Flashback: Prague

The final destination on my six week trip was Prague, a city that I had heard so much about but had yet to travel. We knew it was going to be cold, temps were predicted for the teens and twenties for the weekend we were there. I was worried it would alter my feelings for the city. Though I am sure if I had visited in spring time my feelings toward Prague would have been stronger, it didn't take long to fall in love and catapult this gem to #2 all time city. If the weather had been better Paris may have felt some heat for it's #1 spot but as of now the city of light remains firmly in first place. Our apartment was in the heart of the Josefov, or Jewish Ghetto, less then 5 minutes from the heart of the Old Town and amid many good little restaurants. This turned out to be a bigger benefit then usual for us. Generally, the W's and I prefer to wander about and luck upon a small restaurant, that more often then not would have great food and the perfect atmosphere. However, with such cold weather, when we left the apartment for dinner we wanted to know exactly where we were going and take the shortest route. During the day we did explore and definitely liked what we saw. The city is way ahead of Budapest in recovering from the Communist years, the buildings are well restored, services such as trams and and buses are full speed ahead and the tourist infrastructure is in place. We did our best during the day to wander the streets, visiting whatever struck us as interesting, persevering despite the weather. We spent much of the time in the heart of Prague, between the Old Town, Josefov and Mala strana, so we were never too far from home and a chance to thaw out.

Our first destination was the unusually crowded Charles Bridge and after crossing we found a great little cafe. The shop had tea and specialty coffee drinks, we enjoyed it so much we returned a couple of days later. We visited the Alphonse Mucha museum, he is one of the most famous Czech artists and MW is a huge fan. It was a wonderful little museum and I gained a new appreciation of the artist. One of his very famous works is in St. Vitus Catherdral in Prague Castle. The window was beautiful, full of color and his Art Nouveau style made it stand out from the standard religious stained glass window. We spent a few more hours exploring the castle complex, one of the largest in the world. The 10th century Basilica of St. George was a beautiful contrast to the gothic St. Vitus Cathedral and just as impressive due to it's age. Of course, we are always on a mission for good drinking so we made sure to visit some of the local brew pubs and enjoy some true pils. I enjoyed the Czech beer we taste much more then the beer from our Germany trip. We also tried the local mulled wine while we explored the beautiful old streets and did some shopping. We ventured out to see Wenceslaus Square, which is the main shopping area of the town center. It was filled with chain stores for all wallets but nothing you can't find in any other big city. The view to the National Museum was very nice though. Near there we did find a place with great Czech beer and food where we took shelter for a few hours.

Though we did much more, the trip was mostly about discovering a beautiful city. I can't wait to get back and visit when 3 layers of clothes aren't required.

Thanks for reading.

To see the photos from this city, visit my Flickr Prague set.