Prague, the fun part

So my Prague posts won't be quite chronological, because it doesn't really make sense to do them that way.  We'll do "fun" Prague, and "important" Prague instead. 

We took the train from Vienna on Wednesday morning and had an easy 4 hour ride into Prague. 

Train was reasonably comfortable.  Although the children and I felt like we were swaying for the rest of the afternoon.

Hello, Czech Republic!

On the train we decided that we'd do an "underground Prague" tour that night, so we got to our Airbnb and met up with our host (an American ex-pat who, despite living here for 25 years seems like he left California yesterday), got unpacked quickly, and head into the old town square for dinner and our tour. 

It's not larger than it looks

Me: how are you going to get out of bed?
Pete: I'm going to crawl out backwards.

Spacious quarters.  On the 5th floor.

This is the elevator.  No Thank You.  I have walked up MANY flights of stairs this trip.

It was raining, but we took a little walk before dinner to see Charles Bridge and the Vltava River.

Dinner was good,

Lea tried Becherovka, a Czech alcohol.

No thank you.

and the tour informative.  We went into some basements and learned about Prague from the 14th-18th centuries.  Even the kids liked it (especially because it described a whole bunch of medieval execution methods and our children can be morbid like that). 

Old Town Square

Astronomical Clock.  We learned that the guy who made this was blinded after he made it so he couldn't make another.  He was then so depressed he killed himself by throwing himself into the clock's gears, which not only killed him, but rendered the clock broken and virtually unfixable for about 100 years. 
Prague - a laugh a minute!

Prague basement from the 16th century (I think)

insert sexist joke about the perfect woman: beautiful and silent.
ha. ha. ha

Old Town Square

The next day we got up and out early so we could get to Prague Castle before it was completely and totally swamped.  In the complex itself we decided to start with St. Vitus Cathedral, which was absolutely gorgeous.  The stained glass was amazing.

This picture really isn't doing it justice.

neither is this

Mosaic.  So amazingly detailed.

Hard to get this church's "best angle."

From there we went to the Royal Palace, which was a great hall, a record keeping area, and the seat of the government that was comprised of royalty, aristocracy, and some middle class folks through the 18th century.

The rooms, and many ceilings, were all painted with family crests.  

Seat of government.  Spots for the king and those who helped him rule.

We also saw "the Golden Lane" which was a row of little houses and shops, some of which sold tchotkies, and some of which were set up to look like they would have historically. 

A quick stop at St. George's Basillica (a much smaller church) and then a trip up the south tower of the cathedral.  It was something like 288 steps, but the view of Prague was worth it.

Imagine this is a movie and the sound you hear is me panting in the background after climbing 20 stories.

Back down (so much easier!) and off to lunch in the Jewish quarter, and some exploring there, which will be covered in my next post, along with the trip to Terezin that we did today.

Today we spent a good chunk of the day in Terezin, but at the end of our tour we walked right through the tourist center again, stopping for chimney cakes with ice cream and to see the astronomical clock change hours. 

A really messy pain to eat, but very tasty.

We had dinner at a little Czech place right down the street that was recommended by our Airbnb host, and it was delicious.  Now we're just about ready to get up and out early tomorrow morning to move on to Berlin!

Duck, plus three kinds of complex carbohydrates.  There's a little cabbage under there.
This, plus the smoking, it's really amazing that the Czechs live past the age of 23.

Potato dumplings stuffed with smoked meat #healthfood

Boar, potato, bread, cabbage.  Dinner of champions.