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Published: October 19th 2011
Hey everyone -
I'm back onto this and it's our last day in Prague and then tomorrow we're off to Vienna. We landed and got our luggage with no problem so it seemed as though everything was going smoothly. We cabbed it over to our hotel just out on the outskirts of The Old Town and upon our arrival it reads "This hotel is no longer in service from now on.". What? We were pretty tired and were definitely caught by surprise, so we ask our driver if he knows of any place and he places us in front of two hotels next to each other and we go into Hotel Clement. They were awesome and thankfully had a room for us for the remainder of our stay. Thank goodness! So whatever you do don't stay at Residence Verona, we're convinced it was taken over by the mob.
We finally got ourselves settled in, cleaned up, rested and then headed out to discover this stunning city. We of course ventured into one of the main tourist attractions - Old Town. We headed to the famous astronomical clock in the Old Town Hall. When I first saw a picture of this clock I said to myself, "where is that because I want to go there." I saw it and was still in awe of its detail and the history of it.
The architecture of this city is stunning and when lit up its kind of magical. There were definitely moments where you felt you were in Harry Potter especially when you saw the Church of Our Lady of Tyn's towers glowing. I was waiting for the owls to come out.
That first evening we took an underground tour of the city. Which primarily took place under the Old Town Hall. We were pretty beat that night and crashed out in our comfy beds and then woke up early to tour Prague Castle the next day.
We were extremely fortunate to have two beautiful sunny days in Prague and so on Tuesday we walked across Charles Bridge and then onto Prague Castle which stands a top a hill like a fairy tale. We made sure that we didn't get caught up with any sketchy people across the bridge per my friend Jackie. Don't worry Jackie we didn't fall for any "dropped babies." The Bridge is lined with many statues of saints and it leads to the road up to Prague Castle.
The castle is not only the home of the famous St. Vitus Cathedral but to the Powder Tower, Golden Lane, to name a few. As we learned about the history of the castle, we came to realize why this city is noted as being the most haunted. Everyone was killing everyone! Brothers killing brothers, daughters-in-law killing their mother-in-laws. Needless to say the extent and history of this landmark is fascinating. We ended up climbing the 280 steps up to the tower of the cathedral and we were presented with a picturesque view of the city. Wow! Ever since visiting Europe it amazes me on how these historical buildings were built, the layout and the beauty of it all. This view certainly didn't disappoint.
It was a long day there as we walked though the grounds all day since there was much to see including the changing of the guards with some very handsome soldiers - ha!
We ended the day with dinner at an Italian restaurant called Mystic Pizza - heh, heh! Had some beer and then went to a pub that was pretty cool - blanked on the name - but it reminded us of the bar scene in Inglorious Basterds. I also discovered a yummy beer called Korzel. It's a dark beer and my it's delicious.
Today was the last day here and it rained but it didn't stop us from venturing out. We headed to the Jewish Town and toured the Old Jewish Cemetery. This cemetery apparently holds about 100,000 people. The stones are literally stacked upon each other. We visited the surrounding buildings that cover the history of the Jews in Prague from the 10th century onto now. Of course the most prominent and the one with the most impact was the Pinkas Synagogue, which literally lists the numerous victims of the Holocaust. Their names are written on the walls and youngest one I caught was 3 years old.
After the heavy amount of history, we decided to do some souvenir shopping and also got an amazing Thai massage. It was probably one of the best I had especially with all the walking we've done and will do.
We ended the evening sitting out at the square and enjoying some drinks and desserts.
I'll definitely want to come back to this city and take more photos, but to also venture through since there's still much to see.
Tomorrow we're off to Vienna and Salzburg. This place Is certainly a city to return too and a must-see for those that haven't been.
The iPad is awesome in that I can write this but the down is that I can't upload photos at this time. Boo... So I'll have to wait till I'm back to a fully functional Mac.
I hope you're all well and till Vienna! Ahoj!
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Kruppy
non-member comment
Yay, Prague!
I can't believe I had to read EIGHT paragraphs before you mentioned beer. Prague is definitely not Bruges. Also, are you making 'visiting the Jewish stuff' a habit now? My people thank you. Have fun, we miss you, post more blogs!