Showing posts with label street art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label street art. Show all posts

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Day 7

"How do you feel about going home tomorrow?" my roommate asked as we were layering on clothing and preparing for a morning bike ride.

After a lonely day six, I woke up feeling ready to go home. "I had a good time in Europe, I'm dreading the travel back home, but I'm anxious to be home," I replied.

But throughout the day, my desire to go home turned into dread! I didn't want to leave! I loved Prague too much.

After breakfast, we went on a bike tour through the narrow, bumpy streets of Prague. It was difficult because there was about 15 of us wandering through the crowded roads. Plus, the cobblestones made the ride extremely bumpy! But this was an excellent way to see much of the beautiful city at just the right pace.


One of my favorite thing to see on the bike tour was sculptures by the controversial artist, David Cerney. We saw three of his sculptures on our tour.

The first one we saw was this man, probably Sigmund Freud hanging outside of a building.



The second one we saw were these giant babies. These ones were in Kampa Park. From Kampa Park, you can see Prague's TV tower in the distance. These babies crawl on that tower (I was unable to see this) possibly suggesting that babies these days are raised by the TV.





The third one we saw were these guys proudly peeing in a pool shaped like the Czech Republic. The sculpture was broken at the time, but you are able to text a message to a certain number and they will move their hips to pee that message.


We also rode by the Lennon Wall again.

Next to the Lennon Wall, there is a little gate with a bunch of padlocks locked to it. People in love come to this gate, lock a padlock on the gate, and then throw the key into the river below.



The bike tour ended around 1pm. By then, we were starving. I went with a small group of people to eat at a nice restaurant in the Palladium Mall. I ordered the same thing I had for dinner the first night I arrived in Prague. It was so salty and delicious! Yummmmmmmmmmmm!



Then, we were going to all go to a museum together. But first, me and another person wanted to stop by our hotel to use the restroom. We were supposed to all meet in the lobby in like 10 minutes. I was down there, waiting... for like 20 minutes. Apparently the two girls misunderstood me and just went on to the museum we were supposed to go to. And the guy who also had to use the bathroom ended up falling asleep in his room. I got tired of waiting plus I was anxious to get the most out of my last day in Prague, so I ventured out on my own.

I first stopped by a Salvador Dali exhibit in Old Town Square. I wasn't able to take pictures though.

Then I walked across the Charles Bridge where locals sell artwork and jewelry. I bought some photos of the Lennon Wall (as it used to be) for my brother.

By then, it was already almost dinner time. Our group met in the hotel lobby so that we could walk over to a restaurant and have a traditional Czech dinner. This time, the food was just okay. There was a lot of meat, which isn't my favorite thing to eat.

There was live traditional Czech entertainment. At the end of our meal, the dancers picked people from the table to join them in their dancing. One creepy-ish guy came over to our table to pick a partner. Immediately, all the girls pulled out their cell phones and pretended to be busy texting. I was too slow. He picked me to join him! Ahhh! But it was fun!



I meandered through the streets taking in everything! I especially love the way Prague looks in the evening, after the sun sets but before it gets completely dark. I just wanted to memorize everything.

When I got back to the hotel, I reluctantly began packing. That was it. My trip was over. :(

My roommate fell asleep while I was packing, so I didn't even get to say good bye.

I went to bed around midnight and tossed and turned all night dreading the next day.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Day 3

I woke up today and suddenly realized I have my mom's credit card with me. It had been with me the whole time, I guess I was too stressed/tired yesterday to think clearly and realize I could use it! So now, no one has to worry about me or feel sorry for me! I've got enough money and whats better is that none of it is mine! Ha!Ha!

We had a breakfast buffet at the hotel. Also, here's a picture of my roomie (left) and a fellow Californian (right).





Then, right after breakfast we boarded the bus and went on a quick drive around town. We just drove by all the popular sights. We did get to stop at the berlin wall for about 15 minutes. I loved all the artwork! There is so much art in public places around this town. Statues, graffiti, paintings, and murals are everywhere! It's so colorful and funky, I love it!









POP quiz.... Does anyone know what happened in 2002 at this posh Berlin hotel?



Then, we took a 30 minute drive out of the city to visit Sachsenhausen (don't ask me to pronounce that word!) I'll make my next post solely on that memorial/museum.

After Sachsenhausen, we drove back into the city where we were dropped off and free to do our own thing. The bad thing about this tour is that the tour manager really pressures us to get to know other people and spend time with others. It's hard for introverted people like myself. I was already craving "alone time" so I wandered off by myself and checked out the Pergamom Museum. I have a ton of pictures of I-don't-know-what. I think it's like ancient artifacts excavated from like... babylon or something.







There were a lot of huge reconstructions and actual pieces (I think) from ancient-wherever. But what I found most interesting were the little things. I liked the jewelry, the little statues of animals, the beads, the pots etc.

After the Pergamom Museum I decided to try to make it back to my hotel. It took me a long time again. Ugh. But I got back to my hotel and now I'm just relaxing, catching up, and uploading pics. My roomie is still out, so it's really nice and quiet.

Tonight, we're going to do a walking tour. It's mainly just going from bar to bar to dance club which I'm not even interested in. I'd rather just relax, but I felt pressured to sign up and I already paid for it, so I'm going. We're supposed to eat dinner before we go out, but I'm too tired to do that :(
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