Dobry den!
In the past week, I’ve moved from good old New York, New York to good old(er) Prague, Czech Republic. I’ll be taking classes here for a semester, and hopefully learning my way around both the language and the city.
When people ask me why I chose Prague I explain in the easiest way possible- my major (a Communications program at an NYC university) offers programs through three sites- one in London, one in Beijing, and one in Prague. I’m spoiled, and have already been to London, and I also have no desire to go to Beijing. What was left? Prague.
I’d never been to Prague, and the chance to go somewhere completely new was exciting to me. I’ve been fortunate enough to do one month summer programs in England and Venice, and getting to live and know the areas I’ve been in is an experience. You really get to love where you are, and I wanted to experience that with somewhere new.
The more I learned about Prague, the more excited I got. I learned that the architecture was beautiful, the beer was supposed to be the best in the world (although I’m not really a big beer drinker), the history was rich, the arts were well-loved and performed, and there was a love of sports like hockey.
Beautiful architecture, art, and hockey? Consider me sold.
True to form, everything here is beautiful. It’s a lot like living in a fairy tale, except that Snow White never slips on snow on her way to the dwarves’ house.
The trip from the airport (Ruzyne), however, is deceiving. As we traveled by bus from the airport to Prague, we passed lots and lots of buildings- not one of them was beautiful. Instead, they were all 1950’s style, big boxes. The square shaped, square windowed, sad looking architecture that was so prevalent in the middle of the century. It just looks like a cliché of communism.
I panicked, thinking I would be surrounded by this architecture, until we actually entered Prague. I had no idea what to do- I wanted to take a picture of every single building. We even passed the rather out of place Dancing House on the way to my dorm, which, although not exactly fitting in with the aesthetic, was still a joy to see.
As you can see, the buildings in Prague are beautiful. It’s only my fourth or fifth day here, but I’m going to the Prague Castle later this week, so I’ll report back then!
With any luck, by the end of this semester I’ll know tons more about Prague, and I’ll be able to pass the knowledge on to you!
Na Shledanou!
Prague looks beautiful, you’re so have lucky!