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Published: August 22nd 2010
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I am so excited that Lauren and I decided to stay in Prague for two more nights. It was very nice being able to take a day of relaxation. We took our time waking up, eating breakfast and getting into Old Town.
We ate silently at breakfast, sad that Mariel had to leave us so soon ☹
Our plan for the day was to take things easy—go visit the Prague Castle (Praha Castle--as the locals such as ourselves, call it) and beautiful Gothic cathedral on top of the hill overlooking all of Prague.
But first, we needed some food already. Breakfast here consists of a piece or toast typically, which is not enough to hold us over for long. We are used to the good ol' hardy American breakfast consisting of fatty foods that fill you up for the entire day. Not here. In Europe they eat a piece of bread or a pastery.
After we hopped off the tram into Old Town Prague we went into the middle of the Town Square and stopped at a little bbq place where they were grilling chicken kababs. We each bought a kabab that they put inside of a
baguette for 5 Euro which is a steal (Prague is SO cheap compared to the other places we have visited--nice surprise). We sat in the park while we atemped to eat these kabab sandwiches. Lauren gracefully ate hers as I dropped half of mine onto the cobble stones...It was still delicious, just difficult to eat!! The best food we have had in Prague thus far!
Since we only bought enough tram tickets to leave and return to the hostel we decided it wouldn’t be too difficult to just walk up to the castle—wrong. We couldn’t find the river (that we needed to cross)for a while, so we were going in many different little circles around the Old Town Square. Eventually we stopped and asked some nice policemen if they could direct us in the right direction. They kind of giggled and pointed us toward the water.
Once we crossed the outstanding St. Charles bridge that was packed, again today, with people, we could see the castle. It looked close, but like normal, we got lost and had to add an extra 30-40 minutes searching for this HUGE gothic building. I think this is a clear indication that both
our senses of directions are clearly a little off (especially considering we have been lost everywhere we have gone!). We ended up in some dead alley way definitely nowhere near tourists, or any sort of castle.
Eventually we made the trek up the hill to find the most amazing views of the city. These views were comparable, if not better, than those views from the Sacre Coeur in Paris. All of the buildings in Prague have bright red roofs that look firey and old in the sunlight. You can see for miles in any direction! We climbed stairs, stairs and more stairs.
Once the ground was flat again we could spot the castle. We walked through the golden gates “guarded” by some Prague teenagers in costumes, and were stunned to see the breathtaking cathedral in front of us. The St. Vitus Cathedral is technically located within the Prague castle itself, but the surrounding buildings don't look nearly as grand as this Gothic tower!
The inside of St. Vitus is just as amazing as the outside, except with less Gargoles. The stained glass artwork is incredible! It is insane to think that even way back in the day
when this church was built, they had the capabilities to make such stunning art (not to mention the architecture itself!)!
We wandered into all the various buildings on top of the hill, took a ton of pictures and called it a day. Since we had gotten such a late start it was already "late" as Europeans call it (it was only 6:00pm) and everything was closing.
it is so strange here, because all the stores and shops close at 6:00pm on the dot. Even most of the grocery stores!!! We managed to find one grocery store that was still open, and we bought some very much needed produce. They really do not eat fruits or vegetables like we do in California!! Their servings of "vegetables" are two slices of tomato on your baguette sandwich. We needed some fresh fruits and veggies, but only left the store with some apples and chocolate. Maybe next time...
Tomorrow will be the Jewish museum, which we both expect to be pretty heavy, considering we are in the heart of the Holocaust.
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Connie Gruber
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FANTASTIC
Dear Emily, You are just amazing and what a trip!!! I hope that you plan to write a book or make a DVD of your adventures this year. You are so creative, write so well, and are so beautiful and adorable. Thanks for sharing. Love, Connie