Czech Republic

During our stay in Budpest the 8 of us decided to take a detour... We spent a solid 24 hours in the country of the Czech Republic, maybe 30 if you include the driving time. It was an impactful 24 hours none-the-less as very little sleep was to be had in this country. We drove through Cseky Krumlov before arriving in Prague, aka Praha. It is a quant little college town with an enormous amount of charm. We walked through the square and grabbed teas & coffees to continue what ended up being a 12 hour journey to our final destination. Upon arriving in our 2 bedroom apartment that would sleep 8 people in Prague we dropped our bags and immediately set off to find food. Some friends of friends introduced us to La Boca, a deceptively large restaurant tucked away on a side street that had just enough room to accomodate our group. Our table of 4 ordered enough tapas to feed us for an entire day; from steak tartar, tomato soup, duck, gnocchi  etc. An amazing meal full of drinks and deliciousness all for a very reasonable cost. The Koruna is about 20 to 1 USD. Side note : I've become quite obsessed with our collection of foreign currency and hope to make a post entirely about it. After dinner we set out to the do the main thing we came there to do, party with our friends. Friends of friends showed us around, starting with a bar called Lokal where the beer never stops being brought to your table unless you tell them and where it literally never stops being poured from the tap (no seriously, I never saw the bartender stop). I have heard that Lokal is one of the best places to go to get traditional Czech food and also where many of the locals go (hence the name?). It is a huge restaurant/bar and there is an understanding that no photos or technology in general is allowed to be used at the tables. I think it's a good rule to have. We continued drinking at 2 other bars that I am unsure of the names. However, I did learn a few things about Czech bars... Holy crap Europeans like to smoke. A local liqueur that someone ordered for us was less than appealing. They like 90's music, a lot. You have to arm wrestle for a table (true story). And bartenders will pay more attention to you if you're dancing on a bar stool. We left the bar around 3am which seemed early in comparison to the rest of people in the bar but we are Americans and used to ending the party at 2. We found a spot for what, at the time, tasted like the best burritos and quesadillas of all time. In retrospect, as a Texan, I feel like I traitor just for typing that. We got lost on the way home but some how stumbled our way back to our 4th (they say 3rd but there were definitely 4 flights of stairs) floor apartment by 4:30am.

 By 10am we were up and ready to see the city. After grabbing some tea and yogurt we set off wandering the streets. We found a place to rent electric bikes but quickly learned that Prague is not the most bike friendly city. While nearing the Charles bridge I got caught in the trolly line in the road and fell off the bike in front many cars and many people. I was fine except for two rather large bruises. We found some side roads and made it to the restaurant to meet Jonah & Jerry's former wedding clients that live in Germany. Limonada was a cute french inspired restaurant with amazing pastries. So many delicious pastries in this country. We drove the electric bikes out in to the neighborhoods and through parks not meant for bikes until we finally figured out how to get back. Then before we knew it, we were on the rode back home again. By the time the sunset I was fell asleep and continued to do so for at least 4 of the 6 hour journey only to be woken up once by our tire blowing out due to an air bubble.~Caroline