Home from Prague

We just returned home from Prague and had an amazing weekend! On Friday, we arrived at the airport via the S-bahn and as we were coming up the moving stair case, we saw the beginning stages of a Christmas Market with an icing skating rink. I am so excited we found this because my Grandparents are coming on 29.11, but we can only see them at the airport as they are off on a cruise and at least they can see one of the markets. After going through security, which took all of ten minutes we headed to our gate. On the way we discovered the following:

Brad at the Allianz Area, which is a free media center

Ashley getting free Kaffee and heiße Schokolade

Our flight was super quick and we both decided that Prague is our new Los Angeles in terms of weekend getaways. We got our bus/tram tickets and headed for Kristin’s place. I was not sure how much I would remember, but as soon as we got off the tram near Kristin’s flat it all came back to me. Good thing it did as I forgot to print the map she provided us. After settling in and having a few cocktails, we headed to dinner. Originally, we planned to walk there, but it began to rain. Kristin picked an amazing restaurant, which could have been placed anywhere in San Francisco and it was reasonably priced. We all really enjoyed our dishes and had a wonderful evening.

On Saturday, we woke up and Kristin’s husband made us breakfast. Afterwards, Brad and I got ready, quickly decided our game plan and headed off to the Prague Castle. With our map in hand, we figured out how to get there (kind of) and had a wonderful time getting to the castle which sits on top of the city and has spectacular views. After walking around the grounds, we decided to challenge the 287 steps located in the Great South Tower of the Chapel. Even though I promised myself I would never do this again, I really wanted Brad to see the view from up there as it is breathtaking. I must admit this time around was far more enjoyable as the tower was quiet and not crowded. The last time I did it was in May (during the height of tourist season) and you had to climb on the inside as people were coming down on the outer part of the steps. Therefore, you were climbing with just your toes on the littlest part of the step and could not stop to look out the windows, not fun at all. Whereas this time we were able to have the entire tower pretty much to ourselves and did not feel rushed. Here is a photo of me about to climb up.

Photo from the top of the tower – beautiful

After our huge climb, we decided to walk over the Famous Charles Bridge and grab lunch.
Kristin recommended a vegetarian restaurant and I am so glad she did as it was fantastic. Plus, we would have never found it on our own. Afterwards, we headed to the famous clock tower and on the way stopped at the Havelske Trziste Market located in the city center. We arrived at the tower a little before three and did not have to wait long in order to see it chime. However, in the middle of it Brad mentioned that this would be the time to get the video camera out. But by the time I did, it was over. So we decided to walk around and wait until four o’clock. After walking around the square and taking some pictures we decided it was time to grab some beers and warm up. Luckily we found a spot right across the way from the clock and it had heat lamps. While we waited we saw: several vendors coming into the beer tent trying to sell these weird looking bracelets, the “give a hug” people from Munich were there, a round bike with eight people on it and a bride in a horse carriage waving like she was Ms America. It was really fun to watch all of this transpire.