Prague

After a long bus ride from Munich, we made it to Prague. It was clear from the old communist zone we went through first that Prague would be a little unlike any other city we've visited. From the bus station we took a short bus ride to the Charles Bridge and our hostel. I think this was the nicest, most friendly hostel we've been to. The cup of tea during check-in might have sold me. After settling in and orienting ourselves to a new city, we took off to explore.

The Charles Bridge was literally outside our window. There is a long story about the bridge that is pretty interesting but what you need to know is that the view from this pedestrian bridge is very nice. Actually, if you've seen Vin Diesel's XXX, you have seen this bridge. From there we grabbed a snack in the main square before heading north to explore the Jewish quarter. (Side note: the first cafe we walked into was full of cigarette smoke. We couldn't believe that they still allow smoking inside in Prague. Sorta bizarre, huh?)

 Charles Bridge at night

The Jewish Quarter is the home to a handful of  beautiful old synagogues and important Jewish sites. We made the decision to explore the Spanish Synagogue. The Moorish architecture was complete inside with gorgeous gold engravings. It was getting late by then so we headed back to the hostel for a free walking tour.

Spanish Synagogue

Our friendly hostel receptionist led the tour. She told us interesting stories about one of the Charles Bridge statues, the extravagant National Theatre,  the Lennon Wall and a spot where part of Mission Impossible was filmed. Afterward we got a great recommendation for a nearby restaurant with excellent goulash. This dish is a Czech staple sort of like soup with tender beef. It's served with their version of dumplings which are really more like moist bread. That night we met some students from Vienna. Most notable was this German kid who wanted to know if we thought the German language sounds angry. The ensuing conversation was pretty comical.

Lennon Wall

We started off the morning on Tuesday by taking the tram up Petrin Hill to the look out tower. It was a very snowy, windy day so visibility wasn't exactly stellar. Actually, we couldn't see a thing. Supposedly the tower is their version of the Eiffel Tower and the city takes great pride in having such a structure. Having seen the Eiffel tower, I think they could have done better but who's judging? The Prague Castle, which is enormous and easily the best site to look at, was our next stop. We made our way through a couple exhibits about the story of Prague and then checked out the intricate St. Vitus Cathedral.

Prague Castle entrance

We spent our final afternoon exploring Wenceslas Square on the other side of town and making arrangements to travel to St. Anton the next day. We actually had other plans but we lost our map and when we finally made it to this church famous for a WWII spy story, we realized it was closed for the day. It just wasn't meant to be I suppose. Overall, Prague was a nice city to visit with hearty food perfect for cold snowy days.