Though I've adjusted the date to reflect when we were actually in Prauge, it's been some time now since we left behind the beauty of Europe for the harsh realities awaiting us back home in San Francisco. In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday that we scaled the side of the Matterhorn in Switzerland and meandered through the twisting cobblestone streets of Prague. Yet in other, more prominent ways, our European vacation seems to have happened in another lifetime altogether, to other adventurous souls. But as we are forced to deal with the stressful necessaries of our newly evolving lives, such as finding and keeping jobs and exploring our abilities as new attorneys, we get to enjoy Europe over and over again by reflecting on the amazing experiences we shared there. It was truly the trip of a lifetime, and though our worlds have vastly changed since our return home, we'll always have Europe.

Before composing our final entry of true reflection, our many wonderful moments in Prague must be recounted:
Our trip from Berlin to Prague was more crowded up in luxurious first class than most of our previous train rides, but none less pleasant. The platform was packed with re-eyed, anxious and smiling travelers; all excited for the apparently popular destination and reveling in the previous night's experiences which no doubt continued right up to our departure time for some, as Berlin truly never sleeps. We met an older couple from San Diego on the four-hour ride who had plans to take a cruise down the Vlatva River from Prague to Budapest and we marveled at their daring spirits.
Staying true to our incidental motto in Europe that "we can walk anywhere," we trekked over 20 minutes from the Praha hlavni nadrazi (the Prague main railway station) to our riverside hotel, traversing through Old Town, which was packed, and praying our luggage didn't fall apart over the cobblestone streets. Hotel Kampa Garden sits on the side of the Vlatva River opposite Old Town and on the same side as Prague Castle, nestled right next to the Charles Bridge. This convenient and comfortable location required us, not regrettably, to cross that world-famous bridge on our way first into the city and many times thereafter.
The afternoon of our arrival we were naturally exhausted and I took the liberty of a nap. Later we wanted to explore the small square our hotel sat on so we took a restaurant recommendation from the concierge and enjoyed a cheap but very good meal by an old watermill. It was raining, but we opted for a seat on the covered patio by a heater to enjoy the ambiance. Matt took advantage of their extremely cheap beer.
On our first full day in beautiful Prague we planned to catch a free walking tour of Old Town in the morning, taking off from Old Town Square. However, we had trouble finding the tucked away Starbucks café that was dubbed the meeting point for the free tour so we missed the start of the tour and were unable to identify the guides at the Astronomical Clock where the tour was said to begin. Thus, we missed the morning tour and had to find something else to fill our time while waiting for the afternoon tour to begin. After much grumbling about on my part at the lack of effective planning, and much impatience on Matt's part at the grumbling, we climbed up and up and up to the Castle that sits watch over the city just in time, by happenstance, to see the Changing of the Guards. We didn't have time to tour the Castle itself (though we did make time for that on another day) so we took in the beautiful view then grabbed lunch at a great spot for local fare before crossing the Charles Bridge for the third time that day and this time, caught the very impressive free tour.
Our tour guide was Irish and very knowledgeable. He worked hard to reform his thick Irish accent so the group of over 50!!! could understand him properly. At one point he called for two volunteers, one man and one woman, to act out an old Prague story. The male role, described as a thief, was filled instantly. The female role however, was described as a very conceited woman, one who thinks she's very attractive and important and well-to-do. No woman in her right mind wanted to raise her hand at that portrayal, less she be snickered at for assuming to suit such a role. However, I, in my enduring modesty, stepped up to participate upon seeing no one else felt comfortable enough to do so. My self-analysis of my performance was and continues to be that I was a stunning actress and perhaps I should pursue a career in acting if this whole Lawyer thing doesn't work out.

After the tour we returned to our hotel and got ready for a Jazz Boat cruise down the Vlatva River consisting of dinner and live music. The band of the night was none other than a local group called Havana Summer (or was it Cuban Summer???), an instant hit with myself and equally enjoyed by Matt. They played some blues, some jazz, and a few covers of Latin music, including at least one Buena Vista Social Club song. The keyboard player (there were only two other band members: a guitarist and a drummer) was clearly the leader and incredibly passionate about every single note. It was inspiring to watch, and entertaining. The dinner was delicious and the views pleasant, but the band truly stole the show. The only unpleasant, but perhaps most memorable portion of the cruise was the seemingly endless wait while going through the locks. There was actually only one, but we went through it twice, once on the way up and shortly thereafter on our way back down. Both times we seemed to be the unfortunate boat that got stuck waiting for other boats to pass through ahead of us. However, I personally was very interested in bearing the cold and mist on the top deck to study the way the lock worked, though once was enough and the second time through was much less intriguing.

On our second full day in Prague we decided to use the day as a chance to revisit some of the more interesting points on the tour that we weren't able to spend much time on due to being on, well, a tour. My memory of that day is a little vague and so after this exhaustive entry I pause now and will allow my travel partner to take over the coverage of a couple of our days in Prague.

(Matt now!)

Just to follow up on our second day: We took a more in-depth tour of the Prague Castle, which has multiple buildings and was basically a walled city. The most impressive building was the cathedral which, like most other cathedrals we saw, was spectacularly detailed. We also saw the changing of the guard at the castle, which was cool. We headed back through Wenseslas Square and walked the length (its huge) up to the steps of a museum where some kid set himself on fire in a show of opposition (I guess?) to Soviet occupation. We then went back to check out the Jewish cemetary in more detail, but didn't take the full tour; we were toured out by that point. We did see in a window where there were drawings by orphaned children; many of the children disappeared during World War II. At this point we became Holocausted-out, especially after almost a week in Berlin. We also had a fantastic dinner at "U Rivnice," a restaurant on the Old Town Square. Great Czeck food, beer, and rum. I had the pork knuckle - it was huge and not easy to eat. Czeck food is also remarkably inexpensive, a welcome change of pace.

Our third day in Prague we took a train to Turnov, about two hours away from Prague and supposedly a great hiking area. Problem was, the tourist infrastructure in the less traveled parts of the country is minimal. So, we had a hard time finding trails to hike in Turnov, much less good ones. However, we did manage to find a nice trail that winded down a river and through a meadow and the woods. It amounted to a nice walk, which was actually pretty relaxing. Especially compared to hiking up the Matterhorn. At night, we met up with Bethany's friend Peter and his girlfriend who were in town from Germany. We all went on a pub crawl, the highlight of which was a club in what used to be an old cathedral.

Our fourth day in Prague - our last full day - was spent relaxing. We had a nice lunch in the park next to the hotel on the river. We had what I thought was the best dinner of the entire trip at a Czech-style restaurant in a cave-like basement with stuffed animals (big ones), weapons, and enormous beer steins. Great food, a live Czech band, and a great end to our trip.

On September 5, we said goodbye to Prague and our trip and took our long flight back to San Francisco and real life. My journal summed it up pretty well: "A perfect trip. Time for a new chapter in life, ushered in by this incredible experience."