You’ve seen all our pictures and know pretty much everything we did in Prague. Or so you think! Our first night in Prague was Thanksgiving. We ate at a cute little traditional Cezch restaurant where I had sirloin with a bread type stuffing and cranberry sauce on the side. The meal strangely felt like a traditional Thanksgiving meal. The streets that night were cold and the cobble stones reflected a hazy amber light, which enhanced the beauty of being in the city. It made us feel like we were international spies or in a movie about them at least. You know the kind movie I’m talking about-- the one where the unassuming Americans fall into a trap of intrigue somewhere in Eastern Europe, etc, etc. Isn’t that what the next Johnny Depp movie is about?
The first full day in Prague we headed to the Old Town Square of the city first. We first came upon the Clock Tower, which has a famous Astronomical Clock and is also a coo-coo clock. While we waited for it to ring in the hour a group of German Tourists started singing Christmas carols and a bridal party walked by heading to the church. In addition to all this merriment the smell of hot wassail hung heavy in the air. The clock finally chimed, but it was less exciting than waiting for it to chime had been, but still an interesting experience.
Next stop was Charles Bridge, the most famous and oldest bridge in Prague. It was built during medieval times and today showcases local artists down its path. Since it was Friday the bridge was less crowded than usual. I suggest that everyone should travel to Prague, but make sure you come during the off season. It makes a huge difference not only in walking around, but in booking hotel rooms and eating at places.
Charles Bridge lived up to its expectations and it has the best view of the city--in my opinion. We walked across the bridge to go to Prague Castle and Cathedral. The Castle and Cathedral are located on one of the higher hills in the city. So the hike was slow, but no worse than a volcano. :) Once you reach the top the city unfolds around you like a painting. All you can think is, “Am I really here?” “And oh my God this is so amazing.” I can honestly say that Prague is one of my favorite cities I have ever been to. What makes the city so wonderful is that it is so accessible, so approachable. Other cities like Rome and London are grand and overwhelming, but Prague is easily navigated on foot and yet still retains a sense of mystery.
As we were exiting the Castle and Cathedral area we arrived just in time for the changing of the guard. I know what your thinking and yes, Prague has a changing of the guard, it is not exclusive to Buckingham Palace! The soldiers were serious and dressed in full military regalia, but I did see one or two crack a smile for a brief moment. While watching the “changing” a group of tourists pushed their way to the front, which meant I got pushed to the back. Ben was annoyed and was talking quite loudly about how rude people can be, but it didn’t bother me. I’ve gotten use to pushy people just from being in Hungary these last few months. No offense Hungarian readers, but you all seriously need to learn the art of forming a line. :)
Our next stop was lunch, which helped us warm up. After lunch we ventured to the Jewish Old Town section of the city. Then we went to the Wenceslas Square where the huge Museum of Natural History is located. Ben looked at it and said that must be their Parliament building, but when we looked at our map and saw it was a museum we were surprised! It is funny Ben thought that because Communist troops shot at the Museum after mistaking it for the Parliament building too.
This square has also been witness to Nazi Occupation and the Velvet Revolution, but now it is home to fried cheese sandwiches and more sausage stands than should be humanly possible. We traveled from the square back to our hotel for a break before we got dinner.
We decided to head back to the Old Town Square for dinner. It is a very touristy section, but it wasn’t crowded at all that night. We decided to eat outside to enjoy the sites of the square. There were heaters located around us, but I still froze. The cuisine was once again traditional Czech, which usually means some sort of meat slow roasted with a gravy type sauce poured over it all. This is not the place to go if you are on a diet! Luckily, since we had walked easily over 10 miles that day I didn’t feel any remorse about pigging out. I convinced Ben to order his first beer (ever in Europe) for dinner. He ordered a golden Pilsner beer, which looked so beautiful that I even decided to try some of it. It must have been a good beer because it was the first beer that didn’t make Ben gag. Czech Republic is known to have some of the best beer in all of Europe and I can safely say the rumor is true.
As we finished dinner and got ready to leave it started to snow. We raced through the streets of Prague back to our hotel with snowflakes chasing us along the way.
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