Prague

I toyed with the idea of titling this blog "Czeching out Central Europe," but it just seemed too kitschy for what was really a gorgeous and amazing city.  I have this dream of two weeks spent meandering through Central and Eastern Europe--Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Romania (so want to go to Romania)--but so far we haven't found two weeks and available flights at the same time, so this past week we decided to at least get Prague out of our system.

Prague from the Charles Bridge

Old Town Square, with Tyn Church

The historic Clock Tower

Charles Bridge

Prague is the most beautiful city I've ever been to (which is why there are a million photos on this entry).  It did not hurt that it reminded me very much of Oxford, one of my favorite places.  And it is fall, and crisp and lovely, and we absolutely loved our trip.  Apart from what felt like the longest plane flight ever (I swear worse than going to Kenya), our trip was utterly fantastic.

Our side (Little Quarter) of the Charles Bridge

The John Lennon wall

More Charles Bridge

 

The famous clock in the Old Town Square

We like to walk around cities, and Prague was a fun city to walk around.  Since Britain and France basically handed it over to Hitler, it was never destroyed during WWII, so all its historical, Medieval glory still exists.  We loved the beautiful Old Town Square, the statuesque Charles Bridge, the amazing Prague Castle, the Jewish Quarter, and the historic Wenceslas Square, where the Czech people toppled Communism in 1989.

 

The other Lenin, at the Museum of Communism

Wenceslas Square

We spent particular time in:

The Old Jewish Quarter, which was home to Prague's Jewish population for centuries.  Before WWII, 120,000 Jews lived in Prague (all in this tiny space), and only 10% of them survived the Holocaust.  We visited the Pinkas Synagogue, onto the walls of which the names of all those people who were killed were written, covering every space.  Looking at the enormity of it made it a little hard to breathe.  We also visited the Old Jewish Cemetery, with it's piled, topsy-turvy graves--for years and years Jews were only allowed to bury their dead in this small spot, so the graves are piled deep.

Pinkas Synagogue, covered in names.

Old Jewish Cemetery

Prague Castle, which looks out over the city.  We visited the very cool library at the Strahov Monastery and particularly loved St. Vitus Cathedral.

The Strahov Monastery Library

Changing of the Guard at the castle

St. Vitus Cathedral

The O2 Arena, where we watched Prague's two hockey teams, Slavia and Sparta, duke it out on the ice.  It was fun to do something that was not translated into English.

Slavia vs. Sparta

Here are a few more random moments:

At the statue of King Wenceslas

Hot chocolate on the tram (good solution to the rain and 40 degree weather!)

Goulash for the first time (scary?)

Sorry, this ridiculous self portrait makes me laugh

We've been to a lot of places where I feel like I could say, "Alright!  I've been there!" and call it good.  Prague was not that place--our five days there felt like an intro preparing us to come back instead of a trip in itself.  It was amazing.  Go to Prague, I say!  Linger on the Charles Bridge and watch the sun set over the Old Town Square!  Eat goulash!  Watch hockey like a local and make jokes about "czeching"!