Prague, Czech Republic
Wednesday, June 3
I'm just proud of myself for knowing how to spell "Czech" now. It's a tough one!
Let's start with the negatives: Yesterday when I got into our hotel room, someone called to check on us right away to make sure everything was okay (super nice!) and I told her I couldn't figure out the air and that it was very hot in here. "Oh we don't turn on the air conditioning until summer. Please turn off the thermostat completely and open your window." Uhh--isn't it summer when it's 80 degrees? I did as she suggested and it helped minimally, if any at all. Our room also faces a busy, noisy street. Needless to say, last night's sleep was not peaceful. Tonight at dinner our tour guide apologized for the air, which apparently actually is just not working, which I have a hard time believing because it works in the lobby! I left a negative review of this hotel on Trip Advisor. :P
Anyway, breakfast at the hotel this morning and about 20 minutes' drive into downtown Prague. We saw the Jewish Quarter, the Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square, and the astronomical clock. The Charles Bridge is a pedestrian bridge with great views of the castle and cathedral up on the hill. The Old Town Square is enormous and the astronomical clock does a cool little ditty on the hour. We had about three hours of free time today and I walked my butt off. The architecture in Prague is beautiful. The buildings are all different colors and are so detailed from top to bottom. All of the roads and sidewalks are cobblestone.
I was somewhat disappointed with how commercialized and touristy the square is. There are a million souvenir shops (although I did go into a lot of them in search of a magnet), as well as lots of expensive restaurants and exclusive shopping (Dior, Vuitton, Burberry). I expected it to be a little more authentic. I did find a cute bakery and bought a Czech treat called trdlo. It's a sweet twisted pastry and it was pretty good.
At 2:00 pm, we met up with each other again and did our optional "medieval Prague" tour, which cost extra. The tour included a visit to St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle, St. George Church, and Golden Lane.
This cathedral is more ornate and over-the-top than any I saw in England. Czech Catholics really know how to do things up right.
The castle was honestly a huge letdown. It is very small and unimpressive compared to other castles I've seen (i.e. Edinburgh Castle). The two good things about the castle: it has an amazing view of Prague from up above and I got to see the beautiful Czech crown jewels.
St. George Church was also a bit of a disappointment, though there is a lot of history that happened there. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about everything, but her accent was thick and she talked so fast! Also, the Czech names are impossible to follow, so it was hard to know what she was talking about a lot of the time.
Golden Lane is a small street within the castle walls where a few select civilians were permitted to live. It's called "Golden Lane" because alchemists used to live there in search of creating gold. They were unsuccessful, but the name stuck.
We're off to Vienna, Austria tomorrow!
I'm just proud of myself for knowing how to spell "Czech" now. It's a tough one!
Let's start with the negatives: Yesterday when I got into our hotel room, someone called to check on us right away to make sure everything was okay (super nice!) and I told her I couldn't figure out the air and that it was very hot in here. "Oh we don't turn on the air conditioning until summer. Please turn off the thermostat completely and open your window." Uhh--isn't it summer when it's 80 degrees? I did as she suggested and it helped minimally, if any at all. Our room also faces a busy, noisy street. Needless to say, last night's sleep was not peaceful. Tonight at dinner our tour guide apologized for the air, which apparently actually is just not working, which I have a hard time believing because it works in the lobby! I left a negative review of this hotel on Trip Advisor. :P
Anyway, breakfast at the hotel this morning and about 20 minutes' drive into downtown Prague. We saw the Jewish Quarter, the Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square, and the astronomical clock. The Charles Bridge is a pedestrian bridge with great views of the castle and cathedral up on the hill. The Old Town Square is enormous and the astronomical clock does a cool little ditty on the hour. We had about three hours of free time today and I walked my butt off. The architecture in Prague is beautiful. The buildings are all different colors and are so detailed from top to bottom. All of the roads and sidewalks are cobblestone.
I was somewhat disappointed with how commercialized and touristy the square is. There are a million souvenir shops (although I did go into a lot of them in search of a magnet), as well as lots of expensive restaurants and exclusive shopping (Dior, Vuitton, Burberry). I expected it to be a little more authentic. I did find a cute bakery and bought a Czech treat called trdlo. It's a sweet twisted pastry and it was pretty good.
At 2:00 pm, we met up with each other again and did our optional "medieval Prague" tour, which cost extra. The tour included a visit to St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle, St. George Church, and Golden Lane.
This cathedral is more ornate and over-the-top than any I saw in England. Czech Catholics really know how to do things up right.
The castle was honestly a huge letdown. It is very small and unimpressive compared to other castles I've seen (i.e. Edinburgh Castle). The two good things about the castle: it has an amazing view of Prague from up above and I got to see the beautiful Czech crown jewels.
St. George Church was also a bit of a disappointment, though there is a lot of history that happened there. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about everything, but her accent was thick and she talked so fast! Also, the Czech names are impossible to follow, so it was hard to know what she was talking about a lot of the time.
Golden Lane is a small street within the castle walls where a few select civilians were permitted to live. It's called "Golden Lane" because alchemists used to live there in search of creating gold. They were unsuccessful, but the name stuck.
We're off to Vienna, Austria tomorrow!