Blogs from Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe - page 3

As expected it was an exhausting journey to Prague. 18 hours and three planes later we arrived as scheduled, luggage in hand to the most Eastern part of Europe we have ever traveled. A representative from Viking Cruises met us and a few other travelers and transported us to our hotel. From the outside our hotel seemed old and weathered by the passing of many decades but once we entered into the lobby the old and dated melted away and was quickly replaced by the well restored and beauty of the pre-world war II era. Polished brass, marble floors and inlaid walnut molding graced the entrance way. High above our heads gleaming crystal chandeliers sparkled. Our room is very generous in size with a very large all marble bathroom. We unpacked and laid down for a ... read more

We then took the Metro from Karlovo nam to Staromestska, the old town. As we turned right, we could see St Nicholas Church, Tyn Church, Jan Hus’ statue, which we remembered seeing in 2005. We headed for the Old Town Hall and popped in the tourist information centre to exchange the voucher for Prague Card. We purchased 3-day Prague Card: we were offered unlimited journeys on the public transport, free entries to 50 museums/galleries and discounts on some museums and restaurants between 22nd and 24th June. It was 10 minutes before 12 o’clock when we reached in front of the astronomical clock. Many tourists had gathered to see the excitement at 12 o’clock. It was the first time my parents had been to Prague and they had never seen the astronomical clock. My father managed to ... read more

Today was a simple day to explore the alleyways and shops of Old Town Praha. We quite literally spent the day walking around in various circles and eating. Our initial plan had been to go to the castle, but I knew that was not something that Anthony really wanted to do, after all I'm the one that fantasizes about living in a castle. Since it's the beginning of the weekend, we watched as the city came alive, in the middle of the old town square, a HUGE stage was being set up, the amount of tourists had at least doubled. There were teams and school groups everywhere. Street performers were out in droves, and the number of beggars also seemed to double. The weather has been spectacular all week, the sun is shining and it's a ... read more

Today was probably the most difficult for me emotionally, I love history and especially medieval history, so Prague is a perfect fit for me. But today we ventured into the past in a way that I haven't done. I know many people who have and I believe that because I know the stories, I can handle it. I'm strong, I'm rational (most of the time) and I know what I'm walking into, right? Not so much! we hired a driver, the same one who brought us to the hotel from the airport, he has become my dad's number 1 fan, just loves him and his stories. He takes us to Terazine, for those who don't know, Terazine was a work camp during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. ALL Czech Jews were processed through that camp, and ... read more

Hello from Prague, We arrived 30 minutes early this morning thanks to the Jet stream, and managed to pull dad away from the lovely and intelligent woman he was sitting beside for 8 hours. We probably managed to to get 3-4 hours sleep which wasn't too bad. We found a cab easily, and made our way to the hotel. Along the way as dad bonded in Czech with the driver, he took a detour and we drove to the apartment building where my dad and his family lived when they returned to Prague from Shanghai in 1946. We all got out of the cab and took pictures, my dad was beaming, he was beyond happy to visit this place and tell us stories about their life and how he and his best friend Gustov got into ... read more