Prague

One of our chaperons, Ramon would always have “fun facts with Ramon” aka. what he read off google the night before. The fun one of today was that in 1941 the first sugar cube was invented in Prague. Our tour guide Terry took us on an 8hr tour of Prague. For 40yrs Prague was under communism. Security at the Prague Castle has increased in the last 6mths after someone stole the presidential flag, replacing it with red boxer shorts because they hated the current president. We visited Prague castle which once had a Stag moat (used to hunt deer) and a draw bridge. There was one King who hunted from his bedroom window, as he was too lazy to leave his room. The guards wear traditional uniforms, one for each season (designed by a costume designer). Inside the castle walls is a Basilica, built from 1344 till 1924. It took almost 600yrs to build as it was difficult to find the funding. The church asked companies such as banks to help with funding. The last Census in Prague showed that there were 15000 Jedis. The Old Royal Palace has a hall for jousting tournaments. The stairs were designed specifically so that horses were able to go through. The hall is now used for coronations and markets. The President went to a press conference in Chile and took a pen he was given to use. He stated that he believed it was a gift (it wasn't). The event was so embarrassing for the country that 50,000 pens were then sent to the president so that he never ran out again. People loved the Eiffel Tower so much that they built one on top of the hill. It's 1/5 of the size, at 61m tall. The John Lennon wall was something I was looking forward to. John Lennon was quite famous in Prague. When he died a girl painted his face on a wall and then others came and painted too. It was later repainted but people still came to paint messages relating to Lennon or peace. It is now a symbol of freedom. We had a break for lunch and my friend Bradyn and I went to the grocery store, picked up some cucumber, tomato and bread and sat on the bridge for lunch. It was nice to spend time with him and chat about life and our exchange years. The Church in the Old Town square was built in 1029 and has two towers believed to be Adam and Eve. One is thin and small while the other is thick and bigger. It's believed Eve is bigger. The oldest synagogue in Europe was built in 1297 and called the 'Old New synagogue'. It is where Gollum the guardian, made from mud and clay, lay buried. He was brought to life to protect Prague. There are several 'Stepping Stones' throughout Europe in memory of the victims of the holocaust. There are so far 35,000 in 22 countries. Each is engraved by hand and they hope to have one stone for each of the victims. After our tour we went to a huge park with a big skate park and there we had free time to walk around and do whatever. My friend Indea and I watched people skateboarding and then went and sat in the grass with our other friends to relax and listen to music. We also played some soccer. After a couple hours we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We were then given the option to go and see a movie but I stayed in and had a girls night with my best friends.

Abby from Alaska and I

"turtle necks"

Bradyn from Canada