Our first day waking up in Prague started earlier for some than others. If you're McKenna, then you woke up at one (in the morning) and layed in bed for six hours until breakfast was served. Considering the fact that some of us had been up for thirty hours straight, this was kind of insane. Others woke up at four, but the normal ones (like us) didn't wake up until our alarms went off. Everyone went to breakfast in the lobby, which consisted mostly of bread, butter, and apple juice. We were all dressed up for sightseeing in the city. Well, some were less dressed up, like tall Maddie and her shorts with a pinky-sized hole in the butt. Ignoring this, we made our way through the streets on a trolley and arrived at the base of a massive, lush, and grassy hill. We had to make the decision of either hiking, or taking a tram to reach the top. This may seem like an obvious decision, however we chose to throw in some extra exercise and take on the mountain on foot.
We set off on our journey through many switchbacks and uneven paths. One could visibly see the hole in Maddie's shorts growing into a good sized slit once we reached the top. We took some group pictures in front of the beautiful city of Prague, then entered a room full of fun mirrors that made us look fat, skinny, and like we had abnormally long thighs. Then we went into a mirror maze, which was easy to navigate and we quickly found our way out.
Next, we faced yet another difficult decision... to climb or not to climb a tower one third the size of the Eiffel tower. Half of us decided to pay fifty krowns (about three dollars) in order to climb to the top and see the whole city. After returning from six hundred steps up and down the tower, the group reunited, happy to learn that Maddie's hole problem and been solved thanks to Brock's jacket. The six that didn't climb up the tower discovered a lovely swing and were dying to get their turn on it. After being pressured by Hava to invade the young children's personal space until they left the swing, they got their finally got their turn!
Marching back down the mountain through the streets, we reached the Prague castle. We tried to make the guards laugh unsuccessfully. Inside, was a beautiful cathedral with magnificent stained glass windows. After taking a ton of photos, we walked the streets until we reached Pizza Express. We got either a slice of pizza or of a calzone. Because the long walk (which, according to Brittany, was beautiful and fun) tired us out, we all sat in front of the restaurant on the curb and ate our lunch. Two random male strangers decided to squeeze in between Taylor and little Maddie and demanded a photo with all of us California girls, rudely yet humorously disturbing our lunch.
We walked across a the Charles Bridge and into a small and busy plaza for some shopping and gelato. Some of us bought souvenirs, and after returning to the hotel, tall Maddie's shorts entirely ripped down the seam, we got ready for our first match in Europe! Some parents caught up with us on the buses to watch us play at the gym. As we walked through the doors of the naturally lit gym, we immediately noticed a group of huge, almost middle-aged girls laying down and stretching on the floor. We knew this would be an interesting match.
Our warm-up consisted of hectic shared hitting, which, to say the least, was potentially dangerous and life-threatening. The first two games we lost 16-25, and the third was 18-25, and we don't need to talk about the last two. We headed off to dinner at an Italian restaurant, and ate way too much, laughing hysterically at McKenna's gorgeous faces. We walked outside and were greeted by some possibly drunk (yet harmless - especially with our coaches/admin and guides to guard us) guys who also wanted a picture with us. Trying to hold ourselves together, we got on another trolley back to the hotel. Entirely exhausted from a day of walking around the pretty city, we were anxious to take showers and head off to bed. We were all looking forward to our next day in Prague!
Please excuse any typos or undecipherable sentences- it's been a long day! -__-
<3 Allie and Emily
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