Prague, Czech Republic

Ah, it's Friday and I have no classes :) We're so busy this semester that this is probably one of only three or four three-day weekends that  there is nothing official planned. Next week we begin midterms already! That's unbelievable. As for weather, it was in the 50's last week, but now we're part of a big storm system that's hitting Continental Europe with cold, wet weather. Last Monday, I was able to go to the local Ultimate Frisbee team's practice and walk back in shorts and a t-shirt.

Now for Prague, or Praha auf deutsch. This city was probably my favorite of the trip because the modernity of the city was so well integrated into the rich history of the area. The main castle and cathedral were situated on a hill and visible from almost anywhere in the city. Either the President of the Czech Republic or the Prime Minister that still lives within the walls of this city within a city. The other parts of the city were easy to reach from our hotel with the elaborate underground/tram/bus system. One night we went to the modern city center and found an Irish pub where we could watch three Champions League (European Soccer Championship) games. It was a blast. The environment was amazing. We had a group of Italians right beside us who were watching the AC Roma game and were shouting at the screen from time to time.

Our meetings in Prague focused on the rotating presidency of the European Union which is, until June, in the Czech Republic. Thus we were able to hear firsthand the difficulties and challenges faced by this smaller sized country in trying to forward an agenda in an international organization as complex and full of dissenting opinions as the EU. The Czech Rep. took on the presidency in January with a lot of goals, few of which will now be realized because of the attention needed for the economic crisis, Gaza conflict and Russian/Ukrainian gas dispute. 

The exchange rates in all of the countries that we visited on this trip (excluding Slovakia, since they have the Euro) have been in free fall for the past couple months because of speculation against the entire Eastern European area. This made for very cheap meals and cheaper souvenirs which was fun (especially when  I could take out 14,000 Forints in Hungary) however for the countries it is a sign of the times. Some items in stores and on menus were in both euros and the home currency and we could see how much the exchange rate had changed between when they had the menu or sticker printed compared to what it was that day. Overall though the Czech Republic is doing relatively well compared to its neighbors.