Prague

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After three days in Český Krumlov, we caught a bus (called Autobusy in Czech) to Prague. The ride was more peaceful than our death defying shuttle from Austria, but it was about 90 degrees on the bus and there were people with standing room tickets in the aisle, so it was a cozy ride.

I visited Prague with my grandparents and my cousin when I was 12, and although I didn’t remember much, I did recognize the Old Town center and the Charles Bridge from when I was there.

Lindsay and I stayed at the Rosemary Hostel, about a 10 minute walk from the city center. The first night there we stayed on a dorm floor and almost everyone else there was on a college field trip, and some of them liked to come back at 3:00am and make a lot of noise, so we didn’t like our first room very much. The next two nights we had our own apartment with kitchen, bathroom, and no loud college kids running around, so that was better.

In Prague we spent most of our time touring the most popular sights like the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle, the Jewish Museum, and walking around on the Charles Bridge and along the river front. There were more tourists in Prague than some of the other cities we have visited recently, so we tried to do more of our sightseeing early in the morning and then hide out during the peak afternoon time back at the hostel.

The cathedral was one of our favorites we have seen this year. The stained glass windows were very colorful and unique from each other (the windows were completed separately by different artists). We climbed the cathedral tower (286 stairs!) for a good view of Prague, unfortunately it was an overcast day. Near the cathedral, we stumbled upon a small military church that was in service. They had alternating organ and band performances that sounded great with the acoustics of the church.

The next day, we visited the Jewish Museum which was in the historical Jewish neighborhood near Prague’s city center. The museum included photos, information, and artifacts from the Jewish community and the displays were located in several synagogues and cultural centers in the neighborhood. Neither of us knows very much about Judaism, so it was an interesting walk. One of the highlights was the old cemetery which was used from the 1400 - 1700s. It was different from other cemeteries because the tombstones were so close together and there were old trees and a nice walking trail through the center.

One night we had drinks with our new friends from Cesky Krumlov. We had fun talking about Czech Republic traveling and our lives back in the states. It was pretty late when we headed back to the hostel, but we took the long way by the river and the Charles Bridge.

- Jason

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