Today was Liberation Day! Many companies were closed today, so we had a long walking tour of the city to start the day. A small group of us went up the clock tower in the morning to get pretty sweet views of the city. Then we started our tour with our guide, Jana. Having her as a guide made the tour so much more meaningful and informative because we were able to hear the history and stories behind each building and landmark. For example, we saw a memorial for Milada Horáková, who was executed under the Communist Rule for her prominent activism against the totalitarian rule. For this memorial, Jana gave us personal stories about the show trial and how her Grandmother, who was about 20 at the time, reacted to the broadcast. We also explored Lesser Town of Prague, which I think is my favorite part of the city so far because it seems more unique and quieter. We ran out of time so we had to save the castle visit for another day.
After our tour, we took a quick bus ride to dinner – which was cooked by US! This was such a cool experience. I think everyone in the group had a blast with this, and we were joking around a lot; however, I also really enjoyed learning to make traditional Czech dishes. I usually only cook the same three or four dinners for myself, so it was nice learning a new recipe and connecting it to the culture. I think it’s cool that a common Czech pastime is picking mushrooms in the forest, which can be used in mushroom soup, like we made today.
Swanson School of Engineering 