So I know Prague is not really the most American of places to be for the 4th of July, but since the hubs had been given days off we just had to take advantage! Don’t get me wrong…one of the hardest parts for me living overseas is the 4th. I LOVE the 4th of July! My family is from a very small Texas town and there is not much I love more than sitting in the sweaty Texas heat with watermelon water in one hand and some ribbon fries in the other while watching a small town parade. I miss it all so much. But the reality is we are halfway across the world from all of that.
So, Prague it is.
And Prague…is…beautiful.
I have a new favorite city. So many people have told us that Prague is their favorite city to visit, and now I completely understand why. The incredible architecture is endless in this city. There are vendors and markets everywhere. History, art, music, theater…it’s all here. It has something for everyone. And it is so romantic.
Before getting into the ridiculous amount of pictures, I will start by listing a few things I learned:
1. They like their marionettes. A lot. I kinda wanted to pay the 200+ Euros for one, but the thought of a marionette hanging in my house kind of freaks the crap out of me.
2. If you have extra food on your plate at the street market, leave it on the table. There are a lot of homeless who will grab it. I had one ask for my leftover dumplings and one guy took my beer (which had about 1/5 left in the cup) out of the trash and drank the rest. So #3 goes without saying, but…
3. They like beer. And it’s no wonder when it’s cheaper than water.
4. Driving/parking is kinda crazy. They have railcars on tracks that are driven and run throughout the city, but those things come out of nowhere! And thank goodness the apartment we rented had its own parking spot. Which leads me to…
5. They have parking elevators. Because of the TIGHT parking situation, apartments have lifts you drive your car onto and press a button to either lift or lower it to allow others to park inside. So if you are planning on driving around a lot, not the best type of parking for you. But if you plan on walking down in the main part of the city, it works out just fine.
6. They don’t have kolaches. Not the kind us Texans know. If you ever go to the famous Czech Bakery in West and get kolaches, you’ll know what I’m talking about. We looked forever for them! They had pastries and all kinds of food, but not one kolache was found in Prague. Sad face.
Now, onto the pictures! There are a lot, so you will find them all under the cut.
Our Apartment
We decided to try renting an apartment for our short stay. We tried a hotel in Paris and Garmisch, but bedtime and napping was frustrating with the baby. And now that he is mobile, having ample space to roam around was very appealing. Oh, and so is the 80 Euros a night! A girl recommended this apartment to us, and I am so glad we chose to try it. It worked out great for us! We had two very large bedrooms and a kitchen area with a table and chairs. We mainly needed a place to stay the night, and this placed worked wonderfully.
Wincelas Square (New Town)
We visited New Town first because we had reservations at Vytopsa, a railway restaurant we thought would be fun for the kids. There is a model train railway that runs through the entire restaurant. It will bring your drinks to your table, which was pretty neat! It’s not a quiet place by any means, so our children were in good company! They had coloring sheets and colored pencils for the kiddos and high chairs (which is def a plus over here!). The food was pretty good and decently priced. We had to try out a few of the beers to see which was our favorite, of course (the dark one).
More pics from New Town:
Old Town Square
My favorite part of Prague was Old Town Square. Of course, everyone and their dogs’ favorite part of Prague is Old Town Square as well, so if you plan on visiting do it as early as possible and preferably during the week. We got there on a Thursday evening, which was great timing because it was cool out, the crowds were dying down, yet there was still plenty to see.
The first and most famous part of the square is the Astronomical Clock, which dates back to the 15th century and is the oldest in the world still in working order. Knowing this, the clock itself is definitely impressive. On the hour Christ and the Twelve Apostles process through two windows at the top and the four main statues on the side of the clock (standing for vanity, greed, death, and entertainment) move around.
Charles Bridge
Prague Castle/St. Vitus Cathedral
Lesser Quarter
After touring the castle we decided to make our way around the Lesser Quarter (Mana Strata Street). The Lennon Wall was just around the corner, so we decided to stop. Little man was asleep in the stroller, but we got some cool pics!
Right next to the Lennon Wall are the love locks. We didn’t have a lock (because we didn’t know they were there!) but we did get our picture next to them! If you’ve never heard of love locks: you get a lock, put you and your love’s initials on it, lock it on the fence, and throw away the key! Legend says if you do that, you will stay together forever!
Next we went on to see The Infant of Prague at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church. Many Catholics participate in pilgrimages every year to see the famous statue. Although I am not Catholic, I am Christian, so I thought I’d venture inside to see what all the fuss was about. The statue is definitely ornate, and many were there to pray before it. I can appreciate and understand the beauty of it, but I do have to admit that venturing upstairs and seeing all of the carefully preserved outfits they put on it throughout the year was kind of odd.
It was a quick trip, but we saw a ton! Prague is most definitely one of my favorite cities visited to date, and I’ve been to my fair share of cities. We want to go back for the Christmas markets one of these winters. We hear they are impressive!
2 Comments
i Love the idea of renting an apartment for vacation! we've done that before with trips to seoul and want to try it out when we start traveling for longer amounts of time. what a great idea!
With a family, it is definitely the way to go. It's cheaper and has much more room! They have them everywhere here, so I think it's the route we are going to take from now on!