Prague

Leaving Athens, we spent a long and delayed travel day getting to Prague.  Once we arrived to our hotel, we were tired and hungry and seeking something simple nearby.  

Ham, bread, cabbage and a potato dumpling-like dish.  And excellent beer! 

A hotel employee suggested a little bar around the corner, and that night's meal best represents my opinion of Prague's food and drinks.   Great beer! Not so great food.   It wasn't that the food was bad, but I can only eat so much pork knuckle, sausage dumplings and fried cheese.  We embraced the local fare again on our first full day in the city, but after that we found ourselves seeking other options.  Lucky for us, a delicious breakfast was included with our hotel each day, and one night we found some excellent Thai food.

The Czech language was close enough to Polish that Kasia could understand and speak some of it.  Luckily, almost everyone speaks English in the city so we had little to no difficulty communicating.

A great view of Prague castle, the Charles bridge and the river.

A morning walk to the center of Old Town Prague led us to a free walking tour of the city. This 4-hour tour (with a break for lunch) was an awesome way to get a quick view of the main parts of town and attractions, and helped us plan the next 2 days.  

There were carriages all over the Old Town square

It's hard to be unhappy walking around in the sunshine with all the great views.

The town's history is rich with stories of communism, war, education and religion.  We saw so many gorgeous churches, clocks, beautiful architecture, the Charles Bridge and a castle that was originally built around the year 880.   Prague both told stories and bared wounds of a tumultuous past, yet flourishes today in modern society.  The Czech Republic is now one of the most liberal European countries and although Catholocism is still the deepest religion, an overwhelming number of its people are atheist or agnostic.

Everything was beautiful and different (but very safe) at night.  Too bad most of our photos weren't so beautiful.  I love this one of Kas with her camera though.  

Prague, is by far, one of the prettiest cities we have ever seen.  It is also a highly walkable. We must have walked four to five miles a day, and stolled through four of its neighborhoods near center city.  All the while, we felt extremely safe in the city.  

Old Town is the main center of Prague and an area that seemed to be most heavily populated with tourists.  Here, an old astronomical clock becomes a gathering place every hour for town's people.  As the clock strikes on the hour,  several features on the clock move while a person plays a trumpet atop its tower.  The tower is open for visitors to enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of the town and city.  

Great view of a church from inside the Astronomical Clock tower.

Culturally we loved how the local Czech's gather on the riverbank and parks in the evening to share a beverage of choice and watch the sun set.  It is not common to see people tied to their phones or iPads.  This isn't to say that they don't use these devices altogether, however, there is a strong sense that they value and act upon a balanced social life while enjoying the outdoors and their beautiful city.

Alas it was time to go home.  As we were packing our bags and waiting for our driver to arrive, we learned of our flight cancelation and reschedule for the next morning.  Bad weather was reported in NY City and all flights were canceled.  Oh no! Our driver was to arrive in 15 minutes to take us to the airport.   After 30 minutes on the phone with the airlines, we were able to book another flight to the US out of Amsterdam.  Thankfully we were able to get back to Columbus during our regularly scheduled day because it was the following day that the Malaysian flight was shot down after leaving Amsterdam.  I couldn't imagine our level of hesitation if that news arrived prior to our flight.  Crazy.

The changing of the guard at Prague Castle.