Prague: Kind of freakishly gorgeous

I've been accused of overusing phrases/descriptors like "the best", "my favorite", "amazing", "life-changing", "cutest", etc., etc. So I'm trying to dial it back, or at least give the smallest indication as to what is actually great and what isn't.

That being said, PRAGUE IS THE BEST. It is seriously one of the prettiest places ever; I spent the entire afternoon just wandering aimlessly through the cobbled city streets and getting lost in all the tiny nooks and corners.

Old Town Square. Is it possible to look prettier.

What It's All About:
Prague is a fairytale-looking, gorgeously-appointed, Disney-like town with that Eastern European flair.


Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Wandered the city streets around Old Town Square
• Climbed the clocktower, which has a famous astronomical clock which still works and apparently tells time due to science/physics/astrology/wizardry.  I could barely understand any of the plaques explaining how it works; I could only understand that the fact it works is a big complex deal, so my conclusion is that it's magic.  It strikes every hour, which people come to watch - basically, on the hour, the skeleton of Death rings a bell and the 12 apostles come out to say hi - none of which I would have understood if I hadn't read it in my guidebook. 

View of Old Town Square from the top of the clocktower

Asian tourist level = high

View of the crowd that gathers in front of the clocktower, on the hour

The famous/magic/sorcerous astronomical clock 

Walked along the famous Charles Bridge at sunset.

A romantic sunset photo with myself

*heart-eyed emoji*

Meal of the Day:
Rick Steves' guidebook sent me to this ridic Czech restaurant named after a legend about a rope-maker who strangled his wife (charming!). The guidebook also recommended I get the pork leg with mustard, which I did and it was GIANT. The kindly French couple sitting next to me even politely asked me what the hell I ordered.

This menu was out of control and I loved it

The largest meat slab ever for dinner

The restaurant's legend. I couldn't find the rope-maker's wife's photo in the pub. Is this a problem

MVP of the Day:

On the train from Berlin to Prague, I hadn’t booked a reserved seat (bc it was 5 Euros extra, and people assured me I’d be ok without one), and I was slightly late because a choco croissaint was calling my name.  Well, it wasn’t ok.

It was single-handedly the most chaotic, crowded, out-of-control train I’ve ever been on in my life.  People were jammed in every single hallway, in between the cars, outside the bathrooms, etc. And not having a reserved seat, I got stuck standing with my giant awkward backpack while people all tried to squeeze by me.  It’s a 4-hour train ride, and I was kind of panicking about having to stand the whole way. 

However, I met a German man who was incredibly nice to me and tried to help me find a seat (albeit unsuccessfully). But then, during a quick train stopover in Dresden (2.5 hours in), he came and found me and told me to follow him. I’m not kidding, he led me and my giant unwieldy backpack through 3 or 4 train cars, asking every single person if they had a free seat next to them. When he finally found a woman sitting next to a free seat being occupied by her GIANT suitcase, he single-handedly rearranged all the luggage in the overhead compartment, hauled this woman’s T-rex-sized suitcase up there, and then offered me the seat.  It was the nicest thing ever, and I could have cried. Later on, he bought a large beer for himself, came over and poured me a cup, and cheers'd me. We chatted a little throughout the entire ordeal; his name is Michael, he's German, and lives in Kazakhstan working as a lawyer.  

When we got off the train, he looked at me and went, "Connie - best of luck to you in all your adventures", and then walked away. Ugh. THE. NICEST. Bless you, German lawyer angel.