A Day with a View

Wednesday is free day! (And tourist day!) I woke up and immediately headed to the JzP Farmers market, which I have been waiting to return to since I discovered it my first day in Prague. Sadly, my favorite stand from before was not there, but I was still able to try other delicious homemade and homegrown options! My favorite was a Czech dessert called Fragle. It is essentially a dessert pizza, with doughy bread, homemade jam, and what they call “cottage cheese” sprinkled on top, which is more like a type of sugar crumble. While my annoyingly sensitive stomach became upset after a few bites, it was definitely worth it. One of the main things I noticed while I was there, and wandering around the surrounding area, was the lack of English or tourists. I love the fact that ISA houses their students in truly Czech neighborhoods, particularly young and cool ones, and I loved being able to discover Zizkov and Prague 2 a little more, czeching out (wont get old, sorry bout it) menus in Czech or interesting shops. Life lesson abroad: Go places where you aren’t worried about pickpocketing. While this might seem like an odd way of phrasing it, it was nice to be able to walk around and realize that people are not preying on my as a tourist, but actually assuming I am a local – until I open my mouth that is. While I have never been one to shy into the background, it is really nice to be on my own as the observer, and I never saw that appeal before this trip.

I came back to find my roommates ready to head to Petrin, the giant park that overlooks all of Prague. We first stopped in Old Town to pick up some salads from the Country Life buffet, and then headed to Petrin, up the tram to the top to enjoy our lunch. From there, we climbed the Eiffel tower knock off and were able to see a beautiful view of the entire city. Today we also started the game of “guess the tourists country” which involves everyone picking where a group of tourists might be from, and then playing what are the odds to have someone ask them where. So far, we have not guessed right but it has made us random acquaintances along the way!

I headed back to Fittop Zizkov, still crying over the runners in converse, and then we went to meet Claire and Olivia at the clock tower. Life lesson abroad: (Two for the few days where nothing but visitors happened) As a student studying abroad, plan your tourist activities strategically – there is plenty of time! We decided that the view of Old Town would be best around 8 pm, right before sunset, where all of Prague turns the rosey color that everyone talks about. It could not have been more perfect, and after a day of great views I have to say 

that I am still falling in loveeeee with Prague every day. I feel like I am at Disneyworld. Mostly because Old Town square was most likely the basis for the village in Disney world, but that’s its own topic.  Claire, Olivia, Julie and I headed for a glass of wine at Sahara, the cool middle eastern inspired bar and restaurant in Namesti Miru. A good glass of Moravian wine, good friends, and sitting on pillows in a windowsill with Namesti Miru directly behind me, it really can’t get much better. 

 

Last thing, Bri left the water running with lots of dish soap in the sink and this was maybe the funniest thing to happen to Seifertova 5.