We'd Like the Czech, Please!

Okay, so after our first full day in Prague, I am definitely a big fan.  This city is beautiful, there's tons to do, and we've all been having a really great time so far.  A quick summary of today:

Jewish Museum - This morning, Alexandra, Kathryn, and I got up early to go to the Jewish Museum, a set of 5 synagogues, a ceremonial hall, and the Jewish cemetery here.  It was really incredible--Prague had one of the largest Jewish populations in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust (Jews started moving here in the 9th century), and there was just such a rich history that was well-0rganized into exhibits.  The highlights were: the New-Old Synagogue (built in the 13th century, making it the oldest in Eastern Europe), the Spanish Synagogue (one of the most beautiful I've ever seen), and the cemetery (it has over 12,000 tombstones piled on top of each other for lack of space to bury Jews Kosherly).  I would really recommend the museum for anyone traveling in Prague, Jewish or not :-)

Walking Tour - After we finished with the Jewish Museum, we got a walking tour of the area around the Old Town Square from our art professor.  We saw a bunch of important churches (and a couple of the towers that marked the old city limits), as well as the Astronomical Clock and the Charles Bridge.  After our tour ended we did some shopping (Prague is famous for it's amber so I bought myself a little necklace) and ate (of course).  I discovered this amazing fruit dumpling dessert dish that's like a heart attack on a plate, but SOOOO good.  Oh well.  I also found an English-language bookstore, so I finally have something for pleasure reading again...hooray!

Black Light Show - Hands-down the weirdest thing I've done since I got to Europe.  According to Rick Steves (our new god), Black Light Shows are a very Prague thing to do, so we decided to fork over the money for tickets and check it out.  It was SO STRANGE...basically weird mime-esque sketches that would then lead to people in spandex dancing under black lights.  Think of a really REALLY low budget Cirque du Soleil.  After the show was (finally) over we headed back to the hotel.  All in all, a very interesting day.

More to come!  Hopefully tomorrow.

Dara