Yay! I'm In Prague!!

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June 11th 2007

Published: September 5th 2007

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Jen C

Prague Castle

Prague Castle at around 10pm, taken from an area just to the left after crossing Charles Bridge into Old Town

Our train was set to leave Vienna at 10:08am this morning for Prague. The driver who took us to the station from the hotel walked us to the track, which was fortunate because when we got there, we found out we had to board a different train than the one we were looking for. Apparently the train coming into Vienna was late so we had to take a shorter train to Breclav and then had to transfer to the correct train. Luckily there were many other people faced with the same dilemma so we were able to figure it out together. I also noticed almost immediately that there were quite a few more English speaking people on the train than I had seen (or heard) while we were in Vienna.

The train ride to Breclav was about an hour, and the train to Prague was an additional three hours. The ride was smooth and the countryside was beautiful, so the time really flew by. When we arrived in Prague, a driver from the hotel (K&K Central) was there waiting for us and drove us to our destination. After checking into the hotel we decided to wander around and get acquainted

K&K Central

This was our hotel in Prague, located just past the Powder Tower in Old Town on Hybernska St. (excellent hotel, excellent location!)

with the city. As small as Prague is, I found it very easy to head off in the wrong direction. There were several small streets that zig zag in different directions and then turn into other streets. Fortunately we managed to find our way toward the river and ended up on the street with the Dancing Building on the corner. Since that was something I was looking forward to seeing anyway, our getting turned around worked out perfectly!

We decided to cross the Jiraskuv Bridge into Mala Strana and walk along the river toward the Charles Bridge. We then walked across the Charles Bridge toward Stare Mesto (Old Town) and looked at the many statues lined along the edges of the bridge. There are two noteworthy statues on the bridge. The first, St. John of Nepomuk, commemorates the man who was thrown from the bridge to his death. Rumor has it that if you rub the statue with your left hand, St. John will bring you good luck! The other statue worth mentioning is St. Nicholas of Tolentino, who is depicted handing out bread to the poor. Behind him stands a house with a lantern on the balcony, and

Elevator at K&K Central Hotel

This elevator was awesome! It's all glass so you can see the floors pass as you go up.

the rumor is that if the lantern goes out when you pass the statue, you will die within a year. Needless to say, I spend much more time near the St. John statue!

We hung out on the bridge for a couple of hours waiting for it to get dark so I could get some night photos. To my dismay, it does not start getting dark here until after 10pm! I did manage to get some pretty good shots of Prague Castle though, so I was happy about that. It was also nice to see that the stores here stay open until at least 10pm, whereas in Vienna everything was closed by 7pm. Another thing to note: always carry 5kc and 10kc coins with you because the bathrooms (WCs) in most areas in Prague require a fee to use them. Most restaurants are free, but not many other places. Another thing I forgot to mention before about the bathrooms (both in Vienna and Prague): the stalls are almost completely soundproof! You can barely hear what is going on next to you, which makes the whole public bathroom experience a little less embarrassing. 

After I got my night

Blocks

These blocks were set up in an area just off Wenceslas Square. You could paint your name on one and add it to the pile! (I didn't so I'm not sure how much it cost)

photos we walked back through Old Town to our hotel. Of course I managed to walk down the wrong street once we got to the other side of the main square, but we got turned back in the right direction rather quickly, so it wasn’t too bad.

Tomorrow we take a guided tour of the city and then it’s off to explore more of Prague!

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