Prague, Czech Republic

May 28 – 31, 2104

When planning our trip we asked Alex for his input on cities he would like to visit. One of those cities was Prague.

We spent 1 night in Krakow, Poland and then headed to Prague. Instead of flying back to Warsaw and then to Prague, backtracking and dealing with scheduled times, we asked the concierge to make arrangements for a driver. We were able to leave late evening, when we returned back to the hotel after visiting Auschwitz. Because all our arrangements were private, we decided to stop for a short visit at Shindler’s Factory. If you’ve been following our journeys, you have probably surmised that we prefer private arrangements so we can be on our own time schedule. Allan needs “seemless” travel. This is how I make it work.

We stayed at the Marriott near Old Town Square. Perfect location and had the best waffles Alex and Allan had ever had. We were on the Concierge Floor and met a lot of students finishing up their semester abroad. Alex talked about doing his semester abroad here.

Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, is bisected by the Vltava River. Nicknamed “the City of a Hundred Spires,” it’s known for its Old Town Square, the heart of it’s historic core, with colorful baroque buildings, Gothic churches and the medieval Astronomical Clock, which gives an animated hourly show.

The Old Town is surrounded by the New Town of Prague. Across the river Vltava connected by the Charles Bridge is the Lessor Town of Prague. The former Jewish Town (Josefov) is located in the northwest corner of Old Town heading towards the Vltava.

Completed in 1402, pedestrian Charles Bridge is lined with statues of Catholic saints.

Rising above the city on a steep hill, 9th-century Prague Castle is now the seat of the Czech president. The castle’s St. Vitus Cathedral includes windows designed by art-nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha. The city’s former Jewish Quarter is home to the Old-New Synagogue, Europe’s oldest active Jewish house of worship, and the Old Jewish Cemetery, with thousands of vertically stacked graves. New Town’s main boulevard is lively Wenceslas Square, where art-nouveau buildings house shops and cafes. Letná Park, with views over Prague’s bridges and red rooftops, has a large beer garden.

Shoes hang on a power line at Letna park overlooking Prague early January 2, 2013.

Czech teenagers, who skateboard at the park, throw their damaged and unwanted shoes over the wire for fun at the city’s main skating hangout, once the site of a monument to former Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

Shelley’s Photos

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