The emptying of the wallet...and a castle

Free exploration day in Prague is a clever way to say spend all the monies. So many shops. Scarfs, chocolate, mugs, drink glasses, and keychains make up the bulk of my purchases. I am deteimed not to buy more things. I think I can. I think I can. Maybe they'll just let me bring the whole city back with me? That'd be great! 

I have learned that Prague's hours of operations are pretty much 11am-8pm. We tried finding dinner last night after Tosca (which was basically a bass trombone concerto. SO COOL!), and almost every place was closed. We finally found a place that had really good pizza, giant sausages, and a three course meal for cheap. This morning, about 4-6 places turned us down. We ate at McDonalds, which is actually better than in the states. 

We toured the Prague Castle today which is home to the President of the Czech Republic. We stood 5 feet from where is was going to be giving a speech. No security check, one rope, one guard. I couldn't believe it. Being in the not United States is a very different perspective. It was also fascinating to hear about a country that holds political ceremonies in specific places because of its history. They have the inauguration of the president in a room where emperors an kings were crowed before the nation was the Czech Republic, but it was tradition for the area. Coming from a country that is 300 years old instead of an area that's held power for closer to 1000 years, it was cool to see how the rituals and traditions have been shaped or preserved over time.