Woke up at 4:45 am to get ready for our 6:30 am train to Prague. We checked out of our hostel and took the U-Bahn to the Berlin HBF station. We made it there by 5:45, enough time to get some breakfast before boarding our train. I ordered half of a nuss-schnietzel...a cinnamon nut strudel of sorts. Everyone wanted to sleep on the train, so I was passing out Dramamine like candy. (PS mom, if you send another package in the near future, can you send more dramamine, it's in the cabinet where we keep the cookies :) ) We boarded our train, pretty empty, and we were off. Berlin Down, Prague Up. I slept a bit, listened to my Ipod and took in the snowy, hilly countryside. The parts of Germany we went through had a layer of fog hovering over the ground, and sadly it reminded me of the ride people must have endured on their way to the concentration camps.
I dozed in and out, walking up once to find Claire missing with her shoes on the floor. Over cautious I thought she was kidnapped, but really she just moved a few seats ahead to stretch out and sleep. The train ride took us through Dresden, Germany, another major city during the war. Actually a lot of times, Prague was bombed mistakenly in attempts to hit Dresden.
Somehow we were delayed an hour and a half, which only became apparent when we neared the end. Miss Matchett was going stir crazy and we were all ready to get on our way and off to the adventures that awaited us.
We pulled into Praha and asked for directions to our hotel. It was closer than expected but we still power walked like a true brigade of travelers down the coblestone sidewalks. We walked a bit longer than necessary thanks to the European minimal street signs. My first impressions were that the city was beautiful with a historical look and powerful architecture which overpowered Berlin's modern and postwar look. There was also very little English, something that would prove to be a little troublesome later on. We found the Hotel Musketyr, checked in, showed our passports and found our two suites. For 15 euro a person a night, the hotel was glorious. The rooms were huge. We left our keys at the front desk. (It definitely reminded me of our hotel in Istanbul). We hit an atm and took out some crowns. At about 20 crowns to a dollar, I took out 1,000 crowns. Baller. We hurried to the Free Tours, trying to quickly navigate the weaving European streets.
We made it in time for the 2 pm tour with James. Ofcourse James turned out to be Irish, but more specifically from Northern Ireland. He definitely had the Irish personality, very chatty.
The first stop on the tour was the Astronomical Clock (Orloj). It depicted zodiac signs, the sun and moon's placement, along with the time. It was built in the 15th century, so much ahead of its time that the leaders of the city blinded the man who built it so he would be unable to replicate it. The clock also featured the 12 prophets on the clock tower and a listing of all 365 names and their names day. Culturally, you have to name your child one of the 365 names listed and then they have a specific "names day" in which they are supposed to buy drinks for their friends instead of like on a birthday when people buy drinks for you.
We walked to the Opera House where Mozart once played and to Wenceslas Sqaure (like the Christmas song). Wenceslas was the Good King of Czech, and his statue is supposed to come to life to protect the Czech Republic in times of need. However, given the mass amounts of times that the Czech Republic has been metaphorically "peed on" by other countries (which is depicted in a statue in one of the museums), it doesn't seem to be working. At the far end of Wenceslas Square (and near our hotel) is the National Museum which is for the people and decided upon by the people. We walked by the Powdergate tower which was kind of dumb plan to keep gun powder in the tower near the edge of town, but either way. Next to it is the Municipal House which has beautiful architecture and murals.
Where Mozart Played
Powdergate Tower
Municipal House
We then went to Church of St. James, most famous for the severed arm that is hanging. While there are many myths behind the arm, it is a symbol of greed and a warning to thieves. Supposedly, its the arm of a thief who tried to steal some of the church's jewels, and the priest cut his arm off.
We then headed to the Bohemian Bagel, were we tried to manage how to pay in crowns. I had a hot dog and fries, all the sausage stands along the way had given me a taste for one.
After lunch we went by the Franz Kafka Statue and the Jewish Quarter, and then the Old New Synangoue. I was cold so I kind of tuned out at some points. JenBo was doing her usual jump squats to warm up and some storekeeper offered to warm her up with a hug. No thanks. We went through the Jewish Quarter which housed a cementary where bodies were buried 11 bodies deep. Lovely. We also went by an old synagogue which had been converted to a Holocaust museum. Inside the walls were covered in the names of Holocaust victims...over 800,000. It is a source of history and record, and Madam Albright actually located some long lost relatives (her grandparents)' names on the wall. The wall was re-created in the museum we went to the next day along with sampling of artwork that is in this museum. The artwork was secret work by the children as a creative outlet depicting their past (what they missed most), their present (the horrible conditions of the concentration camps) and their future (hope for the road home). It gave me the chills thinking about all the poor children and made me thankful that all my precious little ones are living in the land of the free.
James gave us some history about the Czech Republic as we sat on the concert hall steps and how just like Germany's history, there was a momentous "oops", dealing with invasion by the Soviets. The Soviets planned to attack after all the radios were turned off at 11 pm at night to limit communication, but someone forgot about Daylight Savings ime and messed up the invasion. The Czechs were notified of the invasion, and were prepared with a scheme to confuse the Germans. They took down all the street signs and german signs and had every resident claim that the Germans were in Dubček. That was the strategy of the Czechs, to confuse their invaders.
We bid farewell to James and headed back to the hotel. We stopped to watch the clock toll at the hour and a little trumpter came out and played at the top of the tower. How great is that.
We stopped at the pharmacy because Stacy was feeling horrible and couldn't breathe but we had no luck finding anything that would soothe her. We took her back to the hotel and divided and conquered the problem. We were like fallen soldiers, Stacy all over sick, Laura's toe bleeding. In attempts to prevent an illness, Jen gave me Echinaeca. She only had liquid type, so I did it like a true champion. Taking it straight (instead of mixed with water), and chased it with water, and then a cough drop to mute the taste. All in the name of health.
While Stacy rested, we divided. Jen, Laura, and Claire went to get fruit and juice for some vitamin value and hydration purposes. I used suggestions in Claire's guide book to locate an English speaking clinic. When the team assembled, we decided a clinic was the best bet. We called to make an appointment but at 6:45 pm the only appointment left was at 7 pm and the clinic closed at 8 pm. Having no other choice, Jen and I volunteered to take her. We had hotel reception call a cab, having been warned about shady cab drivers. However, when we went outside to wait, an unmarked car pulled up, asked us if we were the ones waiting for a cab. We said yes and I pointed to the place we wanted to go in the guidebook. He said okay, went into the hotel, got a GPS and came back out. We preagreed on a price (another tourist tip) and he gave us a price of 45o crowns, or about 20 dollars. Seemed reasonable enough. Google Maps said it should take us about 20 minutes to get there. We headed to Western Prague crossing the river and seeing the castle lit up. Beautiful. We went through a long tunnel and seemed to be going the way I had quickly read over on Google. However, when we started going down sidestreets and making loops, we began to feel a little uncomfortable. I didn't think the driver was shady but I definitely thought he was lost. We had passed a hospital on the way and after driving in circles for a bit, we tried to communicate that we wanted to go there. But he didn't understand. Hospital, Medicine, Ill, none of these words seem to get him to understand. So we reverted to pointing and directing him step by step. We had to be a little forceful, but finally we got to a hospital. It seemed a little sketchy and not even open but we had no other options so we said goodbye to the driver and went into the Emergency Room. You could tell he was as frustrated as us that he couldn't find what we were talking about.
The hospital was not like any hospital I'd ever been to. It was seemingly deserted, and only one information stand pushed to the side served as reception. The lady at the counter spoke little english, but enough to understand we wanted to see a doctor. We resorted to pointing to what was wrong. She took us down the hall which was just seats and doors and a woman laying on a hospital bed in the corner. Sketch, yes. We sat down as instructed and waited to be helped. The lady at reception said the doctor would speak english so we were thankful for that. We sat, trying to avoid eye contact with the other people in the hallway. The woman in the bed in the corner was in pain, and I diverted my eyes from her only to be grossed out by a woman being wheeled by with a definite head injury and bloody hair. Really disturbing. Not only that, but the place was crawling with men dressed in military uniforms. One of the guys had an hand bandage on and I wondered if he had a finger amputated. Jen, Stacy, and I looked at each other unsure, but Stacy needed some type of medicine so we stuck it out. After 20 minutes, the blond receptionist brings us a man who escorts us. Thinking he is going to lead us into an examination room somewhere in this hallway, we get up, following him. However, he leads us outside of the hospital and down into another building. We go up into the elevator, we try to ask him where we are going, but he only responds saying "I only dream of speaking good english". Not so helpful. We get sat for another wait. Then another nurse comes to get us and speaks in Czech to us. We have no idea what she is saying but we follow her down the hall (about 6 feet) and sit in a new set of chairs. She goes into the room, closes the door, but just enough so we can still see her on the computer and making a variety of phone calls with Stacy's forms in hand with a red handled phone. The Doctor finally came, directed Stacy into the room, not very friendly and welcomingly.
The less sketchy part of the hospital. But we were literally the only people in the place.
Where the magic happens. Haha. Stacy was in there.
Jen and I sat there for about 20 minutes, the first of which we heard talking (a good sign) but the last half was silence (not a good sign). When Stacy finally emerged, she looked distraught, (who wouldn't be), but before we could find out the verdict, we were hustled back down the elevator, outside again, and towards the main building. Stacy told us the doctor had diagnoised her with a bad sinus issue that was aggravated by flying and she should cancel her flight home from Budapest. Sorry doc, that's not an option. If there's one thing she needs to do, it is to fly. He prescribed some drugs for her but no anti-botic. We were skeptical, but not much we could do. Stacy paid her bill and we had the reception call us a cab. This cab got us home no problem, as we gave him the museum and Wensclas Square as landmarks. It was definitely more legit, and only 285 crowns, we decided we had gotten severely ripped off before.
By this time, it was getting late so we needed to find a pharmacy that would be open late. The main desk at the hotel was not helpful so as Jen and I ate some dinner the girls had brought back for us, Claire googled the nearest pharmacy that would be open. Once again leaving Stacy to rest, the team split up. Laura and Stevie headed to KFC to get some comfort food for Stacy and Jen, Claire, and I headed to the pharmacy. When we got there, it looked closed and the guy spoke no english and just kept pointing to a map of another pharmacy. We showed him the prescription and he pointed across the hall to a door. We knocked on this door, a little window opened, a man stuck his hand out, we gave him the prescription, and he brought us back the medicine. Weirdest Pharmacy experience ever...certainly not Walgreens, the Pharmacy America Trusts.
With medicine (glorified Sudafed and Mucinex I'm pretty sure) we head to Starbucks to get Stacy some warm tea. We took our supplies back to Stacy. She was appreciative that we all had taken such good care of her, but when you are far from home, we are all each other has and we need to stick together.
After an exhausting and adventurous day, it was time for a shower and bed. Weird thing I've noticed, Europeans like to look at themselves when they shower. Twice I've had a mirror facing me as I shower. Maybe that's why they have less of an obesity problem, if you had to look at yourself naked everyday you'd be more conscious.
And then it was sleep time. What a day. But we conquered it all.
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