Easter Holiday Part 1
Living in Spain, we are given two weeks off for the Easter holiday, so of course I took full advantage of this and explored some new countries and cities. I wasn’t alone though and convinced Abby to make her way across the pond to Europe to backpack our way through the Czech Republic and Austria. I have so much to write about and pictures to share that our adventure will be split into two parts, I doubt anyone wants to read the novel I originally had written out together, so this post will be from showing Abby around Bermeo where I live and our time in Prague!
Not many people realize that Spain is much more than flamenco dancers, Sangria, and the southern coast with its beautiful beaches. Where I live, we have beautiful lust green mountains, cities tucked away in the valleys, and the vibrant blue ocean where you’ll always spot surfers no matter the time of day. So, getting to show this side of Spain to my friends and family is one of my favorite parts about living here!
Abby and I explored Bermeo for a day and then it was off to the Czech Republic, a country I had never been to and in all honesty, didn’t have much knowledge about. To my surprise Prague, or Praha, as it's spelled in Czech, was much more Soviet-style than I realized, and the atmosphere was completely new to me. Coming from the US, where I lived for twenty-three years, sometimes it’s hard to imagine how these smaller European countries all have such different cultures and yet at the same time share so much with their surrounding neighbors. That’s the beauty of traveling though, and I believe the more uncomfortable or scared you are in these types of situations, the better because it’s changing you and the way you see the world, rather than being comfortable in your own little bubble.
Okay, enough of my Ted Talk! I didn’t have any set expectations for Prague, but everything about the city amazed me. Most of the time Abby and I were exploring we constantly said how much the city didn’t seem real because we thought we were in Disneyland or on a movie set.
The colorful medieval buildings that never were in a straight line, more so a labyrinth of roads and alleys that never ended. The castles and cathedrals with stained glass windows that painted the walls and ceilings with colors when the sun hit them just right. It was all a fairytale and unimaginable unless you saw it with your own eyes. Because it was Easter, there were markets in every main square and street corner selling the most amazing food and sweets imaginable. Our favorites were the roasted sausages and skillet potatoes cooked with bacon and peppers, and the best of all the chimneys, or in Czech the Trdelník. Which was a soft fluffy dough cooked in a spiral shape coated in sugar and filled with whatever you liked. We had one with strawberries and cream on the inside, and I’m not the biggest sweets fan, but that pastry, I could eat over and over again.
Apart from exploring the city's many attractions, we decided to watch a performance at the Prague National Theatre, and it just so happened that they were performing Pride and Prejudice. Now, I’ve never read the book, and I’ve seen the movie once, so I had a basic understanding of the story and knew the theme. However, watching a performance in Czech, gave me a better understanding of what it's like for my younger students when I’m explaining something in English, and they look at me so confused. Now I should mention, Abby and I were traveling just with our backpacks, so we only had jeans and semi-decent sweaters…so when we walked in and saw most of the audience in ball gowns and tuxedos, we realized there was a reason our seats were in the last row of the entire theatre and could touch the ceiling if we wanted to. We did only pay eight euros though for our ticket, so we knew we were seated as we liked to say, where the peasants used to sit. But with our peasant seats and listening to an entire three-hour performance in Czech, it was such a fun experience and I’m happy we did it! Although I do think the Czechs may have a different version of Pride and Prejudice than what I was expecting.
Our time in Prague was amazing and it was only just the beginning though because up next was Vienna, Austria!
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