Hannah and I finished off midterms last week with a weekend spent under the Tuscan sun. Both of us had been to many of the major cities in Italy like Rome, Florence, and Venice. So, we decided that we wanted to explore one of the smaller towns with not a whole bunch of tourist attractions so that our weekend could be more on the relaxing side. I got to researching a destination and found out about this little bitty town called Lucca in Tuscany. It is a city built in a circle with high walls surrounding it. We stayed in the cutest Bed and Breakfast, called Locanda Sant’Agostino, run by a mother daughter duo. They could not have been nicer and more accommodating. They offered to pick us up and drop us off at the train station free of charge. And the breakfast was so outstanding. Plenty of different granolas and cereals to choose from, soft boiled eggs in the cute little stands, juice, croissants, bread, traditional pastries from Lucca, homemade jam, prosciutto, cheese, coffee, and tea. If you ever find yourself in Lucca, you must stay with them.

We decided to rent bikes on our first day and ride around the entire city on top of the walls. We spent the next day wandering every single street on the inside. It was great because you didn’t really have to pay attention to a map because as soon as you hit the wall, you just turned around and started walking in the other direction. We ate more than our fair share of gelato (Fifi and Gigi did too!), we wandered markets and bought a couple trinkets, we went in and out of all the cute little shops and several churches, we climbed to the top of a tower for a birds eye view of Lucca, ate the most delicious Tiramisu that we had ever tasted, and we just fell in love with the cute little town.

Prague. It’s one of the most enchanting cities. It’s so unique, yet at the same time, exactly how you would picture an eastern European city to be. Where roofs are covered in the traditional red and seafoamy green color. Where the city feels like it’s still in a slight hangover from the somewhat recent communism specter. Where there is a charming, sweet left side of the Charles Bridge and a historical, extremely touristy right side of the Charles Bridge. Where beer and meat is almost cheaper than water. And because I am used to Switzerland’s prices where everything costs you about an arm and a leg, Prague’s prices came as quite a relief.

Our first stop was the Charles Bridge. But, along the way we came across the John Lennon Wall. And I took an obligatory peace sign shot.

Then, we moved along to the Charles bridge, which was commissioned by…can you guess?…Charles the IV! And according to my handy dandy travel guide, Charles IV purposely laid the first stone on July 9, 1357 at exactly 5:31 because if you write out the date and time you get the number sequence 1-3-5-7-9-7-5-3-1. Then, my travel guide said that this is a Dan Brown book waiting to be written. And I must say I agree.

One thing my travel guide didn’t mention was this plaque thing on the bridge that everyone touched…I’m assuming for good luck? Hannah and I saw people lining up to touch this plaque. So, we decided to follow along having absolutely no idea what exactly we were touching. But, we vowed to look it up later. (It means you will return to Prague some day…yay!)Then, we also decided we should conduct a social experiment where we have something similar that people wait in line to touch but that actually has no significant value, and have some people in on it that form a line waiting to touch it, and see if we can convince random people to join along. But, maybe that’s just the sociology major in me. I know, I’m kind of a dork. Moving on.

The Astronomical Clock turned 604 this year and is responsible for tracking movements of the sun, the moon, and much more! It’s pretty amazing that they could build something so precise so long ago. We climbed to the top and saw a pretty view of Prague. And Gigi and Fifi came along too!

 

Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around what was considered the Old Town. Because this is the most touristy area of Prague, there were people everywhere trying to sell you something. Segway rides, pub crawl tickets, thai massages. I was even chased by a man dressed in an elephant suit who was advertising for the Thai Massage. Literally, chased. Someone should tell him that chasing people is not the way to convince people to agree to a massage. I managed to avoid him the rest of the day as we wandered the streets and tried Prague’s pastry.

The next morning, we went to Café Savoy for breakfast and had their version of Eggs Benedict with Brioche Toast, Gruyere Cheese, Prague Ham (which could be the key because they are known for that) and the poached egg. It was one of the best Eggs Benedicts I have had, which is saying a lot because I have really high standards. It may have even been the best. I’m still dreaming of it. I’m hoping that plaque thing I rubbed was true so that I can return to Prague and be able to eat this deliciousness again.

Petrin Tower is a gem, but could easily be ignored because it just seems like a shameless knockoff of the Eiffel Tower on top of a giant hill. And it is. But, it has the best 360 view of Prague. It was so beautiful to see the city from way high above. So, do not miss this if you ever find yourself in Prague.

We stopped to go inside the Church of Saint Nicholas expecting it to be pretty much just like every other church we have seen in Europe. But, to our surprise, and as cheesy and corny as it sounds the interior actually took our breath away.  It was not like every other church we had seen. It was stunning. So many beautiful colors and sculptures and the architecture was so intricate. Standing inside, I was kind of sad that no one ever builds anything this beautiful anymore. It’s really a shame. Times have certainly changed. (Pictures do not do it justice. I repeat, pictures do not do it justice.)

Then, of course we visited the Prague Castle, which is where the President lives, and it’s church. The security there is a joke compared to the United States White House. I couldn’t believe how low key it was. It was if the security guards standing out front were merely decorations. It’s such an entirely new concept to me that I was so amazed. I mean our airports seem to have higher security.

And that’s about it for Prague!

Next destination in our travel plans is Tuscany! I’m so ready for some gelato, you have no idea.