Pretty Prague
In and around Prague, Czech Republic
Last weekend Andrea, Steven and I visited the beautiful and bustling city of Prague in the Czech Republic. The amazingly clear skies and spring-like temperatures made the city even more enjoyable.
We decided to take an Enjoy Tours excursion since our drivers understandably did not want to deal with the hassle of driving and getting/returning the rental. Pat took us to Kaiserslautern for a 10:30 bus departure, and we almost got on the wrong bus! Luckily, that bus driver was paying attention, but we all thought that these tour groups should really learn to label their buses!
The bus ride really wasn’t too bad. I was so tired from the night before, when I had only gotten four hours of sleep, that sleeping wasn’t that big of a chore, even sitting up. If I had to sit next to a stranger and sleep, it might have been a different story. We got into our hotel at Prague around 7:00 am, and we were allowed a couple hours to nap, freshen up, etc, before we made our way to the city. Since we had three people, our room was much bigger than everyone else’s and very clean and well kept. Even though we all slept on the bus, we were by no means caught up on sleep, so all three of us crashed in our rock hard beds and took another nap.
Prague was not at all what I expected. It was much more of a developed big city than I had originally thought. Our hotel was a good 15-20 minute drive through town to get to the locale of all the good happenings. But when we got there…WOW! It was beautiful.
We had a fun little Czech lady named Paula, who has lived in Prague her entire life. She was very knowledgeable of the city and its history, which made for some very good stories along our two day journey. The first place she took us was through a very large tower, one of two remaining, and one of sixteen originals, that were part of the fortification wall of Prague in ancient times. Everything in the city seemed to have gilded accents (or at least artificially gilded!).
We proceeded to the shopping district with lots of authentic Bohemian crystal stores, toy stores, and souvenir shops. After walking through there, we walked on the famous Charles Bridge with statues along both sides during the entire walk. The bridge had an interesting history: Built in the 15th century, it is supported by 12 (?) pillars, none of which have ever been destroyed or damaged. It really is a magnificent sight up close and while walking on it.
We had a native Czech dish for lunch at an upscale restaurant outside the big clock tower on the square. It was so delicious. We also had a yummy dinner buffet at the hotel.
The second day, I bought a small porcelain saucer (280 crowns=11 euro) at the crystal shop with Monet’s water lilies on it, which pales in comparison to what most people bought.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Liz Hamilton
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