Prague

Prague was absolutely beautiful! By the time we got to the hostel, we were both feeling pretty under the weather, so we just grabbed some dinner and called it a night. The next day, I ventured out in the morning while Steph slept in. I went to the Staromestske Nam., or the Old Town Square where many sights are grouped together. I found that the buildings in Prague looked just like a cardboard cutout you'd see on a stage as a backdrop! Everything was so colourful and so perfectly symmetrical!









Also in the square lies the Astronomical Clock, a clock that predates mechanical clocks, which was built around 1410.



On my way to the Charles Bridge I saw the sv. Frantisek (I think this is St. Francis) church, which is right at the Old Town Bridge Tower.

Along the Charles Bridge are many fantastic views.









After this, I went back to the hostel to get Steph, and went to these places again with her.
We crossed the Charles Bridge again on our way to the Prague Castle grounds and we saw lots of nice buildings on the way.






Once we reached the foot of the royal grounds, we went our separate ways: Steph went to see the Royal Gardens from the 17th Century, and I went to the Old Royal Palace. We both ended up hiking up huge hills, then climbing a million stairs! I think Steph got the worse deal because she was also in a maze and repeatedly reached dead ends and had to keep going up and down the hill! Again, when I get pictures from her of the gardens, I will post them! The hike upwards seemed to never end, and the reward was that the palace was closed! The grounds were beautiful though and I had a lovely view of the city below.






Upon these grounds, I also saw St. George's Basilica and St. Vittus' Cathedral, which actually from the outside looked more impressive than the palace, which looked so plain that I didn't even bother to take photos of it.

Steph and I met and headed back to the hostel. Our walk back took us over the Charles Bridge and through the Old Town Square again, and we took more photos of the buildings lit up at night.







After a couple domestic beers, we went to bed.

Though we had seem all the major sights we were interested in already, we went to look around some more the next day. Steph slept in again the next morning, trying to shake her cold, while I headed off to the Jewish Quarter. I wanted to see a synagog and the Old Jewish Cemetery, but you had to buy a ticket to see these which includes access to a handful of other sights that I wasn't interested in. It wasn't worth it to get the ticket in this case, so if you want to see photos, you can click on the above link! I did take some pictures of the general area though, which was rather busy. The areas Steph and I had seen were populated with nothing but tourists and waiters, so this was the first place I'd been in Prague that looked like it had actual citizens!

Also in the Jewish Quarter is the Kafka Memorial, which is pretty, uh, unusual.



One other interesting thing I saw is the Banco Casino, which the handy city book Steph brought claims was the film location for the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale!


Sure doesn't look like much from the outside, does it?

After I picked up Steph at the hostel, we wandered around again and found ourselves at the Rudolfinum.

We went to Sacred Heart Church, which Steph's book recommended, which really didn't end up looking like much to be honest.

Then we went to Wenceslas Square, and we were both so tired by then that we didn't bother to look around at what the square had to offer, but took photos of the biggest building, the National Museum, and went back to the hostel.
We relaxed for a while, then decided to go out with some other hostel residents to see some night life on our last night. We went to a quiet bar first with a couple of Americans and a couple of Aussies. The Americans took off to do their own thing, while the rest of us stayed for another drink. We decided we were feeling up to going to a club, so we went with the Aussies to a place called Karlovy Lazne by the water. This place was huge! It had 5 floors, each with different music. It was full of significantly younger people, but we had fun!


Our 6 roommates were all girls, a refreshing change, and they were all very nice, but not especially social. I think we lucked out with the hostel location because I didn't see any others at any time, which suggests they are further away. We were only a few minutes' walk from anything we wanted to see! Steph's book was written by a rather sarcastic author, but when he suggested that Prague doesn't put much effort into facilitating sights for tourists, I don't think he missed the mark. Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge were absolutely beautiful and positively packed with tourists. Any other area was rather unkempt and unsafe. The people in general were very nice, much nicer than we were expecting! I wish I could've experienced Prague knowing more of the history, all we had was Steph's book. We didn't see any museums or take any tours, and I think I would have enjoyed the city more if I knew more about it. I'm so happy I saw all the beauty the city has to offer, but it didn't strike me as incredible, as thought it would.