Czech it Out!

Three years in a row, from the summer after freshman year to the summer after junior year, I participated in language immersion camps run by the Middlebury Monterey Language Academy to relearn/improve my Mandarin. I made a lot of friends while learning the language as well as learning more about my own culture. One of these friends is Alex, a half-American half-French guy who lives in Prague. We've been friends for the past five years ever since we first went to MMLA and even though we stopped attending after the summer in Beijing, we managed to see each other the following year in New York City when he was visiting colleges. This year, we kept our streak going and I visited him while I was studying abroad in London!

When I first got off the plane, there was a cool art installation of men running. It was smooth sailing getting through customs with the egates and I didn't even have to go through a second stage of my baggage getting checked before I could exit the airport!

Right as I came outside, I saw Alex waiting for me and I was so excited to see him again after another year of Facetime, Snapchat, and WhatsApp to communicate.

We took the trolley and got off to eat at a place called Bageterie Boulevard, where they had a great deal with a sub sandwich, potatoes, and lemonade iced tea. It was incredibly delicious!

Next, got back on the trolley to drop my stuff off at his apartment and chill out for a little bit. Prague's streets and sidewalks are completely made up of cobblestone, which made them beautiful, but not the best to walk on. His place wasn't too far from the trolley stop and I felt relieved to be able to lie down for a bit. I was staying in his brother's room right beneath his own and the bed is a full circle! I have never seen a bed like this before in my life!

Pretty neat, right???

Alex went to the corner store and grabbed us some hard ciders to drink while we chilled out for a couple of hours. It was really nice to catch up with each other during this time and just hang out. I kept forgetting that I wasn't just over at a friend's; I was at my friend's apartment in a whole different continent. It still felt so surreal that I was able to visit him on my own with such ease.

Later on in the evening, Alex took me to an American-themed bar called Al Capone's–the place where I had my very first gin and tonic. I'll be honest, I had always believed it was just alcohol and seltzer, so I always steered clear from this drink. I quickly discovered that I was very wrong and fell in love with it instantly! The bar was really cute and it was cool to see all of the American decor. It was an odd feeling of simultaneous nostalgia and unfamiliarity. I never would have expected to try a gin and tonic with London gin in an American-themed bar in Prague!

After we left the bar, we were feeling quite hungry and grabbed some snacks to eat at the corner store. We walked quite a bit and passed some tourist sites like the opera house on our way to the Vltava river. The view of the castle at night was extraordinary and I felt like I needed to pinch myself again to remember that this was all real. We sat down by the river and it reminded me of night at the Schuylkill or hanging by the Seine.

We got back a little after 3 A.M. and I was completely exhausted. It didn't take very long after laying down on the circle bed for me to drift off

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My second day in Prague, Alex left me on my own for a couple of hours because he had another friend visiting him that he wanted to see. I took the opportunity to do some more touristy things because I knew he was quite tired of all that stuff. I ate at another Bageterie Boulevard and had another incredible sandwich with the same meal deal we got yesterday. I wished I had someone to talk to while I ate alone on a bench, but with the time zones, my friends, family, and boyfriend were asleep. It turns out that people watching and taking in an unfamiliar setting were all I really needed anyway.

Once I finished eating, I pulled up maps on my phone to find the landmarks closeby. The weather was beautiful and the city is so walkable that I was able to see several sites in a short amount of time completely by foot. I'm super grateful Alex had dropped me off somewhere with a lot to do on my own.

When he got back from seeing his other friend, we walked around some more quite a bit and then decided we'd grab dinner and see a movie afterward. We had amazing Italian food at a restaurant close to the place we ate where I first arrived and then grabbed some ciders to drink on the steps of the beautiful church across the street.

After enough time had passed, we made our way to the movie theatre to see Spider-Man: Far From Home. I never would have guessed that this would become one of my favourite Marvel movies of all time. Honestly, it might be one of my favourite movies ever! It wasn't the acting or the CGI effects or Tom Holland and Zendaya as leads that got me hooked–it was the connection I felt watching it. Without spoiling the movie, I can say that after my study abroad trip, I would have visited 3 out of the 4 locations the film was set in. I loved seeing the places I had just familiarized myself with on the big screen, one of which is Prague! It was also cool to watch a movie in another country for the first time and see the subtitles in Czech on the big screen. One thing I must say about going to movie theatres in Europe is that they don't put butter on their popcorn, so if you're a butter addict like me, steer clear of the dry, salty popcorn unless you're getting a drink to go with it 👍

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My third and final day in Prague, Alex and I went to see the castle and it was magnificent! Unfortunately, I woke up very late this morning and hung around for quite a while, so we had a late start. Nonetheless, it was truly an amazing sight to see! We tried this really delicious raspberry soda and he took pictures for me with an incredible view of the city.

We mostly walked around the entire center of the city again and talked about a lot. I definitely wish I had more time in Prague. Once we got home, I was completely exhausted and ended up falling asleep on his couch.

We left Alex's place at 4:30 in the morning and ended up taking an Uber so that I could get there in time. I booked an extremely early flight to ensure that I would be back in time to go to the cat cafe "excursion" through Arcadia! Originally, we planned to roam around the city until 4 A.M. and I could just sleep the entire flight, but since I ended up falling asleep on his couch, he decided to let me rest until it was time to go.

Being my usual overthinking self, I was panicking a bit and extremely worried that an hour would not be enough before boarding, despite things going so smoothly at the airport when I arrived. The city was so beautiful at night and I got to see this incredible sunrise as we arrived at the terminal. I got to the airport a few minutes after 5 A.M. and felt incredibly relieved. Getting inside the airport was just as easy as it was getting out and I felt very at ease once I got to my gate.

Prague was never a destination I would have considered traveling to if not for Alex. I had no idea how popular of a tourist destination it was and I was astounded to see the large crowds and discover how many people spoke English. My friend being there not just to guide me through the city and help with his fluency in Czech but to show me his own favourite places away from the big landmarks really made this trip so valuable to me. I'm so grateful for this unique opportunity to experience an amazing city with the company of one of my closest friends (: