Prague – I’m not sure what I can say that will accurately describe how I felt when we walked into Old Town Square and I fully took in Prague for the first time. No doubt I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. It’s really shocking when you first see it. Shocking that something (or more accurately, many somethings) could be built hundreds and hundreds of years ago and still be wonderous to the eye today. Sure, we’d been traveling Europe for months and by that point, I had seen some pretty incredible things, but Old Town Square, and all of Prague really, took my breath away. We spent six days exploring the city (and still just scratched the surface) and I could write pages and pages about our time there, but for the sake of keeping you with me, I’ll try to just hit the highlights of our stay.
Mexican Food
Yup. You read that correctly. Mexican food! Our first night in town we stumbled upon Agave, a Mexican restaurant just out of Old Town Square. You might have guessed that my expectations were low, and they were, but I’ve got to say, our meal was pretty damn delicious! Still no queso, but there was tequila, so it was a win!
Old Town Square
I’ve already mentioned it a few times, but Old Town Square is a site to take in. Every direction you look you find something stunning to look at. From the Church of our Lady before Tyn (probably my favorite of all) to the Old Town Hall and it’s astronomical clock tower, to St. Nicholas Church, to the Jan Hus Memorial, to the National Gallery, to the Marian Column, and ALL the buildings in between it would be easy to get lost in the beauty and history of just this one small city square!
View of the square from the Old Town Hall Clock Tower.
St. Nicholas Church (and my dad and Nora)
Old Town Hall – we not only climbed the clock tower, but we toured the inside. Built in the 1300’s, it’s a pretty remarkable building, or set of buildings as it is made up of numerous old homes.
Prague Orloj – the astronomical clock attached to Old Town Hall. I’ve written before about astronomical clocks and how there are only so many in the world and we keep seeing them, but this is by far the most impressive to-date. Which is all the more impressive because it is the third oldest astronomical clock still in operation. P.S. – Sorry random lady, didn’t mean to capture you in my pic.
Top of the clock tower.
Jan Hus Memorial
This was my view upon first seeing Old Town Square and specifically the Church of our Lady before Tyn, which absolutely took my breath away. Is this real???
Picture perfect Christmas
Trdelniks
Don’t ask me how you pronounce the name of these delicious sweet grilled cakes, because I have no idea, but trust me on this one, trdelniks are worth every single calorie (of which, I’m sure there are many!). Trdelniks are rolled dough that’s warmed on a spit usually covered in sugar and then filled on the inside with something delicious like chocolate or pistachio or Nutella and the if you’re extra lucky, filled with ice cream. We stopped for these sweet treats more than once during our stay.
Prague Castle Talk about wow factor! This castle and its cathedral (St. Vita’s) stand tall over Prague and can be seen from most spots in town. It is truly a wonder and according to Guinness, the largest coherent castle complex in the world. We actually visited twice because the first time we’d missed the opening hours by about 20 minutes. It’s a bit of a hike to get up there, although made easier by the warm wine and eggnog and cookies we were sold as we started the assent. Trust me though, it is worth the effort.
The castle cathedral at night.
The castle overlooking the city.
Seeing Friends! It a totally random coincidence (is that repetitive??) we just happened (okay, now That’s definitely repetitive) to be in Prague at the same time as our long-time friends, Blake and Drew. My dad stayed home with Nora one night so that we could all go out for drinks. We met up at Public Interest (the cocktails are fab, if you’re ever in town, definitely check it out) and had a great time catching up after many years apart. For two people who have missed spending time with friends significantly, these precious hours were amazing for the soul. And, we followed it up by a wild scooter ride through town!
Hey guys! Let’s do it again real soon 😊
Making New Friends
On that note, Nora actually made a couple of friends while we were in Prague. We spent the morning at the playground (a must-do in all cities we visit) and Nora ended up finding three sisters who spoke English and the four of them hit it off immediately. We had planned to hike on to see other sites but after seeing them have such fun together, we scrapped our plans and let them play. My heart swelled watching her connect with the other girls.
G’Pa is always up for a good time. Young at heart!
Making new friends.
Awww.
Charles Bridge
Just a quick shout out to this beauty. Flanked by some amazing towers and lined with thirty statues, the bridge is a stunner. We crossed over Charles Bridge at least once every day and while you would think that would make it less enticing, but nope. We stopped to take pictures almost every time (except when Paul and I were taking our wild, and I believe forbidden scooter ride across…no evidence).
Metronome This giant, 75-foot long metronome caught mine and my dad’s eye the first day we were exploring the city. We would watch it tick back and forth and ask “is that really what we think it is??” And after making the hike up to see it, yes, it really is a giant, working metronome.
Apparently, the world’s largest Stalin statue used to sit upon this base before it was demolished in the ’60’s.
Cheer up, Nora. It’s kind of cool.
Petrin Lookout Tower and Mirror Maze We climbed this mini-Eiffel Tower overlooking the city. Well, okay, two of the four of us did, while Nora and I turned back at the halfway point and ate chocolate cake while the guys took photos. We also hit up the Mirror Maze next door because, you know, why not?
Petrin Lookout Tower – constructed in 1891 as part of the Jubilee Exhibition and intended to look like The Eiffel.
Mirror Maze – Also built for the 1891 exhibition and still entertaining kids 131 years later.
I should have said entertaining kids and adults.
John Lennon Wall
It might not really be all that exciting, but for a girl who walked down the aisle to Here Comes the Sun and taught her daughter Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da as one of her first childhood songs, I had to make a stop at the wall.
Head of Franz Kafka Franz Kafka is pretty much legend in Prague and this moving head sculpture is pretty impressive. Side note – have you ever read Kafka?? I have to confess that I started The Trial, but never made it through.
Regardless of if you’ve ever made it through one of his books, the head sculpture is pretty cool to see.
The Dancing House
After so many days marveling at The Guggenheim when we were in Bilboa, we had to get over to The Dancing House to check out another Frank Ghery creation. I will say that it is a little (a lot) less impressive than The Guggie, as Nora calls it, but it was still cool to see. The Dancing House is now a hotel with a bar on top and it was a great place for us to take a potty break.
Banksy!
Paul is a big Banksy fan and we stumbled onto The World of Banksy – An Immersive Experience exhibition while walking through town. I was just expecting a few prints in a small room, but it was a giant, touching show.
This is just a list of some of the highlights of our trip. I didn’t include ice skating, restaurants, nights at home playing games, and a million other small exhibits/churches/sites. The only downside to Prague was having to say goodbye to my dad, who flew back to Texas on our last day. We had lots of tears saying goodbye but were also so glad we got to share such awesome experiences together.
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