Prague, Czech Republic - October 29- November 2, 2018
After a very lengthy bus ride, we've made it to Prague. Seven and a half hours on a bus, with the boys and a militaristic stewardess who expected us to keep them in their seats belted. She gave up on us pretty quickly. Despite all of that, they did really well.
We settled into our lovely and cozy apartment. This place feels like a home. It's going to be hard to leave. We managed to track down a Vietnamese restaurant that was open, filled our bellies and settled into bed.
The next day was for exploring. Prague is a beautiful city!! A beautiful city ruined by tourists. The old town area reminds me of being at Disney. Nice buildings, tons of people, overpriced and trying to bleed your pockets. The cobble streets were hard to navigate with the strollers and hoards of people. That being said, it is picturesque. We walked to the main square, past the famous astronomical clock and over Charles Bridge.
The Czechs don't really celebrate Halloween, which was disappointing for me. There were a couple of people in minimal "costume" at cafes, but nothing like I'm used to. The weather smartened up, so we decided to return to lesser town and start up where we left off. We found a small clearing by the river that gave us a great vantage point of the bridge and the city. It was filled with swans and geese and reminded us of Stratford.
We headed to the John Lennon wall. The wall was started after his murder in the 1980s when a local artist painted his portrait and some lyrics. Since then, fans flock every year to add their mark to the wall.
We crossed back over the bridge and headed to Bakeshop, a café with piles of delicious food and baked goods we passed the day before and endeavored to return and indulge in.
That evening Luke and I headed to a Czech Extraliga hockey game, the highest level of hockey in CR. We scalped a ticket at a lower rate and settled in with a few very handsomely priced beers to cheer on Sparta Praha. Naturally, the home team lost, but it was a great time. They have fans that cheer and drum non stop throughout the game and cheerleaders. Why?? Who knows!
Post game, we hit up a lovely dive bar, the Bondy Bar, in our neighbourhood in search of a few more pints. It seemed no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find any beer outside of 3 brands.
After this, we get somewhat lazy. I think all of the excitement of Budapest and all the moving around just tired us out. So we did have a lot of downtime in Prague, which we were completely ok with. It was really hard to leave that cozy apartment with it's soft beds and giant soaker tub. We watched a lot of movies on the big sectional.
Luke, the boys and I did end up taking a stroll up to a huge park in our neighbourhood. One with a beer garden and a great view of old town Prague. Sorry, camera and phones got left behind. Isa went and toured the Klementinum, a lovely and giant scholarly library, no pictures allowed. We also witnessed a crazy blood orange sky sunset that evening.
On our last night, we had our signature "last supper". We decided on a restaurant a few steps from our apartment, Kolkovna Argentinska. The food was good, the beer was good, but overall we weren't blown away. This seemed to be an ongoing theme here in Prague
Overall, we didn't quite get the hype that surrounds Prague. I remember hearing multiple times that I "had to go to Prague" from many friends who travel. Maybe things have changed since they've been there? We found it beautiful, but lacking a bit of soul. Maybe due to the explosion of tourism. I can honestly say that I would much rather spend time in Budapest if given the choice.
To Germany!!
We settled into our lovely and cozy apartment. This place feels like a home. It's going to be hard to leave. We managed to track down a Vietnamese restaurant that was open, filled our bellies and settled into bed.
The next day was for exploring. Prague is a beautiful city!! A beautiful city ruined by tourists. The old town area reminds me of being at Disney. Nice buildings, tons of people, overpriced and trying to bleed your pockets. The cobble streets were hard to navigate with the strollers and hoards of people. That being said, it is picturesque. We walked to the main square, past the famous astronomical clock and over Charles Bridge.
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| Staromestske Namesti (Old Town Square) |
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The Church of our Lady before Tyn.
We found it interesting that they built up all around this beautiful church.
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| Astronomical Clock |
The tourist hold slightly wore off in lesser old town (across the bridge), but the weather was looking ominous and the sun setting, so we decided to return to our cozy apartment.
 |
| Vltava River |
The Czechs don't really celebrate Halloween, which was disappointing for me. There were a couple of people in minimal "costume" at cafes, but nothing like I'm used to. The weather smartened up, so we decided to return to lesser town and start up where we left off. We found a small clearing by the river that gave us a great vantage point of the bridge and the city. It was filled with swans and geese and reminded us of Stratford.
We headed to the John Lennon wall. The wall was started after his murder in the 1980s when a local artist painted his portrait and some lyrics. Since then, fans flock every year to add their mark to the wall.
We crossed back over the bridge and headed to Bakeshop, a café with piles of delicious food and baked goods we passed the day before and endeavored to return and indulge in.
That evening Luke and I headed to a Czech Extraliga hockey game, the highest level of hockey in CR. We scalped a ticket at a lower rate and settled in with a few very handsomely priced beers to cheer on Sparta Praha. Naturally, the home team lost, but it was a great time. They have fans that cheer and drum non stop throughout the game and cheerleaders. Why?? Who knows!
Post game, we hit up a lovely dive bar, the Bondy Bar, in our neighbourhood in search of a few more pints. It seemed no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find any beer outside of 3 brands.
After this, we get somewhat lazy. I think all of the excitement of Budapest and all the moving around just tired us out. So we did have a lot of downtime in Prague, which we were completely ok with. It was really hard to leave that cozy apartment with it's soft beds and giant soaker tub. We watched a lot of movies on the big sectional.
 |
| Never leaving this bed |
Luke, the boys and I did end up taking a stroll up to a huge park in our neighbourhood. One with a beer garden and a great view of old town Prague. Sorry, camera and phones got left behind. Isa went and toured the Klementinum, a lovely and giant scholarly library, no pictures allowed. We also witnessed a crazy blood orange sky sunset that evening.
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| Pork Knuckle |
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| Svickova (Beef pot roast with "dumplings" aka rounds of bread) |
Overall, we didn't quite get the hype that surrounds Prague. I remember hearing multiple times that I "had to go to Prague" from many friends who travel. Maybe things have changed since they've been there? We found it beautiful, but lacking a bit of soul. Maybe due to the explosion of tourism. I can honestly say that I would much rather spend time in Budapest if given the choice.
To Germany!!
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