What does Kanye have to do with the CZR?

Well, he filmed the video for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" in Prague, for one thing. Surprising, yes?

That's just one of the many fun facts I learned about Prague during my weekend trip there. Prague is quite the hot spot in Europe - reminiscent of a giant dollhouse with some junkies and obnoxious British tourists thrown in for good measure. When it comes to central Europe, Prague has everything you need - beautiful architecture like Vienna (without the stuffiness) and some remaining Communist-era vibes like Budapest (but not nearly as grungy). Even better, the Czech Republic is inexplicably cheap. Like, 80 cents a beer cheap.

And the highlights?

1. Franz Kafka is everywhere

I went through a stage in high school where I got really into The Metamorphosis so all the Kafka paraphanalia brought back some good (and by "good" I mean "horribly awkward") memories.

2. Folk dancing festival!

I stumbled upon an international folk dancing festival on my first day walking around Prague. Who doesn't love folk dancing? And not to get all "Cultural Change Institute" on you, but some folk dances schooled the others. The Greeks and Croatians? Awesome. But dance troupes from the Baltic states? Nyet.

3. Jewish Quarter

Beautiful, well-preserved, and home of a legit bagel shop.

4. Museum of Communism

The poster says (shows?) it all.

CZR!

This past weekend, some UN friends and I rented a car and drove to Český Krumlov, a town in the Czech Republic. Rather than take the train to get there, we opted to do it North American-style and make a road trip out of it. While the drive was supposed to take 2 and a half hours, our journey was probably closer to 6. A lot of this can be blamed on me. As I've said before, I can't be trusted with navigation. However, Google maps should share some of the responsibility.

Český Krumlov, if you've never heard of it, is a UNESCO World Heritage site along the Vltava River. The town provided another opportunity to get my castle fix, as well as do something outdoorsy. This included going on what the receptionist at our hostel called "a gentle walk," which turned out to be a 11.5 km hike straight up a mountain. And I was wearing flip-flops. The painful hike was worth it, however, as we got to "kick bike" all the way down. A kick bike is kind of like a suped-up scooter that goes uncontrollably fast. I really want one of my own.

On Sunday, we went rafting. The river was pretty calm apart from one wicked drop-off.

Note: There were something like two dozen Australians with us on the rafting trip. In fact, Český Krumlov was crawling with Australians. All of them had been backpacking for months and, from the description of their travels, it sounded as though they were taking one giant pub crawl across Europe.