Prague

Ahoj, Praha!

We caught a night train from Heidelberg to Prague. Six bunks in a tiny room. Our biggest mistake? Garlic in the last meal... we really made that air nice and thick. I feel particularly sorry for the poor lady who had to bunk with us! That said, we all slept surprisingly well, and when we woke we had beautiful views out the window and only an hour left to Prague.

  On arrival, we found where we had to pick the key up for our apartment and were able to leave our bags until check in a few hours later. We broke our fast with goulash and dumplings, traditional breakfast food be damned! After, we wandered around, finding the Old Town Square. Prague is incredibly pretty, full of beautiful monuments and buildings. The Old Town Square is unbelievable, I almost broke my neck trying to twist in so many directions at once. It is surrounded by ancient churches, the town hall and the famed astronomical clock. At this time of year, the square is filled with the little huts of the Christmas Markets, all gathered around a massive tree. Twinkle lights festoon every tree and corner, and the whole place smells like mulled wine. We wandered on to Stare Mesto (Old Town). 

Prague is a maze of cobbled streets, where corners aren't right angles and you often have to go in a direction that is counter-intuitive to get your destination.
  Our apartment was our first taste of our Airbnb bookings. Pleasantly surprised! It was well heated and spacious, clean, and close to all the important sights. After the long train ride, we relaxed at the apartment for a short while before cooking a meal in the kitchen, which was a nice change after eating out so often. Harry and I ventured out to the Christmas market again in the evening, sampling the traditional Czech dessert, trdlnìk. Imagine if you will, a spiralled hollowed sweet bread, covered in hazelnut creme, sugar and cinnamon and slowly baked over open coals. Delightful!

Saturday morning, and the weather was beautiful. Sunshine and warm for Czech winter's standards. We walked over the Charles Bridge and spent the day exploring the castle. There was so much to see and do, we easily passed a few hours here. We climbed to the top of St. Vitus Cathedral which had breathtaking views over Prague. We spent some time in the medieval weaponry museum (some more willingly than others) and wandered down the tiny houses in the Golden Lane. If you ever visit Prague, set aside a whole day to see the castle, it's very large and lots to see! 

As we were wandering down the hill the sun was beginning to set, so we decided to stop at a cafe set into the hill of the castle and watch the lights slowly turn on in the city. We slowly wandered back over the Charles Bridge, which is just beautiful at night. We found the cutest little Christmas market at the base, full of handmade goods. We lost Harry and Adam for a good twenty minutes to a blacksmithing stand...

  We found a cute little restaurant near our apartment for dinner. Unfortunately in the Czech Republic there is no way to not sound like an obnoxious tourist insisting on English... Czech is an extremely difficult language with very little vowels, and inflections going in every which direction. We were making bigger fools out of ourselves for trying, and thankfully the waiters quickly humoured us with a smile and switched to English. Food excellent, hearty and filling, and so god damn CHEAP. We could have whole meals, several drinks included, for the equivalent of 10 euros or AU$15 per person. 

The next few days we managed to cram in several sights. We trundled back over the river to the Strahov Monastery to see the famed libraries, a bucket list item of mine. While we weren't allowed to wander around the ancient rooms, the view we did get was astonishing. See photos below... We went to an alchemy museum, at lunch in a medieval basement restaurant lit entirely by candles, hit up the Lego museum, saw the Lennon wall. Figured out the Czech postal system, conquered the metro and finally got familiar enough to navigate without a map. And then it was time to leave.

Prague, you were wonderful. I'd try to say goodbye in Czech, but I can't.