Week 15: Finals Week & Final Week
I’m writing this in my computer’s notes app while on my London to Chicago flight because after the 8 hour delay they don’t want to give me free wifi???
This week was full of wandering and completing the final few tasks on my Prague bucket list.
Monday, December 4th
I had my last Interpretation of European Fairy Tales class this morning. We each worked on a final project that could be almost anything we were interested in doing. A lot of people wrote songs or poems. I guessed what an AI program would write if I asked it to write me a fairy tale and then asked ChatGPT to write one. I was pleasantly surprised with the fairy tale it wrote and it made for an interesting presentation. You can see the slideshow here.
In Sociology of Food, we reviewed for the final exam and then I went shopping for souvenirs. I got dinner at the Wenceslas Square Christmas Market and then went back to the dorms where (I think, but don't quite remember if) Sadie, Aislinn, and I did work in the study room.
Tuesday, December 5th
Wednesday, December 6th
I nailed that Sociology of Food final (or at least only got a few questions wrong) and then finished up most of my art history presentation for the next day. My paper and presentation is on the John Lennon Wall and I needed more pictures, so I decided to go take them myself. While I was at it, I stopped by the narrowest street in Prague to cross that off the list as well.
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| Line to enter the narrowest street |
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| Narrowest street |
That night was the ECES farewell party at Vinohradský Pivovar. I tried Slivovice, the final thing on my food bucket list, and it was scowl-inducing, but I did it and the food bucket list is complete.
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| Vinohradsy Pivovar |
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| Farewell :'( aka spot the party crashers |
Sadie, Aislinn, and I dipped early — 10:15pm — because we had class the next morning and I still needed to finish up my presentation. I finished my presentation and we hung out in our dorm room for a little while before the sandman showed up and demanded we go to sleep right this instant or you will not be able to present at 9am tomorrow.
Thursday, December 7th
We presented our final projects in art history and then went on our final field trip to the cafe in the National Theatre’s new building, which was built during the communist era. Sadie, Aislinn, and I were going to get gelato for old time’s sake, but upon meeting up and confided in them my deepest, darkest secret — I actually wasn’t feeling like getting ice cream for once in my life.
Instead of gelato, I dropped my backpack off at the dorm and walked up Petrin Hill to take the funicular. I once again let my feet lead and went up the backside of the hill. I passed Strahov Stadium and walked through communist central (not really what it’s called just my observation). I’m glad I decided to go with the flow this week because it was nice to just let myself do things I had the urge to do and not feel like I missed out on anything.
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| View from Petrin |
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| View from Petrin |
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| View from Petrin |
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| Funicular station |
After my walk and funicular ride, I went back to the dorms to get ready for the opera that night. I headed out early in search of the perfect Prague magnet. I used to collect stickers, but couldn’t commit to sticking them anywhere and decided magnets were better because there are endless possibilities of places to put them. However, I had yet to come across a magnet that summed up my semester in Prague. I spent three months there, so it had to be perfect. After visiting — I swear — every souvenir shop at least twice, I finally found it. A 5x3 metal magnet of the Malostranska street sign…and I didn’t buy it lololoololol it was 190 crowns, I couldn’t commit, and needed to start heading towards Estates Theatre. I kept a mental note of the magnet’s location and went to Don Giovanni.
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Old Town Square
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Don Giovanni is an opera by Mozart that debuted at the Estates Theatre, so I felt like I had to see it there while I was in Prague. It was good; much better than The Nutcracker ballet. I loved the theatre and have now been to all four National Theatre locations. The people sitting next to me did not get the no photo/video/recording memo because they were constantly pulling their phones out and taking videos. After the third time, I started making my annoyance obvious but apparently I was not obviously annoyed enough because they kept it up until they bailed at intermission.
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Inside of Estates Theatre
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I couldn’t get the magnet out of my head and knew I had stumbled upon the holy-magnet-grail. It was one of one, no other Malostranska street sign magnet like it. I NEEDED this magnet.
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| My magnet <3 |
On my way back to the dorms, I ran into Sadie and Aislinn and told them about my magnet and that I would be heading out bright and early the next morning to get my hands on it before some silly little tourist with no emotional ties to Malostranska tried to steal it out from under me. They agreed to come with me and I went to sleep whereupon visions of sugarplums danced in my head.
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| Wenceslas Square |
Friday, December 8th
I told Sadie and Aislinn to meet in the breakfast room at 8am. To no one’s surprise, I didn’t wake up until 8:14 and didn’t get down to breakfast until 8:30. We had breakfast and then went out for my magnet and other last minute errands and souvenirs.
Afterwards, I went back to face my fear of the paternoster elevator because not going around the entire thing wasn’t sitting right with me. I walked into the building confidently so no one would question whether or not I was a tourist just visiting the elevator to say they did it, because that’s seriously lame and I would never do that. I walked right into a compartment and was shaking in my boots when I passed each floor, desperately hoping no one would see me when I didn’t get off when I was supposed to. Luckily, there was no one on the seventh floor and I made it over the top! I was on a true paternoster elevator high because I decided to push my luck and go under the bottom, too. Head held high, heart pounding, I maintained the confident facade. No one was in the basement and I went around the bottom! This truly is so silly, but I was nervous. Having successfully completed the entire loop, I got off back at the first floor and walked out of the building the same way that one guy walks off at the end of the Breakfast Club movie. I had done it.
Then I went to walk up to the Jan Zizkov monument, which I embarrassingly had convinced myself was the largest horse statue in the world when it’s only the second largest :/ It was difficult to find the path up and then felt like I was trespassing the entire way, but I made it there without getting in trouble. Another dub for me. On the way back to the dorms, I got off at the Prague Castle stop and walked up through the castle and past Strahov Monastary.
I spent some more time packing and then got dinner with Sadie and Aislinn, who were both leaving the next day. We went to the American burger pub where I took the first, and only, L of the day and severely embarrassed myself. Maybe one day I’ll be ready to tell the tale, but that day is not today.
Afterwards, Sadie and Aislinn hung out in my room while I did some more packing. I wasn’t leaving until Sunday, so I still had some time, but they were both all packed. We said goodbye to Aislinn because she was leaving at 4am, but true sadness had yet to hit. Sadie and Aislinn both go to school in Boston and I’ll be moving there in January, so we’ll be reunited in no time. Look out, Hard Rock Cafe.