Karen's birthday trip

you could say I was a little excited about being there...
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Karen gets a little bit excited about her birthdays, so excited that you can pretty much ask her on any given day of the year 'how long is it till your birthday?' and she will know the answer in a split second, in fact it's likely she was probably off in day dream land thinking about it that very moment... Ok, a little exaggeration, but she is definitely a fan.

So, I felt like I had something special to plan, to really make her day memorable (something on the scale of our amazing trip to Tokyo two years ago...).  The fact that we are now based in Europe couple with the tonne of advertisements screaming out to me on every page of the newspaper it didn't long to realise a surprise trip abroad was my best option.

our mouths just about hitting the floor in awe!

Prague castle and Charles bridge
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I settled my sights on Prague, booked the flights, found a hotel and then set about keeping my trap shut.  Poor Karen kept suggesting that we go away somewhere for her birthday and I had to keep shutting her down... I just don't think we will have enough money darling.... it's a little too soon... 

Finally, a few days out from the trip I decided that it was time to put her out of her misery and tell her the truth.  I figured she needed a little time to prepare what to take and make sure her warm clothes were washed and more importantly dry, as we would no doubt be encountering some rather chilly weather!

bright lights and seagulls
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The night before we went I arranged a little get together with some of our friends, a small birthday party for Karen as we would be away on her actual birthday (I had arranged it with her boss for her to have Monday off work).  So we had a nice evening in with our good friends enjoying some tasty snacks and even tastier drinks.  Karen especially liked the wine that night and proceeded to get a littlebitdrunk. All good though.  The night ended with a few rounds of mafia by which time we intervened between Karen, now CK by this stage, and the wine... what a great birthday girl she is!!

statues on Charles bridge
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Fearing the worst the next morning I was rather surprised to see Karen didn't seem to have a hang over, I think the first time since I have known her!  The conclusion I am drawing is that she was too preoccupied being excited about our trip abroad that it cured any sick feelings...the ultimate headache cure maybe?!

After our plane was delayed, and with it already being a mid morning flight, we arrived in Prague after night fall, but this just aided in making it all the more spectacular!  We had a little trouble finding our hotel (I now understand why on the hotel's website they advise for a more detailed map to "click here"...! oops), but once we did we were very delighted and a little relieved to see it was indeed close to "the action" but down a quiet street and looked delightful inside.  It was a very nice place, and a great bargain for just £20 each per night with breakfast included.

a typical cobble stone street by night
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We wasted no time before dumping our bags and heading back out for some food and a look around.

Food came from a Czech pub just around the corner.  The food was cheap and tasty and the beer delicious.  It quickly became apparent why the Czech beer is world famous, Karen thought so too, even if she did only have about ten mouth fulls!

The rest of the night was spent walking along the river front and down some side streets looking at the shops.  It was FREEZING cold, and we foolishly hadn't put on any thermals yet.  So, in order to warm up a quick stop was made to a street vendor for some mouth watering, soul warming mulled wine, yum!

first thing in the morning on Charles bridge
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The next morning we awoke to my alarm, no Sunday sleep in for us!  Instead, we chucked on the warmest clothes we had, wrapped up nice and warm and made our way out onto the early morning streets.  The sun had just come up as we got to the famous Charles Bridge, and, with only a hand full of other keen tourists around, we set about taking some pictures and admiring the sights and the city, with its early morning distinct lack of people.  The "hot spot" of Prague, the famous town square had barely five other people around it, and it was so quiet just walking around on the ancient cobbled roads.

sunrise
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After we had recharged back at the hotel, with some food, we venture out again, only this time the temperature was even colder and the streets were wet from falling snow.

We rode a tram up the hill above Prague castle and then spent the next few hours wondering around slowly losing the feeling in our toes as we got colder and colder.  We broke up the cold with visits indoors to admire the buildings and artifacts or with trips to cafes for hot coffee to warm us up.

The massive St. Vitus Cathedral opened its doors at 12pm and we were quickly inside with our mouths just about hitting the floor in awe!  The inside was spectacular, just so beautiful and so so enormous!  The stained glass windows were hypnotizing with their intricate attention to detail and each told a different story.  St. Vitus Cathedral was founded on the 21st November 1344, almost 663 years ago to the day!

early morning view of the castle
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However, no more than ten minutes after Karen had announced it was the most stunning building she has ever been in, we found ourselves blown away even more at St Nicholas Church.  The inside was breathtaking.  My describing it really can't do it justice so instead you are best to check out my photos, all I will say is the statues, lighting, colours, gold, all told a story of history and seemed in possession of an enchanting power, I would highly recommend this church as a must see for anyone visiting Prague.

near the Old Town Square
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The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent wandering around more of the cities highlights namely Charles Bridge (again!), Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square.  Everywhere we went we continued to be amazed and impressed by this remarkable city and its relaxed, friendly, romantic atmosphere.

Our final day in Prague, Karen's birthday, was theoretically a day or R&R, however as everyone knows shopping can be a bit exhausting and post lunch we were super keen to sit down and watch a movie (so much cheaper than London, a great way to catch up on movies missed!).  Although we had managed to see most of the cities highlights, basically all the day previously, we found ourselves drawn to certain areas again and again.  By early evening we found ourselves back at the Old Town Square taking pictures of the beautiful buildings light up in the dark night sky.

Karen loving the crowd free streets
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Before dinner as a birthday treat I decided to take Karen on a ride around the cobble streets in a horse carriage.  The journey took us through the old Jewish Quarter, a part of Prague we had not yet seen.  With it being such a cold night we were super wrapped up with a blanket and nice and snug.

Then it was time to find somewhere for our final dinner... a birthday dinner for Karen no less... before we hit the streets and made our way back to our hotel to get our bags and make our way to the airport.  By this time the snow was falling heavily and was the perfect gift for Karen, a winter birthday with snow falling all around her.  The perfect end to our perfect trip.