BYU women's basketball arrives in Prague

Prague, Czech Republic — The BYU women's basketball team arrived in Prague on Sunday afternoon, August 19, to begin its 12-day, four games, four countries tour of Europe.

The Cougars will play their first game Tuesday evening.

Athlete journal by Khaedin Taito – Sunday, Aug. 19

Flying into Prague, the scenery from the plane was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of back home in Hastings, New Zealand, seeing all the green fields. Getting out of the plane, the weather was warmer than I had expected. My first impressions after leaving the airport, I was amazed by the interesting graffiti as well as the pastel colored buildings that we drove past. You can definitely tell that this place has a lot of history because the attractive designs of the buildings and other structures portray such unique character. 

As soon as we got to the hotel, lovely Czechs greeted us. What was different with hotels back in America is that the employees kindly insisted on taking our bags to our rooms for us. It took Shalae and I a good minute to open our room door, as the keyhole was weird, LOL. But once we did open the door, the room design wasn’t too different from American hotels. It was just a lot smaller than what we were used to. Also, the two single beds were beside each other, so we decided to pull them apart.

After showering and getting ready for the afternoon, my roomie and I decided to tour the streets of Prague. It was AMAZING! The atmosphere was so mesmerizing. Walking on cobblestone streets, surrounded by detailed buildings and a diverse range of people, it was crazy fun. It was so cool just being in a new place and seeing first-hand another culture and their way of life.

Once we got back to the hotel, we then met up with the rest of the group and took the metro to dinner. Dinner was very interesting. We were able to try a variety of Czech dishes. We started off with a delicious potato soup and then had a buffet style menu which included potato dumplings, sour cabbage, bohemian roasted duck, mushroom ‘Kuba,’ roasted pork and my personal favorite pork and beef goulash. We finished the meal with a popular dessert called strawberry dumpling accompanied by yogurt. It was definitely interesting!

All in all, Prague – the city, the food and the people has been better than what I had expected. It’s been an awesome way to start off our European trip.

Athlete journal by Malli Valgardson – Monday, Aug. 20

Today was our first full day in Prague. We went and toured the Old Town and New Town of Prague. Then Paisley Johnson, Ashley Beckstrand, Maria Albiero and I went on a boat ride on the river. As a team, we got to see the city all lit up. Our day ended with the team eating ice cream together.

Prague is such a pretty place. The buildings and the architecture are just amazing. I feel like I am in a movie. So unreal.

The majority of the people here speak English so that has been nice to be able to communicate with them. That is something that is very nice. I would be lost if not.

The food has been good so far. They love potatoes and meat. I have liked it, but it hasn't been my favorite. They don't serve ice in their drinks so in this hot weather I have been craving some ice water. All in all, the food has been good, but the ice cream is where it's at! It is so good over here.