One time...in Praha

After 3 full days in Munich, then a trip to Salzburg, it was time to move our adventures to another city.  I was so excited to get back to Prague.  I was fortunate to have spent some time there in May 2004 for a study abroad trip in college.  I had talked about this great city for 10 years, so I was thrilled to get to bring Will back with me.

We decided to add some extra fun to our trip and went to Prague by train.  I found a train that went straight there, thankfully.  There were some that had various stops where we would need to change trains.  But, being our first train ride together and having all our luggage...direct was best!  It took a little over 6 hours.  The train wasn't impressive...just seats and it didn't have a food car - boo!  Thankfully, we had some snacks in our bags so we didn't starve.  We did get to see some beautiful countryside on our journey!  Once we arrived at the train station, we had to take a cab to our hotel.

Our crappy train

Cabbing it to the hotel

We got checked in at the Unitas hotel.  Our travel buddies, Brian and Shawn were flying to Prague, so while waiting on them, Will and I went exploring to find beer and a snack.  Once our friends arrived, we went for a late dinner, then headed to bed early.

On Friday morning, the four of us went to explore.  We took a tram up to the Prague Castle and the Strahov Monastery.  There were gorgeous views and pretty awesome structures.  We continued with our walking journey towards the Charles Bridge.  Just before the bridge, we stopped for a bite to eat then continued on.  We made sure to hit all the landmarks on the bridge that you are supposed to rub for various reasons, but most of all the statue of St. John of Nepomuk.  The saint was thrown to his death on the bridge and by rubbing this part of the statue is said to bring good fortune and ensure that you return to Prague one day (it must work as I rubbed it 10 years ago!).

Blurry, but the tram ride

In the Monastery

Castle in the distance

Cathedral in the Prague Castle  

Charles Bridge in the distance

Group selfie on the Charles Bridge ;)

We didn't stop walking there and ventured into the Old Town Square.  We enjoyed the scenery and relaxed to have a beer (surprise, surprise).  Then, we headed to the Jewish quarter to see the old cemetery, synagog, and museum.  Unfortunately, due to the Jewish holiday, it was closed.  So, we peaked through what cracks we could.

Enjoying Old Town Square

We ran into a section of town with street vendors and stopped for a snack and another drink.  It had cooled off some, so I enjoyed a hot chocolate and some candy : )

No sour patch kids :(

Saturday morning lead us to Terezin.  We hired a private guide to take the 4 of us from the hotel to the concentration camp for a tour.  I visited Terezin on my last trip and wanted everyone to see and share in this piece of history.  It's a humbling experience to visit a concentration camp...don't really have the words to explain it.  Our tour guide was phenomenal and full of knowledge.  We learned a lot!

The cemetery 

In the small fortress

Afterwards, we relaxed a bit and walked back to Charles Bridge to get some more pictures and soak up more of Prague.  That night we headed out for our farewell dinner as we were all leaving in the morning.

The fabulous four

The beautiful Charles Bridge with the Prague Castle in the background.

My dinner...it was so good I had to include a picture :)

This was the view out our hotel window.

Overall, it was great to be back in Prague.  The city has so much character - old buildings, cobblestone streets, just awesome.  Unfortunately, the smoking issue exists there too.  The service at restaurants is pretty much horrible!! Its almost like you are an inconvenience to the server to be there...and heaven forbid if you have a question about something on the menu.  Not using the Euro is confusing...they use crown.  A meal can be 300 crown which sounds expensive, but its really around $13.  So, the math is a bit harder to do in your head.

Our hotel was AWESOME!!!  It was very clean and spacious.  We had a sitting room in addition to the bedroom and bathroom.  So, it was nice to be able to spread out a bit.  They also provided a continental breakfast each morning.  My favorite part was the cute tea pot that I enjoyed green tea in every morning and the omelets.  The ladies working in the breakfast room were very kind and helpful.  I highly recommend Unitas and would want to stay there on our next visit.

My morning tea ;)

Unfortunately, I got out of rhythm and didn't us my HTS while we were there - oops : (

Off to our last stop...Amsterdam!!