Location

One of the things I loved most about Prague and the Czech Republic as a whole was the location. The Czech Republic is landlocked and surrounded by Germany, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary, with Italy and Croatia nearby. This was especially convenient for travelling on the weekends. We took busses or trains to a variety of places on the weekends, which proved to be faster and cheaper than flying. There are also many unique towns and villages located right outside of Prague in the Czech Republic. Day trips to Pilsen to tour famous brewery cellars or to Karlstejn to tour the 1348 Karlstejn Castle were fun excursions when we wanted to venture outside of Prague.

 Ease of Public Transportation

Getting around the city was much easier than I originally expected. The most common methods of transportation are the underground metro, tram, or walking. Personally, I lived about 20 minutes from campus and the main part of the city, so I took the metro just about every day. After the first several days in Prague, we had the metro schedule down and could figure out how to get almost anywhere around Prague. Walking and taking the above-ground rail tram was great when we were already in the main areas of the city because it gave us the opportunity to see different areas of Prague and learn where everything is.

 Food Variety

After researching Czech food before arriving in Prague, I found that traditional Czech meals consist of heavier foods such as meat, potatoes, dumplings, and goulash. Although this did not sound discouraging, I was going to miss a good plate of pasta or chicken quesadilla. However, after arriving in Prague, I came to realize the city was filled with plenty of restaurants catering all types of cuisine. There were more Italian and Mexican restaurants than I could count, and a KFC could be found every several blocks.  Plus, I learned Czech food was pretty tasty, after all!