old town, prague castle, czech hockey, etc.

over the past couple days i've really been exposed to czech culture and history. it's really fascinating stuff, especially when you're living amongst it. on thursday we went on a tour of prague's old town, where the nyu center is. this is the tourist hub of the city, and has been referred lovingly to as "prague's times square" by one friend of mine. despite the overflow of tourists, old town is still gorgeous, and it is definitely worth fighting off the tourists to walk around.

yesterday we went on a guided tour of prague castle and the surrounding neighborhood. despite the record-breaking winds, the tour was beautiful. prague castle is the largest castle in all of europe, and it is breathtaking. the cathedral's spires are visible from most parts of greater prague, and the hill it is perched atop affords a spectacular view of the entire city. i will most definitely be returning on a warmer day when i can appreciate the view without being distracted by my numb toes.these last two pictures might seem a little random, but they are from one of the streets surrounding the castle. the houses were built when people were shorter, so whitney got excited when she found a her-sized house!

last night a group of twenty-ish of us went to a hockey game as our "cultural event." we were told the prague team that was playing, hc slavia praha, was really good, and that it would be a good match-up. unfortunately, slavia played like crap and lost. some of the guys in our group got a little rowdy, but i think that was to be expected by a bunch of slightly-drunk american college guys (fyi - the drinking age here is 18, so it was legal, albeit a little stereotypical, for them to get drunk at the game).

tonight is nyu-sponsored bowling somewhere on the outskirts of prague. i'm excited because a) it's free, and b) even though i'm terrible at it, i love bowling.