Day 11-Prague, Czech Republic

Last night was one of the best nights I've had on tour, and so this morning we slept in a little to rest up a bit for our last day. On my agenda were souvenirs for my family, since out of all the countries on tour this was were they had never been before. Elise, Liz, Erika, Krystina, Simmy and I all went into the city and decided to see the city from a new perspective, paddle boats! Yesterday we had seen yellow paddle boats floating around the Vltava River, so we wanted to do it ourselves. It was so relaxing and it kept us active and outside like in Austria. After paddle boating we went into the city for some browsing and stopped at a street cart for lunch. We ordered what we thought was a thin potato pancake but it ended up being chicken inside a potato, but it was really good.

Everything in Prague was so cheap which definately made it one of my favorite cities. The conversion was kind of confusing though since they use krouna, but they are soon changing to Euros. **Travel Tip: The Czech Republic is now part of the EU, so they will soon switch to the Euro, but in the mean time they do accept Euros in most locations for payment.** After getting presents for my parents and sister, we all headed back to the hotel to get ready for a final farewell dinner with our whole tour group, Ryan, and Andy. The dinner was also special because it was another cultural dinner featuring Czech food, music, and dancing. The dinner was fun because everyone was just having a good time, taking pictures, and talking about the great times of the trip; no one wanted it to end.

After dinner some people headed out to a bar for some farewell drinks, however I wasn't feeling good so I headed back with Andy, Nicole and a few others. Back at the hotel I did some packing so that I was ready for the early rip to the airport tomorrow. Prague was great fun, but sadly its a final farewell tomorrow and the end of my European Contiki. Contiki was an amazing experience for me, I've met so many new people and have made great friends that I can wait to visit with and travel with in the future. So the final question is...when is my next contiki??and who is coming with??

Day 10-Prague, Czech Republic

Arriving in Prague today was bittersweet, I had been so excited to get to Prague because it was the most unique country and the furtherest into Eastern Europe that we were going to, but it was also our last city. Our first stop in Prague was this beautiful castle and a church; standing outside the castle were guards, similar to the ones outside Buckingham Palace in England; great for photo ops. Ryan gave us all the history and info on the castle and churched then led us to this area with amazing views of the city of Prague, also know as the city of spires. The views were great and the city looked so different from the places we had been, it was like a sea of red roofs. Then we headed into the city by the Charles Bridge along the Vltava River. It was amazing seeing such old architecture surviving and still being used today. After some free time in the city and shopping and snacks, we headed back to our hotel.

Tonight we had a free night for dinner, but Ryan was heading into the city early for dinner and some drinks at this hotel with a rooftop bar. He offered us to go in with him on the train system and then we could all meet up and go to the largest night club in Europe. Elise and I were roommates for the night and we decided to take a nap when we got back since tonite would be a long night. After a quick nap we started getting ready for tonight, Erika and Liz joined us and we had dinner from the local supermarket instead of going into the city early. A group of us who had stayed at the hotel for dinner met down in the lobby to all navigate into the city to me the others at the rooftop bar.

When we got out of the train station in the city, it started down pouring, and of course no one had umbrellas. At first we started running and ducking under canopies, overhangs, and awnings; then we just all let loose and started running through the rainy streets of Prague. It was great, like being kids playing in puddles. Unfortunately when we got to the hotel to meet the rest of the group the rain had caused the outside bar to be closed so we headed down the street to another bar, and met up with the others later at the nightclub, Karlovy Lazne. The club was 5 floors with all different styles of music and dancing on each floor. Everyone was having a great time, after tons of dancing and hanging out a group of us to some cabs back to the hotel. Me, Elise, Liz, Danielle and Kevin got some bagettes and headed back to our room for a snack before getting some sleep. After some laughs and stories, we headed to bed to be ready for our last day of Contiki!