This weekend we had our first field trip to Prague and Dresden and I'd say it was a success. We met early Thursday morning at the train station in Olomouc to catch our train to Prague. The compartment I was in was very big and comfy so I got a good nap in. Once we arrived we dropped our bags off at the hostel and headed out for a short tour of the city. We started our walk through Wenceslaus square which had a bunch of little stands and was all decorated for Easter. Then we saw the old but very beautiful astronomical clock in the Old Town. Next we made our way to Charles Bridge which has of different saints and religious figures on it. From there you can see a great view of the other half of the city, especially the Prague Castle and cathedral. We crossed the bridge and our last stop for the day was the John Lennon Wall. The wall started out as a way to rebel during the communist rule but now is a place where anyone can write, draw, or paint anything on it. I thought it was really cool to see. After that we were free for lunch, although it was closer to 2:00 so we were starving. After lunch a group of us walked around and did some souvenir shopping and then went back to our hostel to relax for a bit. We all met at the astronomical clock at 8:00 and headed to an Irish pub. It was pretty pricy there so we didn't stay long. Although it was much cheaper than in America, we were so used to the cheap prices in Olomouc that it seemed expensive. We ended all hanging out as a group at our hostel for the night.
On Friday we met at 10:00 to head to the castle and cathedral. It was a long trek up some pretty steep hills but we made it and were treated with another great view of the city. Our first stop was St. Vitus Cathedral. This is definitely my favorite church so far because of the amazing stained glass windows. The outside of the church was pretty remarkable as well but I loved the windows. They were so big and colorful and inside when the light shone through it gave the church this beautiful glow. Another neat thing about this church is that it is the burial place of St. Wenceslaus who is the patron saint of the Czech Republic. I went to St. Wenceslaus grade school and my church back home is St. Wenceslaus so for me it was a very special thing to see. After the cathedral we went to see the changing of the guards. They do this every hour and at noon they do it with music. Luckily we were there at noon so we got to see quite the show. Then we headed into the castle which is home to the president of the Czech Republic. Next was St. George's Basilica which is one of the oldest churches in the area. You could definitely tell it was older because the style was much simpler than most places. The last thing we saw was called the Golden Lane. It was basically a street that had houses, shops and little museums to show you what it looked like back when it was first built. Some of the doorways were so small you had to duck to get in. It was crazy to think that people actually lived like that. 
After that it was lunch time and then we were free for the rest of the day. A small group of us wanted to walk up the Petřín Lookout Tower. This is a tower that is suppose to resemble the eiffel tower up on a hill a little ways out of Prague. We were told there was a path there from the Monastery so we headed there. We stopped by the Monastery at a pub for lunch and to prepare ourselves for the long walk. After lunch we headed along the path to the tower. The walk wasn't nearly as bad as it looked from far away. We finally made it to the tower and up the 299 stairs and were greeted with the most gorgeous view yet. From up there you could see the entire city of Prague, it truly was breathtaking. It looked like something from a fairy tale and I could have stayed up there for hours just looking at the city. However, it was a little crowded so we didn't stay for too long. We decided to head back to the hostel to give our feet a rest. Some of us really wanted to see the bridge and castle all lit up at night so once it got dark we headed out to Charles Bridge. It was definitely worth it and it wasn't nearly as crowded as during the day so we just hung out on the bridge until we got too cold. We called it a night pretty early since we knew we had to be up early the next day for Dresden.
Saturday morning we were up early to catch our train to Dresden,
Germany. When we arrived we walked through the city and stopped at the
statue of Martin Luther right outside Dresden Frauenkirche church.
We went for lunch and then met up to go in the church. This
church was almost completely destroyed during the bombing in WWII.
After the war they started to rebuild it using as much as they could from the
rubble. When you look at the church you can see which bricks are new
and which ones are from the old church, which I think is really cool.
The inside was really beautiful but different than most churches we had
seen. It had a lot more light pastel colors and it made the whole place
seem lighter and brighter compared to other churches that were made of more
carvings. We were able to walk up the dome to the top and get a view
of the whole city. Next we got the choice between going to an art gallery
or museum and I chose the museum. It was filled with jewels,
weapons, armor, art, and more. I really enjoyed it. Sadly that's
all the time we had in Dresden and we had to head back to catch our train.
The city was definitely a different feel than Prague and Olomouc
though. Since they had to rebuild most of the city after the war it had a
much more modern and clean feel to it. It was a nice change of pace but I
think I prefer the Czech Republic.
Sunday was our last day in Prague and we spent the morning at the Jewish Quarter. For me this was a very humbling experience. This was the Jewish ghetto that the Jews were confined to before they would be sent off to concentration camps. The first thing we saw had the names of all the Jews that were killed from the area written on the walls. I have always heard of the huge numbers of Jews that were killed but seeing all their names puts it into a completely different perspective. The next thing we saw was the graveyard and this was pretty disturbing as well. The headstones were just placed randomly with many almost on top of each other. I felt like it was hard to believe that just horrible things could happen in a place so beautiful. We were also able to see a Jewish Synagog and learn about their burial ritual. Even though it wasn't the most cheerful thing, it was a really great experience and I was glad we got to see it. After that we had a couple hours free for lunch and wandering before we had to catch our train back to Olomouc.
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| A wall with name of Jews that were killed |
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