A Day in Prague with Cassandra

Who Is Cassandra?

To start with, I’d like to introduce Cassandra a little, because I think she’s a very interesting woman. Cassandra is originally from Quebec, but for several years now she has been living in Germany. Cassandra really loves languages and she also loves traveling and discovering new places. And whatever Cassandra enjoys, she makes a priority. She has spoken French and English since childhood, and in Germany she learned German very quickly and also very well. And why did she start learning Czech? Because she likes the Czech language, she feels good when she speaks Czech, and she also really loves Prague and says that one day she would like to live in Prague.

Cassandra and I met in person (offline) for the second time. The first time was two years ago in Pardubice. At that time, she had been learning Czech for only a short time, and when we wanted to talk about more complicated things, we spoke English. And now, two years later, we spent the whole day together, we talked a lot, and I think also about quite complex topics, which are sometimes difficult to talk about even in your mother tongue. This time, however, we spoke only Czech. And I was thrilled, because for me this is the most beautiful motivation to do what I do — because I can see that it makes sense!

Cassandra doesn’t have lessons very often — usually once a week an individual or group lesson, and sometimes even less — but in her lessons with me she found motivation and found out what she enjoys and how she can integrate Czech into her “German” life. And that clearly worked 100%!

Cassandra Came to Prague

Recently, Cassandra took a several-day trip from Germany to Prague. It wasn’t her first time in Prague, and because she really likes it there, she wanted to come back. We agreed that I would come to Prague as well and that we would meet there. In Prague, Cassandra also met up with another student whom she knows from a group course and also from a Czech WhatsApp training, which they have already completed together with me twice.

For me, it was fascinating to see Prague once again through a tourist’s eyes. Cassandra had prepared places she wanted to see and cafés she wanted to visit, so I didn’t have to plan anything — just accompany her. And that was great! Cassandra is also a vegan, so for me it was a great opportunity to discover new vegan cafés and taste interesting dishes. For the first time in my life, I had “scrambled eggs” and “chorizo” in a vegan version, and I was surprised at how good it was!

Cassandra also took me to the Vrtba Garden in Malá Strana (you can see our photo from the garden above), where I had last been maybe as a child. We also wanted to go to Vyšehrad, but when we got off the tram, it started raining heavily. Luckily, right by the stop we spotted a cat café, and because we both love cats, we went in. And it was a very specific cat café, because they mainly had large Maine Coon cats (Maine Coon Cats), which I love. It was the first time I had ever been in a café surrounded (they were all around me) by these giant cats (giants).

At the end of the day, we also went together to one very pleasant teahouse. I know that in many countries teahouses are not very popular, but in the Czech Republic, fortunately, they can be found in every larger city, and for anyone who likes a calm environment and quality tea, it’s an ideal place. Cassandra and I both really love teahouses. In teahouses, people usually sit on the floor on cushions in an oriental style, and it’s often a bit dark, creating an interesting, intimate atmosphere. That’s ideal for deep conversations (in Czech). In the teahouse, Cassandra told me that she really likes Prague and that she is happy when she can speak Czech all day. That made me very happy 😊 and I hope she will have many such opportunities and that we will see each other again soon.