Welcome to Czech Republic

As we got the subway the other day, we looked at the prices for the various subway passes. The three day pass was more expensive, by a noticable amount, than a one day pass, which made no sense to Seth and I. In the U.S. when you buy something in bulk you tend to get a discount because you are paying more up front. In the Czech Rupublic, however, the it seems to be the other way around. When we asked our new Czech friend why this is, he merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "Welcome to the Czech Republic," in his Czech accent. I couldn't help but laugh.

This country has an interesting history. Seth and I took a walking tour through the city and it was fascinating. The Czech Republic has an incredibly lengthy history, over one thousand years, yet they only have about twenty years of independence. The benefit of this, is that much of their buildings and man made structures are still in tact, which leaves a city that is hundreds of years old, and looks every bit it's age.

Prague, in particular, has an interesting history. There are Protestant and Catholic churches, opulant structures that they are, right across the street from one another. There is a water line on nearly every building in Prague where the flood of 2000 came through. Prague and the Czech Republic have an interesting history, mostly because of their location. They are the only country in what is considered Central Europe. This geographic uniqueness has made the Czech Republic kind of a trading card between power hungry empires that have tried conquering Europe. In 1989, after the Soviets left, Czech, Czechoslovakia at the time, was finally granted independence.

Prague has a few interesting pieces of history, like their Defenestrations. Defenestration is a word used when someone is killed by being thrown out of a window. Prague natives have used this tactic a few times in their history, the latest being in 1947 when throwing Communists out of a window. Although this mob punishment tactic is not limited to Prague, it just so happens that it is a staple of their history. The funniest defenestration, or attempted defenestration, was in the 1600s when a mob of Protestants descended on the Kings rescidence when the King had ceased construction of a Protestant church. The protestants were looking for the King to throw out a window, but could not find him because he was hiding after he caught wind of the uprising, so instead the mob through a couple of Governors and a secratary out of the window. The window the mob chose, however, was one that lead to an embankment, which had a pileof manure at the base of it. The defenestrees (I'm not sure if that is a word, but you know what I mean) landed unharmed. I just think it that is a funny story, plus my brother Bryan gave me the heads up to look for that story, which was mentioned on the tour. An interesting piece of Czech history is that the Czechs gave us the microwave, so thank the Czech Republic next time you heat up a Hot Pocket filled with melted chees and gooey goodness. Thanks Czech Republic.