I headed out to Prague on a whim during Thanksgiving break. I left on a Thursday night and took the overnight train out of Stuttgart, Germany. I got into Prague the next morning and met up with my friends Ashley and Mary-Anne at the hostel near the old town square. I walked around all morning by myself taking in the sites of old town square. The two famous churches that light up at night and the astronomical clock are located in the square along with street vendors getting ready for the Christmas season. I did some early Christmas shopping and enjoyed hot-mulled wine before meeting up with Ashley and Mary-Anne for lunch.

The two girls had already been there for a few days so they showed my around the other parts of town including the famous Charles bridge and the enormous castle on the other side.  Despite the miserably cold weather, we enjoyed the rest of the day and headed out to dinner.

The next day I met up with Dave and Tania who were also in Prague for the weekend and headed to a sports bar where they were serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice to have turkey and mashed potatoes for a change and enjoyed the company of my good friends.

My last day in Prague, I decided to venture out on my own and see the rest of the town. I ended up by the “radio-free Europe” station, heavily guarded by tanks and military personal carrying AK-47 assault rifles. Being the typical Japanese tourist that I am, I decided to take pictures of them and the tanks thinking that they are going to be a good memorabilia of my trip. It turns out that taking pictures of these instruments of war is highly illegal and I was searched and questioned by two policemen who later wrote me up and took my passport number. It was a memorable experience, just not the kind I was looking for. My last night in Prague, I enjoyed a black light theater show before heading for the train station to take the train home.

One tourist-related trait about Prague is that everything is dirt-cheap. I had a huge three-course meal for under $10 and enjoyed an hour massage by a certified masseuse for a mere $7. If you ever go out there make sure to try Absinth (mind numbing and often a hallucinogenic spirit) and Velvet (the Czech specialty beer brewed in Prague). It was an awesome trip!

Picture of the statues on Charles Bridge with the castle in the background.  They are currently doing restoration on the bridge and the black statues that you see in the pictures have been washed under pressurized water and have returned their original white color.

Downtown Prague along the main river. It’s a quaint and cute city with many ancient and historic sites and museums.

One of the churches in old town squares that light up at night.  You and see the Christmas decorations that they were beginning to put up.

Photography by Kohta Tabuchi ::: yossi33kt@yahoo.com

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