In the morning, we decided to go to Radost for Brunch. Radost is this club in Prague that Rihanna apparently filmed "Please Don't Stop The Music" at and Becca told me they had the best brunch ever. Unfortunately, I was being an idiot thinking that it would be open for brunch on a Thursday, so we settled for McFlurries instead(Barcelona's are better by far). After that, we wandered around and found our way to Old Town Square. After taking pictures and spending well over an hour looking for Bohemia Bagel, we found our way to breakfast/brunch/lunch and it was delicious. After our meal, we decided to sit on a curb in Old Town Square and wait for Becca and Caroline. At this point, many people approached us asking if we had a long night. We actually went to bed really early and didn't go out, so it was really reassuring to know we looked so great. After we found Becca and Caroline, we took them for bagels(I think we went there like 5 times in 4 days, naturally).
We spent our afternoon going to the Jewish Quarter and seeing 5 synagogues, The Jewish Cemetery, and the building that was about Ceremonial Hall. I really enjoyed my experience. There aren't very many Jews that I see in Barcelona, so that is really one of the only things I miss here. It was really nice to see both Jewish people and non-Jews interested in learning about Jewish history and seeing these amazing buildings that are centers of Jewish life in the past and present. The Spanish Synagogue was the first one that we visited. It had a lot of information about Jewish history including accounts of the Holocaust, literature, art, and more. It was obviously sad to read about the atrocities of the Holocaust, but I am very glad we got to see this synagogue. On the top floor, there was many torah crowns, yads, and more. The silver was gorgeous. This synagogue was gorgeous and I really enjoyed being able to see the beautiful decor. Afterwards, we say the Maisel Synagogue which had a lot of history of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia. It was interesting, but we didn't spend too much time there. We tried to go to Pinkas Synagogue next, but we couldn't get inside because there were so many tour groups. Later in our trip on our walking tour, we learned that Pinkas Synagogue hosts the artwork of children who were murdered by the Nazis. In addition, it has over 80,000 names inscribed inside of in memory of the victims from the Czech Republic. This would have been a very emotional experience, but I wish that we could have gone. Instead, we headed to the Cemetery, which is pretty much connected to the Synagogue. I learned that the Jewish burials were confined to such a small spot because they were in a ghetto. Because of this, they actually had to bring in extra land for burials so there is over 10 feet(I believe) of extra land. It is really sad that they had to literally bury people on top of others because they were too oppressed to have a sufficient amount of land. However, it was cool to see gravestones dating back centuries. We headed to the Ceremonial hall next to learn about Jewish Burial. It was interesting, but I felt like I had learned most of the stuff before in Hebrew School. We concluded our tour by visiting Klausen Synagogue, which had a lot of Jewish symbols and the Old-New Synagogue. This synagogue reminded me of my favorite Synagogue in Tzfat in Israel so it was a nice memory to reflect on.
After our day of Jewishness, we met Gabby and went to a delicious Czech dinner. My food was amazing. I had potatoes that tasted like scalloped potatoes and french onion soup. We sat at dinner for hours and met these people vacationing from the US, which was interesting. After dinner, we went to a bar and I tried Wildberry Cider. It was really delicious actually. On our way home, Rachel and I got on the wrong tram, ended up in God knows where outside of Prague, and had to cab back into the city. Lesson learned: if you don't know your way around a cities public transportation system, don't use it. You'll end up at the last stop and scarred for life.
The next day we hit up Bohemia Bagel, yet again and then headed over the bridge to the Castle, Lennon Wall, and see the Charles Bridge. It was a really nice day and I enjoyed seeing the sights. We went to dinner at a delicious place and then I met mom and Brian at our hotel. We took them out around town and it was a nice night.
The next morning we had AMAZING breakfast at the hotel. For study abroad students who stay in hostels, staying in a hotel was the nicest treat ever and a delicious breakfast complete with anything you can imagine was unbelievable. We went on a Sandeman's free walking tour of Prague after breakfast. These tours are the best. They are so informative, our guide was hilarious, and they are free(minus tips). I'm planning on doing them in Madrid, Dublin, and Paris because they were just that great. After our tour, I took mom and Brian to see some of the sights. We went to yet another great dinner and it was a great end to our trip. The next day, we walked around a bit and flew back around 3 pm. Prague is an unreal place and I would DEFINITELY go back there again sometime in life.
Class is ending(I'm such a great student), but I will update about Barcelona soon.
Adios for now,
Lauren
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