Saturday was a lazy day in most aspects. I slept in and spent most of the day in the dorm, because the past week wore me out pretty well. Still, the evening held a lovely time with new colleagues and friends. Cinzia departed from
Praha on Sunday and Stephanie’s father was in the city visiting, so a cookout was had to say hello to new people and goodbye to others. Although I knew most of the way on the metro, I decided to take the bus out to Pisnice, where my mentor resides. After 4 buses, a tram, a rainstorm, and some walking, I finally arrived about an hour and a half after I had left. The place is beautiful and I now understand why Cinzia spoke so fondly of their garden. A large willow tree stands in their backyard, which is walled, and it is just nice to take in the country air (or, at least, more country air than in the heart of the city). We laughed, we ate, and we drank well into the night, and I don’t think there was a better way to send off my new friend. I hope the rest of her travels find her well.
I decided to hike out to the other castle in the city on Sunday. Vysherad is younger than Prague Castle but just as 
visible. I took a bus into the main part of the city and walked to the castle high above everything else. On my way, I came once again upon the Dancing House, a controversial office building in the city, and the Cathedral of St. Cyril
and Methodius. This church actually houses one of the only free museums in the city, which speaks of the martyrs from World War II who snuck their way into the city to attempt to assassinate Heydrich. With the attempt being successful, a massive manhunt for the killers began. They sought refuge with five others in this cathedral. A fire fight killed three of the men, while the rest committed suicide when the Gestapo tried to smoke them out of the catacombs.
From this site, I walked mostly along the river and briefly through a botanical garden before I reached the bottom 
of Vysherad. Instead of walking through one of the two gates into the fortress’s grounds, I decided to climb up the back way. At the top, there were beautiful views of the river and the rest of the city. Vysherad contains a cemetery,
cathedral, royal gardens, and beautiful architecture. I ate lunch at a cafe that overlooked the cemetery before spending well over an hour taking in those laid to rest. It always takes my breath away how beautiful European cemeteries are. From their intricate memorials (by statue, tombstone, or ironwork) to their closeness to nature (as graves are not tended to in the same way as U.S. cemeteries), so many things catch your eye and take your breath away. The views were just as beautiful, and I spent much of my time just looking out over the river or over the city.
As is the nature of this time of year, I had to quickly abandon this adventure due to a wall of rain that descended 
upon me. Hiding under an archway to wait for the worst of it to stop, I left the grounds via the brick gate in search of a restaurant suggested to me by a friend that had visited the city previously. I found U Kroka easily, ordered a beer and the rabbit (the
suggestion of my friend) and settled in for some light reading on a rainy Sunday. Two hours later, I made my way back home for a relaxed evening before the beginning of another week at the office.
Raven K 