We walked a lot on Wednesday. We didn’t manage to get off our butts and out of the hostel until 1pm, but after that was almost constant movement. We skipped breakfast and instead got cheap Chinese food nearby (like 2 euros per plate). Something very strange happened at the Chinese restaurant: some sort of pressurized gas tank exploded in a van in front of the restaurant There was a pop and a loud fizzing noise, and then out back of the van sprayed a misty cloud of gas. The van was labeled all in Czech with “Bomby” written on the side, so we were naturally a little worried (we later deduced that this probably means “delivery”). And the Chinese waitresses looked genuinely terrified, as if a bomb had exploded. So everyone on the outside terrace cautiously moved into the building, the waitresses covered their mouths and noses with napkins, and some people with kids moved as far back as possible into the restaurant. About ten of us just stood in the doorway quizzically until we saw a man casually walk up into the spraying fumes, look into the trunk, and close the back doors of the van. Taking this as a sign that it wasn’t dangerous, we all moved back to our seats and cautiously continued to eat. The van owner laughed and said something in Czech to us all that, based on his hand gestures, probably translated to “it’s not dangerous because it all disperses into the air.” Another guy made a joke that, again based on hand gestures, said “so I’ll just light my cigarette now then!” And everyone laughed nervously while eyeing him to make sure that he didn’t actually make a spark.
After that adventure calmed down, we walked around taking in the sights – the famous Charles
Bridge that is the main Prague landmark, the touristy areas around the bridges, the Old Town central area of Prague, etc. We went in search of a bagel shop that had been advertised as a great place for internet, but after a long walk we found that they actually didn’t have wifi at all and their terminal computers were something like 4 euros per hour. So we didn’t bother to stay and set out wandering again, eventually snaking our way back to our hostel to get warmer clothes, and then back out to the central square to catch a Ghost Tour. Prague is famous for its ghost stories, and there are many creepy pictures of its gothic architecture and bridges engulfed in an eerie mist. The tour, however, was not as creepy as expected. Our guide was a woman speaking in stilted English, wearing a top hat and dark eyeliner, and carrying an umbrella. We chose her over another tour that was led a bored looking girl in a dark hood, and a third tour led by a man in a top hat without an umbrella. We may have made the wrong choice, though, as our guide started out the 
tour by telling us all about the “ghost orbs” that appear in people’s photos and urging us to take pictures and find ghosts. We, of course, all did find orbs (presumably due to the lighting or the dust in the area rather than ghosts, but who knows). She led us to a door with bear carvings that looked gold in photos but not in the dimly lit street (ok..) and had us take pictures of a hooded statue that was supposed to sometimes show the face of Mozart’s father in photos. She also told us a few creepy stories about the city, including the one that seems to be most classic: A man went to one of the local cathedrals to steal money and jewels. As he took gold off of the statue of the Virgin Mary, the statue grabbed his hands and refused to let go. When the priest found him, there was nothing he could do to free the man except to cut off his arm. After this happened, the statue dropped the hand and moved back to its original position, and the man was able to go free (but armless). The arm was then hung in the church as a joint symbol of the miracle of the statue coming to life and the punishment of stealing from the church, and the bones still hang there today hundreds of years later. It’s an interesting story, but not very creepy..
After the tour, we joined a huge group of tourists that had been inexplicably drawn to what appeared to be a typical street band. We watched for a few songs, then moved on. We visited the bridges again in the dark, but they were still not so creepy as the famous photographs and postcards. Exhausted from the day of walking, we finally went back to the hostel and (after a couple of 11 czk (40 cent) beers) crashed at the hostel. During the night, our dorm filled with its other inhabitants, who almost instantly gave it that familiar scent of college dorm rooms and binge drinking boys.
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