prahaha

It’s always so surreal to see your relationships outside their normal context. Like, you know that disconcerting feeling when you see two friends you know from completely different social circles posting a picture together, and you’re all like wait what how do you know each other? That’s how I feel about seeing people from home in Europe. This week was truly the week of Sauder; five friends from Vancouver stayed with me in Paris – some in passing, some for a few days, and I spent the weekend in Prague with even more Sauder.

Prague is great (heh). Fun Fact #1: Unlike the relatively modern areas of Europe that I’ve visited so far (though all the buildings are all still at least like 100 years older than the oldest building in Vancouver), Prague still maintains its architecture from over 2000 years ago. Silver linings of German occupation during WWII include escaping the war relatively unscathed, which means that many of the buildings and structures – especially in Old Town – are still in their original state (though probably renovated on the inside to include like, running water and electricity and stuff). I say this about basically everything in Europe that I come across, but Prague is so incredibly cute. Its quaint streets are lined with cobblestones so rough that even the queen of stilettos (Victoria Beckham, obv) wouldn’t dare wear heels to walk them, the buildings are colourful and ornate, and the views are breathtaking. The castle at the top of the hill (which Fun Fact #2: is the largest medieval building in the world) overlooks the river like a fancy little cake topper from a distance, but towers menacingly over onlookers with thousands of tiny, flourishing details when you stand before it. Fun Fact #3: the lights that illuminate the castle by night were installed by the Rolling Stones’ lighting guy, a gift to Prague from the band that befriended past Czech President, Vaclav Havel, after a concert in 1990 (true story, look it up).

Of course, a travel blog post wouldn’t be complete without a food and drinks recap; I’ll start with what I consumed the most of: beer. Fun fact #4: Prague is the home of the lager, which is still wildly popular in the city today. I had many pilsners over the weekend, which tasted mostly like pee but was cheaper than water so that’s how I rationalized it. Of course, I also had to sample traditional Czech food, which like Dutch food, is very heavy and heavily reliant on carbs (potatoes) as a vehicle for slow stewed meat. It was good, I guess, but I don’t think I would consider it my favourite cuisine. Fortunately, Prague has a great international food culture (though nothing compared to Vancouver’s scene). We went to an amazing French restaurant where I had slow roasted rabbit leg and kidneys confit over a root vegetable purée and truffled foie gras with butter toasted brioche, an Indian restaurant that served great lamb vindaloo and a stellar mango lassi, a “western cuisine” place that served up a mean pork chop atop the silkiest mashed potatoes, and a Vietnamese restaurant with surprisingly decent pho.

Travelling in a big group (there were 6 of us, plus Jerry and his friend who were on exchange in Prague) was fun – especially since half of it was made up of friends from home. The struggle, however, was coordinating everyone’s priorities. I was pretty frustrated that we never managed to make it out the door of our Airbnb until almost noon, because we had limited time and so many things to do. But compromises here and there made for an awesome trip. We ate, we drank, we partied, we punned, and I guess we saw sights and stuff too. If you’re ever in European countries that offer it, I highly recommend a free walking tour (though they are misleadingly named as you’re expected to tip your guide). The tours are usually led by very educated, qualified, and humorous guides, and give you a great sense of the city and its history, as well as inspiration on what to spend your time on. Our guide happened to have a dual masters degree in Slavic history and something else, which besides making me very nervous about the value of my education, also made for a super interesting and informative tour (and supplied me with like 90% of the fun facts in this post).

The other thing about seeing people from home, though, is remembering that Vancouver exists. Exchange feels like an intermission from real life, and I often forget that things are still happening back home. I have this misplaced impression that while I’m away, everything pauses until I get back, but the reality is that as my life goes on, so does everyone else’s. I have friends who, in the short time that I have been gone, have literally entered and exited entire relationships, or have applied for and gotten new jobs, or have had a whole host of other major life events occur. As much as I’m having the best time in Europe, I’m also sad that I’m missing out on all these things at home. It makes me a little nervous about what going back will be like – how everything and everyone will have changed. I know that I’ve changed – learned and grown – drastically every year, but the people I surrounded myself with changed and watched me change too. We went through it together. This time, after being gone for so long, will be different. But while I can’t control what everyone else is doing, I can make the most of my time here, and appreciate how lucky I am to be on this journey.