PRAHA!

Kiki, Chloe, Sean and I left for Rome on thursday after lunch. We met up with Chloe's friend Reid with no problems, went to dinner, met his sweet and very accomodating roommates and went out. We went to a place that I believe was called Campo. Its a big square with a bunch of bars in it. We hung out, chatted, got to know Reid and his friends and went to some of the bars. We met some great kids and had a great time, but I think the four of us were thankful that we study in a smaller city. Ironically, Reid, Chloe's friend from home who we stayed with, goes to John Cabot University in Rome, which is where Ted studied a few years ago.
Sean has never been to Rome, so we decided to show him the Trevi fountain at the end of the night. We saw it both during the day and at night when the girls and I went, and decided its best at night. We hung out there for a little bit then went home to get plenty of sleep before going to Prague.
We left around noon and after busses, planes, metros, and trams, arrived at our hostel around 5. We dont know why, but when we checked in the man at the front desk told us we were getting an upgrade from a 10 person dorm to a 4 person private. We were obviously extremely excited. We met up with all our other friends who had arrived in Prague via a 12 hour bus ride and had dinner and beers at happy hour. Our hostel was a dream. It was the cleanest, nicest, most accommodating. There was a full bar and restaurant in it, and it was the cheapest hostel we have stayed in so far. Even better, the name of it was catchy, the Czech Inn. After all the BBMs I was getting from dad, the girls and I decided that he would love the name of the hostel.
We got ready for the night and headed out to a popular bar called U SUDU. I got to see Katie Jirauch there, which was a dream, and the girls and I sat with her and her roomies for a bit and chatted. Katie and her roomie were tired so they turned in early, but the rest of us stayed to hang out. It was a really cool place. There were multiple little rooms with different bars/tables and chairs and it was kind of cave-looking. We met some great people from Prague around our age and had fun chatting with them. We left there around midnight and headed over to a discotec. I had a blast here. Chloe and I checked our coats and headed right to the dance floor. We kind of got separated from the group, but there was a large stage, so we hopped on that and within no time the rest of our group found us and joined the dance party on stage. it was all 80s music. I couldnt have been happier. Some kids left early, but the majority of us stayed until 4 am. Chloe and I literally never left the stage, it was the best. We had a blast. When Chloe and I left at 4 we had some language issues with the cab driver, but thankfully made it home safely.
On Saturday we got up, left the sleeping boys behind and got to site seeing. We went to Old Town Square first. It was freezing, and snowing, so we got some Starbucks to go and headed out. We saw the Astronomical clock, and saw the changing of the hours. A man came out on top of the tower with a horn and blew it. We really had no idea what was going on or what any of it meant. I turned to a nice looking lady and said "do you know whats going on". She and the man with her laughed and explained that it was simply the hour turning, but people always stopped to watch because the clock is so large and so interesting. They were such sweet people, and they pointed us in the direction of the Charles Bridge. We went to the Charles Bridge. Not much to do there but walk over it and take pictures of the Danub river, which we joked about because "We were at the Danub last week in Budapest!"
Next we wanted to go to Lennon Wall. This proved to be quite a journey. Its not out in the open in a popular public area. Its down little streets in a more residential, quiet place. On the way to find it we ran into the sweet couple from the clock tower again. They spotted us playing in the snow and shouted to us. We got excited to see them and ran over for directions to the Wall. They showed us and suggested we get some hot wine to warm up. We thanked them for their help again and left for the wall. For the rest of the weekend we referred to them as Mom and Mike, because we never learned the lady's name.
We finally found the wall. It was awesome. We spent more time there than any other site in Prague. I loved it. I took so many pictures. It was fun just walking along the wall and finding the tiniest things that people had written.
We went to lunch and decided that the rest of the site seeing out doors could wait till sunday because the weather was just so miserable. We went to the beer factory, where you are given your own tap and pour your own beers. The girls and I talked about high school and home and embarrassing stories and had a blast. We went back to the hostel, napped, showered, ate dinner, and got ready for the evening.
While getting ready the safe drawer under my bed fell and hit my face. Right on the nose. It hurt to say the least. I tried brushing it off and getting ready, but it began turning red and getting really swollen. Kira ran to get me ice and I sat in the corner pouting with ice on my face for the next thirty minutes. Haha, it was painful and unfortunate, but lucky for me, I have the greatest friends ever. Chloe straightened my hair while Kiki did my makeup. I just sat there with ice on my nose doing no work. They helped me get ready and the three of us plus Alexandra and Kira left for a girls night out (with a fat nose). We went to a place called Chapou Rougue where I once again ran into Katie. We danced and played and met up with some of the guys in our program. It was a fun bar. Bars/Discotecs in Europe are SO different. There are multiple levels, multiple rooms, and multiple bars. I dont think I have been to anything like what I have been to here back in the states. We stayed there till pretty late, and then headed to a club. It was a long walk there, and by the time we got there Kira was ready to go home. It was about 3 am so I decided I would join her.
On Sunday everyone left except for the four of us. We went up to the castle and saw St. Vitus Church. I was so excited to say the least. Vitus is my confirmation name. Everyone in the program knows this, and all week last week I was being told "Annie! Your Saint's church is in Prague!" It was beautiful. Very different than what we were used to seeing because it is extremely gothic. It was huge and we spent a good amount of time there. Chloe and I chatted with God (and St. Vitus), as usual, and then we headed to lunch. We went to a bagel place that is famous in Prague and I got to have Lox. I havent had lox in so long so it was a dream.
We headed back to the hostel, grabbed our things and headed home. Everything went smoothly until our plane landed a bit later than planned, causing us to miss the last train out of Rome. Thankfully, Reid was still up at midnight and more than wiling to accommodate the four of us for another night. We made our way to his apartment and took about a 4 hour nap before getting up and catching the 6 am train.
We were back in Florence by 8 and all slept until lunch time. It took a while to get back, and we might have been moody at times, but we were all thankful to be back and be safe at home.