Prague!

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Prague

We had heard so many amazing things about Prague from other people we met on the trip, we had really high expectations. Fortunately, we weren't let down,

Walking Tour
Our guide was a little kooky, but overall, this was another great free tour. We saw so much! We started in Old Town Square and saw the astronomical clock, Jan Hus statue and a couple churches. We also went to the cubism museum, the Czech national bank, Wencelas Square, Estates theater (where Mozart first performed or something). After a lunch break, we saw the Jewish quarter including the cemetery and 3 different synagogues. We also saw the Rudolfinum (Czech Philharmonic) and Charles Bridge. After the tour, we walked over to the John Lennon wall and then up to the Castle. The castle district is huge and includes a neat gothic cathedral. It was quite a long day of walking before heading back to Vsenory.

Vsenory
My cousins were the BEST hosts. Tomas picked us up from the train station and brought us back which was great because it was pouring when we arrived. We had our own room that was very comfortable. The kids are so cute. Yonas (3) spoke to us in Czech and loved chatting with us even though we didn't understand a word he said and we responded in English. Linda (9) was really shy and we didn't see her as much since she was in school. Lucka gave us both winter jackets to borrow while we were in Prague and made us delicious dinners every night. We enjoyed eating and talking with the family; we wish we had had more time with them!

Cesky Krumlov
David (my other cousin) took us to Cesky Krumlov for the day... so nice! We loved this little town, even though it rained on us for a lot of the day. We went to the town center, up the tower, through the castle and gardens. We also had a nice lunch as while as coffee later. Cesky Krumlov has the highest restaurant to citizen ratio of any city in Czech Republic (or maybe the world? I can't remember what he told us). The town is gorgeous, as you can see in my facebook photos. There's a river that snakes through the town so you have to cross over it several times when you're walking around which we did a lot- I think we walked up every street in the town.

Karlstejn
David also took us to Karlstejn, a castle close to Vsenory. The castle is really neat looking and we went on a nice tour. There are 2 tours, though only one option in the off season. Unfortunately, that option doesn't include the most famous and beautiful room of the castle, a chapel. However, we got to see a lot of other parts of the castle and learned a lot about the history.

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