Onward to Prague

We awoke about an hour before the members of the church started arriving. This left me plenty of time to change my clothes and take down the tent. While I was getting ready for church, Nick was frantically looking for a bathroom. Nick was a great Boy Scout growing up and has always internalized the Boy Scout Motto--Be Prepared! Whether Nick and I are gone for a couple hours hiking to the nearby hot springs or a couple weeks backpacking through Europe, Nick will always bring his Charmin (toilet paper). In all the years I've known Nick, he has never used his Charmin. So I thought this particular morning in Austria was going to change all of this. Fortunately for Nick, an elderly Austrian  showed up 30 minutes early for choir practice and saved Nick from using his precious 3 ply Charmin.

Similar to our Sabbath Day in Florence, the Austrian church members were so kind to us dirty backpackers (however I did spend about 5 minutes in the bathroom trying to clean myself up). Anyway, I'm really grateful Nick and I were able to attend church because although we spoke a different language and came from a different background, we felt unified with these members because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We sang hymns, participated in the weekly ordinance of the Sacrament, and with help from a translator, listened to members of the church give talks on gospel principles. Although the culture many differ slightly, the doctrine taught stays the same. The prayer that blesses the Holy Sacrament stays the same. And the hymns sung have been translated into hundreds of languages blessing millions of lives each week.


Again, we found ourselves in a tight situation. After Sacrament Meeting concluded, we needed to catch our train to Prague. Fortunately, Klaus Lingren, a Finnish member of the church, had recently married an Austrian and now lived in Linz. Because I served my mission in Finland, Klaus and I shared many of the same friends but we had never met. He was kind enough to drive us back to the train station so we were able to make our departing train. Both Nick and I look back at these moments standing in amazement at how giving these complete strangers were toward us.

Old train in southern Czech Republic

The train that took us to Prague, Czech Republic was much more run down than the trains we had previously rode. We sat in another stuffy compartment until we pulled the windows down. I rode part of the way with my head sticking out of the window to enjoy fresh air and the beautiful landscapes of the Czech Republic.

Nick wasn't a fan of these Czech trains.

Once we stepped off the train, a nearby vending machine caught my eye. The prices were completely different from the rest of Europe, which caused me to ask Nick, "Does the Czech Republic use the euro?" The lady at the information booth informed us in a thick Czech answer that we needed to convert our Euros to Czech crowns. After wondering around the train station and asking random people on the streets, we found a place to exchange our euros. A metro and tram ride took us within walking distance of our hostel--Czech Inn. At 14€/night, this hostel was the cheapest hostel we stayed at and, surprisingly, the nicest too.

Old Town Prague

Old Town Prague

After securing our backpacks in our rooms, we ventured out to see the nightlife of Prague. Everyone told me that Prague was a beautiful city. I understand what they meant because the buildings of Old Town Prague are brightly colored. We bought cheap gelato and watched street performers entertain many while we crossed the St. Charles Bridge.

Standing in front of St. Charles Bridge

We hiked uphill for awhile to check out the Prague Castle at night. There was hardly anyone around when we made it to the castle grounds. Nick, however, bumped into a group of Koreans (Nick served his mission in Korea). They were flabbergasted that an American would learn their language.

Nick and his Korean friends

Prague Castle

According to Guinness Book of Records, the gothic Prague castle is the biggest castle in the world. It was quite interesting to pick out the similarities between the castle and the Salt Lake Temple. After walking through the castle grounds, we headed back to our hostel to get a good night sleep.