Czech it out!

Yes, we did make the inevitable pun...

So Prague/Praha was awesome. We abandoned the practice of tourism while we were there, perhaps missing some key "sights," but it was a much needed respite. We feel like we experienced Prague more like travelers than tourists, and--yes--there is a huge difference between the two. The first day there was our travel day, including a long nap followed by a wonderful late dinner. The next morning, we bought tickets to Mozart's Don Giovanni and spent the rest of the day shopping for opera clothes. What we didn't know was that tourists almost never dress up for the opera, but the woman we asked at the ticket desk told us that we needed floor-length formal gowns. Yikes! My crappy Target dress just wasn't going to cut it. We hit the stores in Wenceslas Square, the main tourist drag in Prague, and pulled out all the fashion stops necessary to attend such a sophisticated event as the opera. And let me tell you, these two backpackers can clean up goooood.

The opera, which we knew a lot about (thanks to Daddy's obsession with the movie Amadeus and my senior seminar on Don Juan) was so wonderful. It was performed in the same opera house that it debuted in in 1787, and the setting, costumes, and stage directions were all taken from the original performance. We did have one glitch though...I realized, right before the curtain went up, that I didn't have the camera in my purse. "Jamie, do you have the camera?" "No! I thought you had it!" "No! I don't have it; I thought you had it!" The sinking of the stomachs was unavoidable. Not only were we unable to photograph ourselves in this beautiful opera house, but we had left the camera, with full memory card, on my bed in the dorm in our hostel. Any one of the sketchy people staying in our room could have taken it. Luckily, we had yet to encounter "sketchy" types in the Czech Inn (more on that later), so the camera was waiting for us when we rushed back. Thank GOD.

The next morning brought some tough times. Both of our bank cards had decided not to give us cash. With our last two hundred Czech crowns (about 10 dollars), we bought a phone card to call Jamie's bank. After being on hold for several minutes and for some reason not being able to press "1" when prompted, Jamie took out her frustrations on the pay phone (thankfully not on me...there certainly would have been some reconstructive surgery to repair the damage). The pay phone had some choice anti-American phrases written on it, which did not help the situation, and Jamie really let 'er rip on the 'ole pay phone. All I could do was close my eyes, try to find my happy place, and wait for the tirade to be over. Jamie later summed up the situation by saying, "I'm not in a good place right now."

After that debacle, we met up with Emily, an old Albany buddy, at Bohemia Bagel. (We heart Let's Go). She is taking classes at the law school in Prague, so she showed us around a bit. We went to the Jewish museum and saw the famous cemetery with all the headstones squished together. Then we returned to our hostel after making plans to meet Emily for dinner. We went to a wonderful Mexican restaurant (Czech food: not for us), and then went out on the town with Emily and her law school buddies. These three guys, all in their mid-20s with the mindset of 19-year-olds, were just what we needed to perk up. They insisted on us drinking at the pace of college freshmen, and we definitely felt it the next day. At one bar, we were discussing karate (doesn't everyone discuss karate at bars?), and Jamie felt it necessary to let everyone know that she is a Judo "expert." Judo is of course the class she took one summer at camp, not a lifelong passion or anything like that. As she told Trevor, "I have, like.......momentum." She accompanied this statement with a strange arm gesture that looked more like she was dancing to that song "Come On Ride That Train," not kicking someone's ass with her sweet Judo moves. He of course made fun of her endlessly, as did we all.

That night in the hostel, we stayed in a different dorm. This is where the sketchy roommate bit comes in. Let's just say we did not get off to a good start in that room. Earlier in the day, we had both just showered, and I was standing in the room in my towel. A guy we later named "Case of the Stupids" came in and said, "Mmmm, there's nothing better than walking into a room with two good looking women in it." I did not take this as a compliment, and wanted to punch this guy in the face. After talking to him for a little bit, we gathered that he wasn't scary, just a case of the stupids. Unfortunately this was not the worst of our woes in this dorm. When we came in late that night to go to bed, there were two people who had put their names on the two beds we had already claimed. Jamie, using that momentum of hers, promptly ripped the names off and threw them on the floor. We went to sleep, thinking all was well. That was when Jamie was awakened by a smelly man reaching under her pillow for some unidentified object he left there when he claimed the bed. I pretended to be asleep, and hoped for the best. We woke up to the obnoxious sound of someone's cell phone alarm and the smell of manstink. This is similar to hamstink, just with men, not ham. We quickly realized that the manstink was coming from the guy next to us, who was lying on top of his blanket in what can only be described as little baby speedo panties. Despite wanting to sleep more, we packed and got the hell outta there.

That day was our last in Prague, and we did more walking and gawking. We met up with Andrew, my friend from Colby, and took one last look at the city, which we've decided is one of our favorite Sisterfest stops. We headed back to the hostel, grabbed all our stinky clothes and got on the train. We knew there would be no AC on the train, so we tried to live by our motto, which is "Embrace." For example, when a bird poops on your head, just embrace...when you're squished in a subway car with people who smell worse than you could possibly imagine a human being smelling, just embrace....you get the idea. Turns out, with all the windows open, the train was just fine. I actually got cold during the night.

We arrived Sunday here in Krakow, Poland. We are staying in Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter of Krakow, and the center of town is 10 minutes away. There is tons of Jewish history here, so on our first day we went to the Galacia Jewish Museum and saw some photo exhibits. Then we went to Market Square right at sunset, which was beautiful. Krakow is not overrun with tourists, and the weather is perfect, so I pretty much don't want to leave.

Yesterday we went to Auschwitz concentration camp, about an hour away. As you can imagine, it was very upsetting. I won't trivialize it with words, but if you ever find yourself in Eastern Europe, it's definitely a good idea to go.

Last night we searched far and wide to find a good Polish restaurant, and we succeeded. I didn't know what to expect as far as traditional Polish food goes, but it's pretty dang good. Pierogi--kind of like ravioli/dumplings--are mine and Jamie's new fave. We also had some stuffed cabbage (yummy) and pork with walnuts. Paired with a bottle of Australian wine (Polish white wine seems to always be sweet and warm...not good), it was the perfect pick me up to our long day.

This morning, we were supposed to be up and at 'em at 8:30 to go see the famous salt mines outside of Krakow, but a headache and cold kept us in bed. We haven't decided if we're going to go, or if we need one more day of exploring Krakow on foot. This place is making its way up the list of my absolutely favorite cities. The only reason I can justify leaving here tomorrow is because we're going to Croatia. As we've mentioned many times before, now is the time for you to feel sorry for us and our difficult lives. :)

Tomorrow morning we head to Dubrovnik, Croatia, our last stop on the Sisterfest tour. We'll be there for five nights, then spend one night in Rome, then we go HOME! This trip has been so amazing...but it's getting to be that time. The backpack's a little too stinky, and we miss all of you!

We'll let you know how life is on the beach in Croatia. From what I've read and heard, it's going to be pretty awesome. Talk to you all soon!
xoxoxo
Jennifer and Jamie