Prague

I am on the train from Prague to Budapest writing this entry. This trip to Prague is one of the least planned trips I have ever done, and that’s saying a lot as I normally don’t plan much. I booked the flight about 10 days ahead, and didn’t book the hostel until the day of. I arrived to Prague with no fixed plans or itinerary. I wasn’t even sure how many days I would stay as my return flight is out of Budapest. As can be seen from the photos below, Prague is a beautiful city. It’s crazy that the city was founded in the 4^th century. Part of the city is called “New Town,” which was established in the 14^th century, so it is hardly new. It is just more new than the “Old Town.”

The first thing I noticed about the city was the ubiquity of the beer, or “pivo” as they call it. Czechs have the highest consumption per capita at 169 liters per year, and that number counts the entire population including babies. So really the per capita consumption of adults is probably double that at around 1 liter of beer per day. That sounds like a lot, but I found that I drank 2 liters of beer a day without trying. I would always have half a liter at lunch, one in the afternoon for a break, one at dinner, and one more in the evening. I didn’t see any tables at restaurants that didn’t have beer on them, it’s just normal, even when I had an early lunch at 11:45 am.

Amazing ribs that only cost $10 including the beer.

I also learned a new word that I vaguely recalled from my SAT cramming: defenestration. Fenestra means window and the prefix “de” means out, I guess. Defenestration means to throw someone out the window. It seems like a weird thing to have a word for, but defenestration was an important part of Czech history. At least 3 wars and possibly 5 wars were started in Prague from defenestration. Basically, the people would get so upset at the ruling class that they would storm into the castle or town hall and throw the rulers out the windows onto the cobble stone streets many stories below. The second defenestration of Prague started a 30 year war that left 30% of the population and 50% of the male population dead. Defenestration is no joke.

Three nights was enough time for me in Prague and now I’m off to Budapest where I am looking forward to a pub crawl followed by a bath house the next day. I don’t have a bathing suit, but I am told you can rent them. I’m not sure I want to rent a swimming suit, but we’ll see.