Czech Republic

October 2015: After Oktoberfesting for a few days, we took the train over to Prague for the last few days of our vacation. We stayed at an Airbnb in the Old Town. We walked everywhere from here, and there was a great coffee shop just around the corner from us called Cafe Ebel. We found Prague to be very similar to Budapest.

highlights

. Random Art & Architecture . Walkability . Beer .

lowlights

Busy Charles Bridge after sunrise.

charles bridge

Trevor read that watching the sunrise from the bridge was pretty amazing, so on our first morning in Prague, we got up before the sun and walked over to the bridge. It was definitely a beautiful sight. There was a couple in full wedding attire getting some photos done, and the pink sky coming up from behind the buildings and over the water was breathtaking. I highly recommend. Plus, the bridge was almost empty, which was really nice considering it is jam packed with people most other hours of the day.

old town

The Old Town in Prague is a great spot to park yourself for a few days. There's the Old Town Square, which has the Astronomical Clock, and lots of restaurants to sit and have a drink at. It's also very close to the Jewish Quarter, as well as Charles Bridge, which takes you to the other side of the river and up to the castle.

wenceslas square

This is in the New Town, and not too far from the Old Town Square. We wandered here after our sunrise walk to Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square. At the end of it is the National Museum, and the rest of the square has restaurants, shops, banks, and bars.

josefov (Jewish quarter)

This former Jewish Ghetto is extremely well-preserved (Hitler wanted to turn it into a "Museum of the Extinct Race" or something). There are multiple synagogues, a cemetery, and walking tours you can take. Unfortunately, we came on a holiday in the Czech Republic, so they didn't have any walking tours. But we bought our tickets and went on a self-guided tour. The synagogues were beautiful, and there were interesting artifacts and monuments. Highly recommended.

*One of the synagogues in the Jewish Quarter.*

*Food and drinks across from the castle entrance.*

Prague castle & st. vitus cathedral

These two sights are in the same area across the river from Old Town. We walked up, but I think there are buses or trams that can take you up there as well. At the top there are some great views, and little shops and stands to eat and drink at. We did not go into either the castle or the cathedral (I think the line was really long), but the cathedral is pretty amazing from the outside, so the inside must be pretty spectacular as well. I would definitely go in next time. After wandering around, we decided to head back down using the scenic route. We walked down through a beautiful park, and even stumbled upon an old wooden church in the middle of it. We couldn't go in, so we just peeked through the window.

strahov monastery

We didn't explore too much here, just wandered around the area and then had a beer at their monastic brewery (very good). There is a restaurant below called Peklo, which we didn't eat at, but walked through. It was super cool, very cave-like, and the food looked delicious.

petrin lookout tower

While wandering through a park, we found this lookout tower you can climb up. Beautiful views from the top, and they also had a few other things to see in the area, like a mirror museum that was pretty amusing for awhile. In the same park is the Strahov Monastery, which I'll talk a bit about below.

*Outside of Peklo restaurant, also where we tasted some monastic beer.*

lennon wall

One evening we took a walk along the river (after crossing Charles Bridge) and found the Lennon Wall. Pretty massive and very cool.

*If you don't look up you might miss this guy!*

*A little creepy...this is on the TV tower.*

random art and architecture

Everywhere we went we found or stumbled upon some neat art features and architecture. We sought out a few that we read about online, and the others we just happened upon. Very random, unconventional, and pretty cool.