For dinner, our little USC Theta/Kappa crew met up for some Italian food and, more importantly, wine. We threw a fun lil pregame at Carol's uber upscale Prague apartment, then went out dancing at a club called Mecca. It wasn't so much the club as the company that made girl's night out absolutely kill it.
Saturday morning was similarly lazy, with us rolling out of bed at 11 a.m. and making it to brunch with the crew by about 1 p.m. From there, we all traversed across the Vlatava to see the Lennon Wall and then walk across the famous Charles Bridge. Our next move was to rent paddle boats and cruise the river, but somehow we ended up getting sidetracked and found ourselves back on the water front, this time drinking beer (pivo). We befriended a very friendly dog named Bobi, who would not for the life of him get up and leave with his owner (which was ver funny), yet was happy to mosey on over to our group to hang out. We love you too, Bobi.
Finally, we got on our paddle boats, ordered more pivo from a boat-up bar, and chilled on the water for an hour. All this boating and beer drinking obviously made us very hungry, so we followed suit by feasting on a meal of traditional Czech fried edam cheese. This is essentially a glorified mozzarella stick, except no one in the Repub understands you are supposed to eat it with marinara. Nonetheless, an interesting culinary experience that I am happy to have had.
For our last night out, we went to a bar called James Dean, which was playing oldies, and a club called Cross Club, which played what Carol dubbed "progressive-death" music. If you know me at all, you will understand my discontent with the night's musical array. However, we did make some cool French and German friends along the way, one of which I helped make the big life decision to move to San Francisco! Your welcome, bro. Hopefully see you at the Weekender.
On to the final stretch! We rise at 11 a.m. on Sunday with pounding headaches for the third morning in a row, and accept that we are delinquents. Subvert such misery with a massive, fantastic brunch at Radost (unlimited American coffee like WHADDUP). My cab driver to the airport is a total G and gives me an apple from his yard in Prague as a parting gift. I fly home with zero complications and arrive happily in Amsterdam. The weekend was too easy and too perfect.