Leaving places and people is a hard thing to do, especially not knowing when if ever you’ll seem them again.

I just got back from Prague, a sad event at that, as I miss it terribly already and there is not much I can do about it. As I’ve slowly made my way back to Indiana, I’ve thought about those I said goodbye to in Prague. The journey to Prague was not exactly a vacation, but rather a serious family matter that my mother needed to take care of. While we were there I met various family members, including my great uncle Milos, by whom I am absolutely enchanted. He is so charming and endearing that I could not help fall a little bit in love with him. He is getting older and has therefore become increasingly helpless. Enter my mother to help him with serious matters. While my mother was helping him with various things, I became increasingly saddened by his situation, which has led me to think about him often and worry about how he is doing. The hard part about leaving people is thinking about what they might be doing in your absence and whether or not they are ok.

Not all of the trip was a sad affair. I fell in love with Prague the minute we got there – the airport, one’s first introduction to the city, is so elegant, and furthermore the drive through Prague down the hill from the palace to the center of town is magical. My favorite thing about Prague was simply walking throughout the city because it is so beautiful and magical. That is really the only way I can describe it, magical. It’s like a dream. Everywhere you look there are beautiful buildings and cafes, and the cobblestone streets are charming. The dogs in Prague seem to walk without a leash and are a very obedient, not to mention adorable. The crosswalks are not directed by traffic lights, so cross at your own risk (But the cars are always very attentive and do actually stop! haha). Prague at night is probably even more beautiful than Prague during the day, as everything is lit up and the lights give it such a romantic feeling. Prague at night was probably my favorite thing about the whole trip. The Charles Bridge is just as imposing as it looks in the pictures, with beautiful statuary lining the whole bridge and both ends of bridge decorated with dark towers and green-roofed domes, a combination which is quite striking.

As a dear friend pointing out to me as I was telling her about the trip, perhaps the reason it was such a great trip is because it was unexpected. I was not particularly excited about the trip beforehand, but I was extremely pleasantly surprised by what I discovered there. It was also such a pleasure to meet family members, of whom I was not previously acquainted with and who have greatly enriched my life just in the short time I have known them. It was also very interesting to learn about some family history, as my mother’s side of the family is all from the Czech Republic and has been through so much with both the German and Russian occupations of the country. The trip was honestly life-changing for me, as I now have an even greater desire than I did before to move to Europe, particularly Prague. I miss it so much already and can’t wait to go back, but for now I often look at pictures and postcards I have covered my walls with and daydream about my next time in Prague…