Travels in Europe: Prague Part I

It had been September 2022 since Jessica and I had set foot in Europe; we knew we missed it but didn’t realize how much until we arrived at our rental apartment in Prague (Praha in Czech).

After a red-eye over the Atlantic Ocean we arrived early in the morning in Munich, where we had to wait a few hours for our connecting flight to Prague. Our friend that we met in Spain, Diana, and her daughter, also named Diana, would be joining us for most of the trip, and we booked a shared apartment for the four of us, at an ideal location for sightseeing, a minute walk to the Charles Bridge and about five minutes to the Old Town Square.

We had a window in the apartment that looked out onto the street below with the Vltava River in the foreground and Petřín Tower in the background (we would visit Petřín Tower on a later day).

We arrived at the apartment about an hour before the Dianas did, enough time to shower after the long flight. Jesse and I have learned it is best to stay awake (we didn’t sleep on the plane) and go to bed at our “normal” bedtime, around 11pm. In that spirit, once we both showered and Dianas arrived we went with our friend Diana to the Dancing House, two funky buildings designed by Frank Gehry, and had sparkling wines on the terrace, saying “Naz Dravi!” (Cheers in Czech). It was so great to be back with our friend again (after 2 years)!

After we stopped by a local grocery store and picked up supplies and headed back to the apartment. Jesse and I were running on fumes, but had only eaten an apple and some lemon cake they gave us on the flight, so were very hungry. Near our place, a very popular tourist area, there are Czech bars and restaurants, and we found one that served us dark beer and decent food. We ordered chicken schnitzel, pork belly with chili and sour cream, spicy cabbage and french fries. We almost ate all of it, then went back to the apartment to sleep, for 12 hours.

We woke up feeling good, ready for our 1:30pm tour with a local guide. That morning there was a citywide Marathon going on, right outside our rental apartment; Diana had gone on a run in the morning and told us about it, snapping this most appropriate picture:

We finally were able to navigate across the street, and a short walk on the Charles Bridge and we met our tour guide, a cheerful and friendly local named Jolana. We also met up with another friend from our time in Spain, Utkarsh, who was in Prague for a couple days as he had given a speech at a local university the day prior. Besides the five of us, we only had two other people accompany us, and Jolana told us they were friends of hers who wanted to do the tour, and we were her largest group to date! With that, we were off on our 3.5 hour walking tour of Prague Castle, the surrounding areas, ending at the Astrological Clock in the Old Town Square.

We took a lesser used path to the Castle area, where Jolana told us history of the area, and we were able to talk with our friends at a very relaxed pace. We made it to a great overlook point of the city, and when a tour guide offers to take pictures, take them up on it.

We walked and talked some more as our walk took us from Lesser town (aka Lower town); in olden times it was where the servants and workers in the castle lived (and if you’ve read Kafka’s unfinished novel the Castle you can imagine being in Lesser town, waiting to get into the Castle. Kafka was not Czech but lived in Prague much of his life). Eventually we reached the Castle grounds (important to note that the Castle is a sprawling one, with many buildings as a part of it). Many of the former residences are now Embassies, and that is due to the fact that they are very grand, too big and opulent for a single occupant. Though as such there are many crests on the buildings. Here are some pictures from the main courtyard, some crests, and even an obelisk (based on the Washington Monument, albeit no where near as large).

Jolana took us to a local coffee shop for some coffee to-go and then we crossed the bridge back to Old Town Square. While there was a lot of hustle and bustle and tour groups, at least the Marathon was over. There was still some fencing and bleachers set up, and some in front of the famous Astrological Clock, which is something to see.

There was still some fencing around the front of the clock, and no one was crossing the barrier…so, as a local, Jolana led us right underneath the clock, and took another group photo.

We ended at a small student cafe, but its a “secret” place that we won’t spoil; rest assured we were able to share a final drink amongst our group as we chatted and enjoyed the company of our new Czech pals. Jolana gave us some great recommendations of places to visit and eat and her friends were super friendly and made us excited for the week ahead in Prague. Jesse and I have taken tours with locals in a lot of different places, and they are always memorable (and don’t have to be the most expensive tour). We took this one on our first full day, knowing we would learn of things to do that we didn’t know about beforehand.

With that, we took one more group picture in the Old Town square, and were off to share a big Czech dinner, with all kinds of interesting foods to sample, and of course, beer (because, while beer is not technically cheaper than water, its not much more expensive, and Pilsner beers typically have a lower alcohol content 4.3% or so).

Following our big dinner we went back to the apartment and chatted a while. Later, Jessica, Utkarsh and I went to a local Champaneria and shared some sparkling wine and each others company for a while longer. After, we walked Utkarsh back to where he was staying and took a leisurely stroll back along the Vltava river, taking some cool night photos, that will be part of the next post. Stay tuned!