Me on The Charles Bridge
I still cannot believe I have been to
Prague! Honestly to me the Czech
Republic seemed so far away from my life in Canada. I didn’t know what to expect and felt very
ignorant to what the country was. All I
knew about it was that until 1993 it was known as Czechoslovakia. That’s all. I had heard from everyone I know
who had traveled to Prague that it was a gorgeous city and so why not explore
it for ourselves!
The Vltava River
View of the Charles Bridge and city center
We caught a train from Vienna to Prague in the early
afternoon and it took around 4 hours to arrive.
Once we reached the train station we immediately went to visit the
ticket office to book seats on our next train to Berlin.
Here is some very important advice to anyone
using trains in The Czech Republic. When
you buy tickets online you are unable to book actual seats unless you are in
Czech. So what that means is you are
able to ride the trains but you will not have an actual seat and will be stuck
standing in the aisles for the duration of your trip. I am so happy we learned this and booked
seats as soon as we arrived because the train was full and I would have been
pretty upset spending the same amount of money (really it was 3 euros extra to
book seats) as those people with seats to stand for 5 hours to Berlin. So word
to the wise go into the station and book seats immediately!
Since we were staying in the city over New Years
hotels were insanely overpriced. We were
unable to find anything in the city center for less than 300 euros a
night! Clearly we are not going to pay
that so we opted to stay outside the center for 100 euros a night – which is
still way more than we would have liked to pay but it is what it is. Anyway
because of this we didn’t know the best way to get to the hotel so we grabbed a
cab from the terminal.
It turns out that outside the city center in
Prague basically means the middle of nowhere.
For the first few minutes in the cab I was certain he was driving us out
to a human trafficking operation (thanks Hostel). Eventually we saw the sign for the hotel so I
felt slightly better. However, the hotel
was awful and I strongly recommend you never stay there. Especially for 100 euros a night.
The photos on the website do not reflect the
actual hotel. It was old, smelly, stained,
and the internet never worked. Also the breakfast
buffet, although nice that they offered it, was certainly not vegan friendly
and even vegetarian Ross was put off by the actual liquid scrambled eggs. There
was a bus right outside that took us downtown though so all was not lost.
Enough about bad hotels though let us talk about
how gorgeous this city is! The city center in Prague is like walking through a medieval
fairy tale land. The city was founded in
885 so it is no wonder it looks as it does.
Gothic spires, castles and cathedrals surround you as you wander the
cobblestone streets. I had heard Prague was known as the city of 1000 spires
and it is clear to see why when you visit.
Charles Bridge and city center at night
Astronomical Clock in the old town square
Love
The Christmas markets were still on while we were
there and a main one was set up in the old town square. It was so festive and full of delicious
smelling foods, hot mulled wine and trinkets to marvel at while Christmas lights
twinkled around us. We might have
indulged in another chimney cake, but it wasn’t as big as the first one so we didn’t
feel too bad about it. I would be curious
to see what the square looks like without the markets but alas we only get to
see it as it is when we visit. I am
certain it would look even more medieval though and that would be nice.
Christmas Market in Old Town Square
We spent our time wandering through the streets
checking out interesting shops, eating a ton of amazing food - Indian, Asian,
Mexican – our three staples, drinking Starbucks (There are 19 in Prague! Yet
somehow none where I live), people watching and enjoying sites like Charles
Bridge, The Astronomical Clock, and just the view of the city from the
river. Simply stunning.
Astronomical Clock
The other side of Charles Bridge
Vltava River is gorgeous
Awesome tourist shops!
One thing I didn’t like about the city was all
the tourists. I know I know we are some
of those tourists, but I just felt there were so many young rowdy ones
here. Many just had no respect or
interest in the city itself and were just there to party so they caused a lot
of disturbances, and made huge messes everywhere. You know you are an actual
adult when you are not interested in being surrounded by teenagers who are
falling down drunk in the streets at 6 pm.
People....
People.......
More people.......
So many people........
Also because of the crazy amount of tourists with
it being the holidays everything was so rammed full of people it was hard to
appreciate the attractions. When we
visited Prague Castle we were basically just walking in a huge line everywhere we
went. Not that it wasn’t gorgeous and I
am very happy we went but there was never a moment I wasn’t being touched or
pushed by someone so it took some of the fun out of it. I am sure there are always a lot of visitors
but perhaps actual Christmas/New Years is not the best time to go sightseeing.
Walking up to the castle
The walk up to the castle from Charles Bridge was
fantastic. It is a bit of a steep one so
be prepared to wear your walking shoes and strain some leg muscles! I promise you it is worth it. There was this really great Christmas market
up there where we met some super nice people and ate awesome roasted veggies! With the castle being up on a hill you get a
beautiful view of the city so it is a great place to relax with some snacks and
just enjoy the picturesque landscape.
Prague you are beautiful
The castle courtyard
Christmas market at the castle
Another castle Market
Castle Cathedral
Even though I don’t think it was a great time to sight-see I do believe it was the perfect place to spend New Years Eve! The city certainly has a thriving nightlife
and whether you are in a bar or just wandering the streets there is a party
happening and you are invited! We were
lucky enough to have a friend and his sister who were also staying in the city
over New Years so it was great to meet up and enjoy the festivities
together.
Ross, myself, Kevin and Cara...Blurry cellphone picture
Something I think was really great about meeting
our friend there is how we know him. We
met our buddy Kevin, from Florida, while living in Valladolid where he is working
as an English teacher. Last New Years
Eve he was in London, as were we, so we got to hang out there, and then this
New Years we are all in Prague together.
We all laughed and said we should make it a New Years tradition to meet
up somewhere cool and spend it together.
New Years Christmas market fun
Great place to spend New Years!
Now I am not going to get into all the debauchery
of the evening, as this is a family friendly blog, but I will say it was the
single best New Years of my life! We spent
time in an underground, somewhat terrifying bar, where we met awesome people
from Germany, Sweden and America, we enjoyed a few adult beverages at an
Absinthe bar, watched the most perfect fluffy snowflakes fall around us in a medieval
square at midnight while being wowed with an amazing fireworks display that
lasted a half hour and was like nothing I have seen before. It was magical and
something I think we will all remember forever.
Ross, Melissa, Absinthe...
I do want to note that the fireworks were
insanely beautiful and dangerous. In
Prague the city has a fireworks display on New Years day around 6 pm but on New
Years Eve the display is done by just random people. So basically we stood in the square and
watched these fireworks being let off all around us. From all directions there were explosions of
light and we never knew where the next one would be which made it even more
exciting. They were constant though and
seemed well planned for just random people putting on a show.
I borrowed this picture from the internet since we didnt take any fireworks photos but I wanted to give you an idea how cool it was!
Now the danger comes into play as there would
just be a guy standing 30 feet away from you with a beer in one hand and
shooting of fireworks from the other. We
did see a couple people get taken away by ambulances that were stationed in the
square ready for mishaps. However, I
never felt unsafe the whole time. It was
seriously the most interesting New Years I have ever had.
Ross and I didn’t make it back to the hotel until
just before the sun would have come up so its safe to say we thoroughly enjoyed
the evening. Although to be truthful
part of the reason we were out so long was because we didn’t know how to get
back to the hotel. The bus we would
normally take had stopped running and it is not easy to figure out where to go
when you do not speak Czech and can’t read signs. These experiences make it all the more of an adventure
though and I wouldn’t change it.
And those are signs we can understand! Sort of...
Although Vienna was my favourite city that we
visited in terms of beauty and interest, Prague was the most fun. I think 2.5 days was enough time to see the
city but we certainly could have spent a few more days checking out all the
hidden corners we missed and of course travelling outside of the city there are
sites I would have liked to see. Try as
we might we just can’t see it all.
Next up is our last city on the tour – Berlin! So Czech back soon for more!
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