Prague Photo Diary

The first time I went to Prague, I was a high school senior. I went on a trip over my spring break with my history, and before Prague we visited Berlin and Krakow. We visited a lot of very depressing but also interesting World War II sites, and getting to Prague was a little like a breath of fresh air. I remember walking along the Charles Bridge wearing a shirt and getting a little sunburnt because it was so nice out. I had such a great time that trip, and I knew I wanted to go back to Prague one day.

My friend LeeAnn and I started talking on Facebook one night in early April, and next thing I know we're booking a trip to Prague for a weekend in mid-April. Her friends Leanne and Ben joined us too.

I took a super, super early morning flight from Charles de Gaulle airport and flew to Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague. I had to wait an hour or two for LeeAnn's flight to get in from London, and then we took a bus and a train into the city.

We stayed in a hostel (my first time!), visited Prague Castle, walked around Old Town Square, and went to the top of the Astronomical Clock Tower. At the castle we witnessed a changing of the guard-type event, which we noticed after spotting the massive crowd gathered and went closer to see what it was. We ate in an Irish pub for dinner and had breakfast at the hostel before exploring some more the second day. We went to the John Lennon wall, where someone had written "Boston Strong" and I missed home a little bit. We tried Trdelniks, the donut-type pastry in the photo above.

They left that night for an overnight train to Budapest and I spent the second night in my friend Emily's apartment; she was studying there and it was great to see her! It was nice to have a "local" show me around and tell me where to eat.

Where we stayed: Arpacay Backpacker's Hostel. I liked it. Like I said, it was the first hotel I ever stayed in, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I had no complaints.

What we visited: Prague Castle, Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, The Charles Bridge.

"The ancient splendor and beauty of Prague, a city beyond compare, left an impression on my imagination that will never fade." - Richard Wagner."

March Goals

1. Read 5 books I have so many books sitting in my room (see a number of them in my instagram) and I want to eventually read all of them, preferably before I move out of the dorm! I'm hoping to spend at least 15 minutes a day reading to accomplish this.

2. Teach myself a new skill Not entirely sure what this one will be, but possible ideas include taking an online course in HTML and learning how to use the manual settings on my camera.

3. Run 30 miles This shouldn't be too difficult; it's one mile a day, so it's not too easy but it's not too much, and it'll force me to get out there and get running multiple times a week. The hardest part will be making sure my ankle stays healthy.

4. Apply to 10 jobs a week I finally applied to my first job at the end of last week but I still have a lot left to do. The hardest part for me is writing the cover letters, but once I get those finished I find the process goes much easier. I know that applying to jobs now and hopefully having a job in May will make dealing with graduating a much easier emotional process!

5. Write 500 words a day One of my goals for this year is to write a book, and having a numerical goal to meet is going to get me there. A small goal for some, but with the writing I'm doing for my internship, the campus newspaper, this blog and my senior thesis, this goal is actually manageable.

And because I love vision boards so much, I made a March inspiration board from Pinterest photos:

This month will bring my 22nd birthday (this week!), spring break, a trip to NYC and a journalism conference in Boston. In terms of goals that aren't measurable, I'm hoping to get out of my comfort zone more and spend more time with my friends doing new things, because soon we won't all be living within 10 minutes of each other. Bring it on, March!