Hitting the Road

The thirty days of vacation I receive when I graduate is one of the best things my college gives me. Before anyone starts their job, we all get this time off to recharge our batteries. I knew that with the nature of the career I am entering, I really needed to take advantage of the long vacation. After all, who knows when I will get that much continuous time off again. 

For that reason, I decided to take a trip with my friend Keegan. I knew that it would be expensive but I wanted to do what I imagined other college students did and travel. Keegan and I brainstormed a lot about where we wanted to go but ultimately based our decision on ease of travel, cost, and interest. Europe seemed like the obvious choice as we knew that our lack of language skills would not be too much of a hinderance and because it is relatively safe and easy for American travelers. I have had the great privilege to travel a little bit over the last couple of years and so I also wanted to stay away from the European countries that I had already been to (these include England, Spain, Scotland, Poland, and Belgium). We also wanted to hit places rich in history to fulfill my historical fascination and some places that would be a lot of fun to meet Keegan's high expectations.

Our itinerary ended up centering in eastern-central Europe and includes approximately four countries. I will not reveal them all now so it will be interesting as we reach each of them. The theme of the trip is kind of a beer tour and we hope to try some of the best in the world. We are traveling everywhere by train except for one short flight. We decided to mix the ease of backpacking, so we could move easily, with the comfort of nice hotels because we were frankly too scared to stay in hostels. We chose all of our hotels in city centers with the goal of being able to walk everywhere.

To finish out this blog entry, I will discuss our first day and the flight out. I had celebrated my graduation all week with my family and I was exhausted from a fantastic time. Graduation was Friday and, before I knew it, Sunday had come around and It was time to take off. I flew on British Airlines on an evening flight that flew overnight into London. I am always fascinated by the size of international planes. It had two decks and the economy section (which was much of the first deck) was in a 3-5-3 seat format. I had a seat-back screen with a selection of music, TV shows, and movies for free which helped to pass the time. Dinner was a good pasta dish with a green salad and a piece of strawberry cheesecake for desert as well as a glass of included red wine. After eating, I actually managed to get a good three hours of sleep before waking up to a quick breakfast and a landing at Heathrow. 

The family together immediately following a cold and wet graduation ceremony. Couldn't have asked for more amazing support.

I made my way to the terminal where my Prague flight would leave from and was lucky enough to get into a very nice airport club there where I was able to get a good full breakfast and some wifi. The flight into Prague left three hours later and landed just ten minutes late. Keegan and I had flown on different flights because we had different return flights. He had landed an hour before me and was at my gate to meet me.

This trip marks Keegan's first trip across the pond so I was happy to see that he had made it and had figured out how to reach me. Now we would truly face our first big challenge together, trying to figure out the Czech public transportation system. This was no easy matter but after communicating with a couple of people in broken English and getting a map, we were able to get on a bus to reach a metro train which dropped us  about a quarter mile from our hotel. The entire trip cost us about $3 combined whereas a cab would have cost closer to $50 or $60. 

Our hotel is nice and just outside the very center (a short walking distance) of Prague. We were given a room on the top floor with two twin beds . Our windows do not open outward but instead upward like skylights and give us a view onto other roofs. Though simple, it is a very nice room and a good hotel with included breakfast and WiFi so we are happy.

The view out of our window

We spent our first day walking and orienting ourselves. Prague is as beautiful as the postcards but a lot more touristy than I would have thought. My camera was not charged for this first walk so I was not able to get pictures. I finally found a power converter the next morning so I will have plenty for future blog posts. The only thing we did in Prague on that first evening was eat some traditional Czech food.

American Express had helped us to find the restaurant Olympia where we got not only some good food but the first taste of the famous Czech Pilsner, Pilsner Urquell. This is the most popular and famous beer and many consider it a national treasure. Pilsners were invented in the Czech Republic so this comes as no surprise. It is served cold and always with a ton of foam on top. Our dinner was comprised of a variety of meats served on hanging skewers over vegetables and sliced potatoes, all of which was lit on fire at our table before we began consuming it. The meal was very good and we made it back to our room by about 9 PM happy and tired. By about 9:30 we were fast asleep.

My next entry will come soon and will focus on the first two days in Prague. There are many pictures to show and much to discuss!