I have been planning this vacation for years. what originally started out as a two month trek across western and eastern europe was eventually whittled down to a three week jaunt through eastern europe with nothing but my backpack, camera, and my crazy, but lovable, friend by my side. (actually you should check out her blog, Furi Kuri Travels, as she is quite entertaining.)
before I can even begin to tell you about my adventures in the first stop of my trip (which was Prague btw) I have to share the story of my adventure to even make it to that side of the world. so being the cheap ass that I am I was extremely stoked when I found an airline ticket for this trip that was only $800!! I booked it right away obviously, without paying much attention to who I was flying. big mistake. my flight was on Aeroflot Airlines (the Russian airline) and I vow that I will never, never fly this airline again. here's a run down of the adventure:
- the flight was supposed to leave at 7:00pm, but at 9:00am that morning they had already delayed the flight to 9:00pm
- had to stand in line for TWO hours to get my boarding pass (thank god they delayed the flight then or none of us would have made it on the plane)
- the plane of course didn't end up actually taking off until 10:00pm
- we arrive in Moscow at 2:35pm and my connecting flight was leaving at 2:45pm - which I tried explaining to the flight attendants to see if they would allow me to sit closer to the exit and the response I got was "just talk to someone when you get off the plane." thanks.
- plane lands and everyone jumps up in the aisles to get off. I explain to these two Russian women behind me that my flight is leaving in 10 minutes, to which they proceeded to tell everyone else in the aisle my situation so I was legit crawling over people to try and make it as close to the exit of the plane (meanwhile my carry on bag strap had broken at this point)
- I get off the plane and RUN to where I have to check in/go through passport control to get to my next flight and when I finally stop panting and catch my breath (hey, it was a long way to run) to explain to the woman my situation she tells me my flight was delayed until 5:15pm. thank you jesus! I have never in my life been so grateful that a flight was delayed.
- got my boarding pass and made it to the next gate, which, by the way, wasn't even my gate at all. my plane moved and of course no one made an announcement to this change. wait, I lied. they did make an announcement - however it was in Russian and since I don't speak Russian (except for the word thank you - the only word I know) it was interesting to figure out where I had to go.
** as a random side note I would like to point out that the airport was stock full of hundreds of duty free shops (not even kidding), which doesn't make any sense because I swear Russia doesn't want anyone visiting their country since they make it EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to get a visa (ridiculously difficult actually).**
- got on the plane to Prague for what I thought was only going to be an hour flight - completely forgetting about the time changes and also not realizing how far away Moscow actually was - and four hours later I was in Prague.
- I seriously saw 6:00pm three times in one day and couldn't tell you what time it was, what day it was, or heck probably even what my name was by the time I landed in my first destination.
- by this point I'm hours late and my friend and her husband, S. Monster, had been waiting at the airport for me since I had no way of getting in touch with them to let them know of the flight delays (read: I didn't bring my phone with me on this trip) and when I get there, my luggage didn't.
- had to report my lost luggage to the airline people who said that a flight was coming in from Moscow at midnight and that my backpack would probably be on there. and when it came in, they would deliver it to me. she asked me for the name of the hotel I was staying in. didn't know the answer. asked me for a number I could be reached at. didn't know the answer to that one either. at this point I think she was a little frustrated with me and gave me a number to call with my information once I knew it.
- walked out of the baggage claim with my broken carry on in my arms and gave my friend a GIANT bear hug when I saw her. at this point I just lost it. (hey, it was a stressful however-many-hours I had just been traveling through three different countries and countless time zones.) however, five minutes of bawling my eyes out later and I was good to go! :)
I hope you found that story entertaining. I do anyways when I look back on it now, at the time of course I did not find any of it remotely hilarious. now I can get on to the adventures in Prague. :)
first thing we did in Prague was take a trip outside the city. we hopped on a train to a little place called Kutna Hora that was about an hour outside the city to see The Church of Bones. yeah, you heard me right. a church made of bones. I mean technically it was a church first, then a family bought it (didn't know anyone could own a church), during the plague there were so many bodies lying around that the church was converted into an ossuary (where they store bodies), and then for some odd reason someone thought it would be a fantastic idea to take the bones of some 40,000-70,000 skeletons and make art of them. not my idea of a good time, but I guess whatever floats your boat...
we did the general sightseeing things - Old Town, Clock Tower, Charles Bridge, and Castle. (so cool because they definitely invoked the sense that you were transported back into the middle ages.) we saw the city's TV antenna tower complete with bronze babies crawling all over it. you heard me right - crawling babies. it was pretty cool far away, but up close the babies just looked extremely creepy. we went to one of the coolest bars I have ever seen. apparently they change the decor every few months when the people in charge just get tired of what's up on the walls. we went also went to the oldest brewery in Prague - U Fleku. you didn't have a choice in what you drank there because as soon as you sat down they plopped a mug of dark beer in front of you. normally I don't drink dark beer, but let me just tell you that this was seriously the best beer I have ever had in my life. hands down. no joke. the place also came complete with a two man band - a tuba and an accordion.
funny enough, one thing I really remember from Prague is that not ONCE did we eat any sort of typical Czech food. we ate Mexican (twice), amazing Italian, some pizza, and we even stopped at a Starbucks (I know, I know but I was dying for a frapp and it's the only one I had the whole trip). we did also partake in the Prague nightlife and ended up going to a place that didn't even open until 4am. that was only one night however, since I am old now and can't party like I used to.
sadly we had to eventually say goodbye to this city and head off on our adventure, which continued in Vienna. :)
before I can even begin to tell you about my adventures in the first stop of my trip (which was Prague btw) I have to share the story of my adventure to even make it to that side of the world. so being the cheap ass that I am I was extremely stoked when I found an airline ticket for this trip that was only $800!! I booked it right away obviously, without paying much attention to who I was flying. big mistake. my flight was on Aeroflot Airlines (the Russian airline) and I vow that I will never, never fly this airline again. here's a run down of the adventure:
- the flight was supposed to leave at 7:00pm, but at 9:00am that morning they had already delayed the flight to 9:00pm
- had to stand in line for TWO hours to get my boarding pass (thank god they delayed the flight then or none of us would have made it on the plane)
- the plane of course didn't end up actually taking off until 10:00pm
- we arrive in Moscow at 2:35pm and my connecting flight was leaving at 2:45pm - which I tried explaining to the flight attendants to see if they would allow me to sit closer to the exit and the response I got was "just talk to someone when you get off the plane." thanks.
- plane lands and everyone jumps up in the aisles to get off. I explain to these two Russian women behind me that my flight is leaving in 10 minutes, to which they proceeded to tell everyone else in the aisle my situation so I was legit crawling over people to try and make it as close to the exit of the plane (meanwhile my carry on bag strap had broken at this point)
- I get off the plane and RUN to where I have to check in/go through passport control to get to my next flight and when I finally stop panting and catch my breath (hey, it was a long way to run) to explain to the woman my situation she tells me my flight was delayed until 5:15pm. thank you jesus! I have never in my life been so grateful that a flight was delayed.
- got my boarding pass and made it to the next gate, which, by the way, wasn't even my gate at all. my plane moved and of course no one made an announcement to this change. wait, I lied. they did make an announcement - however it was in Russian and since I don't speak Russian (except for the word thank you - the only word I know) it was interesting to figure out where I had to go.
** as a random side note I would like to point out that the airport was stock full of hundreds of duty free shops (not even kidding), which doesn't make any sense because I swear Russia doesn't want anyone visiting their country since they make it EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to get a visa (ridiculously difficult actually).**
- got on the plane to Prague for what I thought was only going to be an hour flight - completely forgetting about the time changes and also not realizing how far away Moscow actually was - and four hours later I was in Prague.
- I seriously saw 6:00pm three times in one day and couldn't tell you what time it was, what day it was, or heck probably even what my name was by the time I landed in my first destination.
- by this point I'm hours late and my friend and her husband, S. Monster, had been waiting at the airport for me since I had no way of getting in touch with them to let them know of the flight delays (read: I didn't bring my phone with me on this trip) and when I get there, my luggage didn't.
- had to report my lost luggage to the airline people who said that a flight was coming in from Moscow at midnight and that my backpack would probably be on there. and when it came in, they would deliver it to me. she asked me for the name of the hotel I was staying in. didn't know the answer. asked me for a number I could be reached at. didn't know the answer to that one either. at this point I think she was a little frustrated with me and gave me a number to call with my information once I knew it.
- walked out of the baggage claim with my broken carry on in my arms and gave my friend a GIANT bear hug when I saw her. at this point I just lost it. (hey, it was a stressful however-many-hours I had just been traveling through three different countries and countless time zones.) however, five minutes of bawling my eyes out later and I was good to go! :)
I hope you found that story entertaining. I do anyways when I look back on it now, at the time of course I did not find any of it remotely hilarious. now I can get on to the adventures in Prague. :)
first thing we did in Prague was take a trip outside the city. we hopped on a train to a little place called Kutna Hora that was about an hour outside the city to see The Church of Bones. yeah, you heard me right. a church made of bones. I mean technically it was a church first, then a family bought it (didn't know anyone could own a church), during the plague there were so many bodies lying around that the church was converted into an ossuary (where they store bodies), and then for some odd reason someone thought it would be a fantastic idea to take the bones of some 40,000-70,000 skeletons and make art of them. not my idea of a good time, but I guess whatever floats your boat...
(bone chandelier)
we did the general sightseeing things - Old Town, Clock Tower, Charles Bridge, and Castle. (so cool because they definitely invoked the sense that you were transported back into the middle ages.) we saw the city's TV antenna tower complete with bronze babies crawling all over it. you heard me right - crawling babies. it was pretty cool far away, but up close the babies just looked extremely creepy. we went to one of the coolest bars I have ever seen. apparently they change the decor every few months when the people in charge just get tired of what's up on the walls. we went also went to the oldest brewery in Prague - U Fleku. you didn't have a choice in what you drank there because as soon as you sat down they plopped a mug of dark beer in front of you. normally I don't drink dark beer, but let me just tell you that this was seriously the best beer I have ever had in my life. hands down. no joke. the place also came complete with a two man band - a tuba and an accordion.
(beer at the beer hall)
(TV antenna with crawling babies)
(skyline view of the old castle in the city)
funny enough, one thing I really remember from Prague is that not ONCE did we eat any sort of typical Czech food. we ate Mexican (twice), amazing Italian, some pizza, and we even stopped at a Starbucks (I know, I know but I was dying for a frapp and it's the only one I had the whole trip). we did also partake in the Prague nightlife and ended up going to a place that didn't even open until 4am. that was only one night however, since I am old now and can't party like I used to.
(really fun installation at one of the bars we went to)
sadly we had to eventually say goodbye to this city and head off on our adventure, which continued in Vienna. :)
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