Prague, Czech Republic

Planned to travel to Prague a few days before we headed out. This has been high on my list of destinations to see for awhile. Elena mentioned it to me when we went backpacking and it sparked such an interest. Then Alan told me that he studied there for a summer. Knew it had to be a pretty nice place to see. Felix and I have never been and since Bene, Felix's flatmate, was going to be there the same weekend it worked out nicely for a bigger crowd.

I headed up to Munich Thursday night after class since we had an 8a departure Friday. The bus ride from Munich to Prague was only 5 hours. This is our bus, rest stop, the book on Prag we borrowed from Thomas and Cordula (all in German so Felix read to me) and the amazing toilet that cleans it self!!!

The route to Prague was very charming with many little German towns and Yellow flowers!

When we arrived into Prague the first mission was (always is) to find the accomodations and check in. We got there pretty quickly from the Bus Station (on foot of course). We stayed at the Condor I, not sure if there is a Condor II. The hostel was pretty plain, but the receptionist was more than helpful and gave us another map and some insider tips on where to go eat some authentic food for cheap and get some good drinks.

All you need is a place to; hang your coat, lay your head, and take a hot shower.

Oh and we were able to take the elevator up to the top floor! We ended up naming it too, Manni - Egon. Not sure the reason for the name, I think it was after a couple of beers.

Felix and I were starving so we made our way to one of the suggestions down the street from our receptionist, Lokal. This place was pretty good, but she said they had many beers on to choose from and when we asked they said they only had Pilsner. Pilsner was good in our book!

The gave us a little guide book for the food written in Czech since they didn't have a menu in English. The guide book said that there were 10K Americans and 8K Germans living in Prague in 2005. At least this place was trying to remain local.

We then were off to do some touring of the city. Since we arrived on Friday afternoon there not very many people out. This was probably the best planning of the whole trip. Also, there was a holiday that weekend so most of the locals took off to other cities for vacation.

Tyn Church has two towers called Adam and Eve. Adam is on the right and larger than Eve as it shades the other tower from the hot sun. Eve's tower was used to store food in since it was cooler.

The main plaza was only minutes from our hostel, Old Town Square. We stayed on the border of Jewish Town and Old Town.

St. Nicolas Cathedral is directly behind Felix.

In the Jewish Quarter (Jewish Town) the Old Synagogue appears to be higher than it actually is. With all the flooding they had to raise the streets levels. When entering you have to walk downstairs to enter the Synagogue. The road to the Jewish town hall is full of souviener shops for all the tourists.

 The cost of living has changed over the years here in Prague that once used to be so cheap. It is a positive and a negative. Many people are forced to move out of their homes because things became to expensive, but the city sees so many tourist it helps the locals make a living.

The weather was so nice, the reports called for rain and the whole time we were there it was crystal clear. Could not have asked for better weather on our vacation.

We were walking for a while and decided to start heading for a spot to take a break; ice cream, coffee, or beer! We knew we were in need of something but just didn't know quite yet what it was.

We stumbled upon this outdoor beer garden and restaurant that looked pretty cool. There was a new beer to try as well, it helped make our decision.

And then there was Trouble....

After the game and our beer we were walking in and out of the streets. We came up on this park and decided we should check it out. There was a nice Willow tree by a pond and then we headed a little more in and saw a peacock. I was so fixed on getting a good picture of this peacock that didn't realize there were more perched on a ledge until Felix said something.

I was trying to sneak up on them to have my picture taken!

Over in the back of the garden was another one with its feathers flared! So beautiful, no one really even knows that these peacocks are here.

Over in another part of the garden Vojanovy Sady was an old castle. Felix was ready to check it out!

After exploring this little old home...we walked down along the river.

The John Lennon wall was pretty marked up and we didn't see him.

Some action shots! Yes Yes I know, nerd alert.

On our way up to the Petrin - Prague's Eiffel Tower.

View from atop was amazing. The sun was just setting and really lit up the city to make it look like the Golden City.

Prague Castle

Headed to dinner where we met up with Bene and his friends, they all came to Prague for a Bachelor Party.

Pilsner and Chicken breaded in a pancack potato. It was delicious.

Our table full of boys and after dinner drinks. Someone asked a local where 8 guys and 1 girl can get in at and they said a gay bar. I thought that was pretty good.

We broke up into two groups to enter the bar...worked out just fine. We met a group of girls from Germany and we had such a great time with them. I was very thankful!!

That was day 1....

On day 2 there was a scheduled tour in German. I paid about 8 euros for the tour and Felix had to translate everything. Should have paid him! I have no clue to what she is telling us. I later come to find out that a freeway was built too close to the center of the city.

There was an old trolley turned Cafe in the middle of the plaza. I likes. I couldn't bring my camera today because we took so many pics yesterday the battery was worn.

An artist, David Cerny, created this sulputre of a dead horse hanging upside down in Lucerna Palace.

The tour wasn't what Felix and I had expected. We didn't go up to Prague Castle or really around to far for the 4 hours that we were with the guide. She gave us lots of imformation on the city and the meaning behind the buildings. It was nice to not do all that you see on a map.

Some local musicians trying to earn a wage.

Ah Felix and I re-enacting yesterday's pose, we felt so sneaky with Bene's camera!

We left the guide and decided to have lunch. I was hoping for Gloush this afternoon but the place we chose did not serve traditional Bohemian cuisine. I just had a Greek salad, so no pic, there was no lettuce and all veggies...pretty needed actually.

After lunch we went up to the Prague Castle and they were doing the changing of the guards. Pretty displined and focused on their task at hand.

The area around the castle was so large and so much to see, but we all started getting tired from being out late the night before. Felix and Bene looked like they were walking hand in hand...they are such a funny pair.

After we took a nap, Felix and I thought we should get some sweets to wake us up. There were all sweet cafe's around us it was almost hard to decide which would be best. Then the thought of what to get, cake, ice cream, pie, and there it was crepes....

There is another part of Prague that is not too popular around the tourist attractions, but said to be quite amazing. We took the train down to Vysehrad district. These escalators were so steep and ran so fast we were kind of scared on them.

The walkway to the church was really nice and peaceful, there was hardly anyone around.

Some old cemetaries behind the church.

I had to pee really bad at this point since all the toilets were closed at 6:30p, I was walking fast to find a spot to squat.

The sun was setting and this is by far the best view in any city. Sun on the water...

I made Felix pose, he was so confused at first but it didn't turn out so bad.

Such a funny place for a ladder. Fred and Ginger dancing house. 

The castle lit up!

On our way to dinner, started to get hungry with all this walking and picture taking. Need me some beef.

We went back to the hostel to get ready for the evenings events, meeting up with the bachelor party and the girls from Germany. Oli and I found some feathers from a boa. We look pretty.

Taking the elevator down from duplex, the mirror above.

The next day we went out for breakfast, again we had crepes. Before we left Prague we wanted to check out this marathon they were setting up for the evening before.