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Published: January 1st 2009
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Pine Apartment in Prague
Our room in the Castle Steps in Prague. I won't be keeping a regular travel blog like I did on my past winter break trips, but I might update this page when I have some free time and send some photos along. Feel free to check every few days just in case, but I probably won't update it too much as I don't feel like hunting down internet cafes and uploading photos. Our place in Prague has internet access in the building, so it's convenient for me to do it here.
Elizabeth and I arrived in Prague on the 30th of December, and the arrival went completely smoothly. Our flight arrived on time, we both got our baggage quickly and without hassle, and we had a cab pick us up and drive us straight to the Castle Steps, where we are staying (Prague, an otherwise safe city, is notorious for dishonest cab drivers, ours was prepared in advance by the Castle Steps to avoid being ripped off).
The Castle Steps is an unbelievable place (and unusually cheap during normal times of year, unfortunately during New Year's they charge a hefty mark-up). It is on Nerudova Street, a street right in the heart of the tourist area and
Pine Apartment in Prague
Our room in the Castle Steps in Prague. only one block from Prague Castle, one of the major tourist attractions. Almost every major tourist site in the city is within a 5-20 minute walk from our room, which is wonderfully convenient. We bought metro passes but haven't gotten much use out of them as a result.
We arrived at about 7:30, but since nobody had our room before that we were able to go right in. Our room is in the attic of the main building, and is directly across the street from the Italian embassy (the Romanian embassy is next door). Our window overlooks the embassy and the main tourist street, giving a lovely view. The room itself is beautiful and full of antiques, and unlike some rooms in the Castle Steps has a private bathroom (although due to being in an attic, the bathroom has a low ceiling, I had to shower while kneeling!). Other than the low ceiling in the bathroom, the room is great and the location can't be beat.
English is pretty well spoken in the tourist areas of Prague, so we haven't had any problems with language so far. After we unpacked, we walked to Prague Castle, the main tourist
View from room in Prague
View from the Pine Apartment in Prague. attraction. Early in our trip, we found a problem with our chosen time of year to visit: Prague (and much of Central Europe) is COLD during this time of year. The mornings range from 15-20 degrees and 25 degrees is the usual high so far. Most of Prague Castle involves being outdoors, to my dismay. We got to the Castle right when it opened (after breakfast, which is included in our stay), so we got past the tour groups and crowds. As we were leaving, the places of the Castle we walked into without any trouble now had very long lines, so we're glad we got there early. We watched the noon changing of the guard before we left.
Yesterday, on New Years Eve, we continued our sight seeing (most Prague attractions stay open on New Year's Eve and Day fortunately). We started by crossing the famous pedestrian bridge Charles Bridge, although a good portion of it is under renovation, it is still nice. We took a tour of the Municipal House, a beautiful building with a large opera hall and several nice palace-like rooms. The tour included a free beer (or some other drinks) in the American Bar
Charles Bridge, Prague
Elizabeth on the Charles Bridge in Prague, overlooking the Mala Strana (Lesser Quarter), where our lodging is located. in the basement, which was a nice touch. We then visited the Jewish Museum, which is not actually one building but a collection of synagogues which were fortunately left untouched by the Nazis during World War II. Prague was never bombed during the war, which is why is maintains a 19th century look (walking around the city feels like stepping back in time).
For New Year's. Elizabeth stayed back in the room, as she was tired and probably afraid for her life given Prague's notoriety for dangerous New Year's celebrations. Braver and less tired, I went to the Old Town Square and watched as people held champagne bottles in one hand while firing rockets out the other (seriously). People fired rockets out of coke bottles in the middle of large crowds, and I actually got hit by fireworks, TWICE, during the night. Fortunately, no serious injuries that I saw. Shooting fireworks outside and drinking in public aren't illegal in Prague, so the firefighters and police just stood by in case they were needed, mostly posing for photos with tourists when I saw them.
There was a good band playing at the stage in the center of the square,
Charles Bridge, Prague
The famous Charles Bridge in Prague, taken from the tower on the Old Town end of the bridge. playing a variety of Czech and English pop rock tunes while we waited for midnight, finishing off the evening with a few Queen songs, including two different renditions of We Are the Champions. At midnight, everyone went wild and fireworks were being fired everywhere (in the middle of crowds, by little children, from windows, and so on). I had to push my way through huge crowds, carefully navigate past broken glass and avoid getting hit by fireworks on my way back to the room. The whole atmosphere was completely wild, but terrifically fun. I hope you're all having a Happy New Year, and I hope I get a chance to update this a few more times during the trip so you don't miss out.
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