My first impression of Prague was “whoa, this place is a dump.”

My second impression was “this place is gorgeous.”

Prague still has that raw, ex-communist feeling, very similar to Berlin. The airport was kind of shabby and the outskirts of the city are pretty run down. But as soon as we crossed over the bridge into the city, I was blown away.

A lot of cities in Europe have the same look. But Prague is slightly different; I would venture to say it’s the Russian influence (even though I’ve never been to Russia). Pics to come – it was a bit rainy today.

In my mind, these are the communist cars.

For this trip, instead of booking an Airbnb, I booked a room in a hostel.

Let me explain.

There’s a bit of a revival in the hostel scene – there are really nice hostels popping up in hipster areas across Europe. They have private rooms and bathrooms, but they also have hostel accomodations for those who want a cheaper option.

After doing some research on this place, it had amazing reviews, and was in a good area, so I decided to try it.

It actually wasn’t that much cheaper than a hotel. And when I got here, I realized it was a hotel – the hotel is separate from the hostel across the street.

So I’m in the 34 year old accomodation across the street from the 20 year olds.

When I checked in, there was a handwritten note and a tiny suitcase full of Easter snacks and champagne. What a fun surprise for a solo traveler!

Nerd Alert:
The girl at the front desk also gave me a map and proceeded to draw, highlight, and write all over it. My pet peeve is when hotel people write on my map. So I walked straight to the tourist information office with two maps in my pocket, and asked for another. When the girl asked if I needed help, I hollered “no!” before she had the chance to whip out her pen.

Things I’ve noticed so far about Prague: there is lots of music in the streets, tons of tourists, Thai massage places are all over (and seem out of place).

After visiting a couple of grocery stores, the interesting food observations I’ve made are: these people love cheese! So. much. cheese. And bread. There was a whole bread room in one grocery store. And the bread is just piled in containers. And tea. Tons of tea.

Guess what else Prague has.

Easter markets.

Just like Christmas markets, but with a ton of Easter crap you’ll never use. Like authentic handmade Czech eggs.

And delicious food like these fried dough things with nutella that are dipped in cinnamon sugar. Every city has its own doughnut that people go crazzy over.

I also found a yoga studio and already hit up a class in Czech.

I ended up chatting with a really cool girl after class and she gave me some recommendations for farmers’ markets and places to “czech” out (I had to). She offered to let me know if she heard of anything going on this weekend.

She didn’t offer to take me for a ride on her motorcycle, but if she does, I’m not saying no!