PRAGUE

Old Town Sqaure

Our bus to Prague left early the next morning. About three hours into the ride we stopped for a fifteen-minute break, where Kathryn and I decided to grab a quick snack. It was here at this rest stop where we were lost in translation (or currency, if you will) when we noticed the currency being used was the euro, which implied that we were no longer in Hungary (where they use ‘feet’), however we were not yet in the Czech Republic where they use Czech Korunas. We declared this place to be ‘no-man’s-land’ until later investigations confirmed that we had made a pit stop in the lovely country of Slovakia. I would say ‘next time we’ll bring a map’ but that would take away from the laughs and spontaneous moments that take place without one…not to mention, we’d look nerdy tourists (gasp!).

Hours later we finally arrived to the insanely gorgeous city of Prague, and easily one of my favorite European destinations.:) Let the Praug-ing (Prauge+blogging = Prauging) begin!

Stormy Prague:)

Prague is surprisingly small and it felt even smaller coming from Budapest, where everything seemed so spread out. As with many European cities, the tiny side streets were unparalleled and quite confusing but after walking around in circles for fifteen minutes we finally found our hostel. As soon as we had settled into our room we were back outside and in search of our first priority (as usual): food. We came across another lovely Italian place and helped ourselves to two delicious pizzas and a half-liter of red wine. Don’t mind if we do!:)

After our delicious meal we set out to explore Old Town. Our first impression of Prague was that it was straight out of a fairytale! We absolutely adored this historical bohemian city and thanks to the gorgeous architecture found around every corner + the bustling atmosphere, most of the time we felt like we were in Disneyland rather than the capital of the Czech Republic. Sigh. Prague was MAGICAL.:)

John Lennon Wall!

We walked around and took in the gorgeous sights in Old Town and enjoyed a delicious local pastry made fresh in the plaza that was very similar to a churro… allowing our imaginations to wander even further into ‘fairytale land’ with every tasty bite. When we saw the river we decided to try to find the ever-so-famous Charles Bridge. Since there are so many bridges in Prague we got turned around and walked ten minutes in the wrong direction before realizing our mistake. The twenty minutes of extra walking was well worth the wait—the Charles Bridge and the gorgeous surrounding architecture was to die for!! We strolled across the bridge, took hundreds of pictures to try to justify it’s beauty, and even got to touch the Statue of John of Nepomuk for good luck!

On the other side of the bridge we came across a lovely Thai restaurant where we accidentally gave our waiter a 25% tip (darn currency exchange!) before sprinting home to escape the ominous clouds threatening a storm in the distance. Don’t be fooled, even in stormy weather conditions this historical city somehow maintains it’s mysterious beauty and charm. WE.LOVE.PRAUGE.:)

The next morning we stumbled across a small café that quickly became our new morning hangout spot. We ordered breakfast sandwiches and lattes only to look outside to pouring rain when we were finished. Since we had been eyeing the cakes and pastries behind the glass, it was a convenient excuse to buy two slices of carrot cake and two more coffees while we waited out the rain. At noon we finally headed out into the partially sunny skies and wet cobblestone streets for more exploring.

Prague<3

We walked around Old Town again and revisited the St. Charles Bridge. From there we went to the John Lennon Wall, had a photo op in front of the Dancing Building, and visited the historical U Fleku brewpub. Upon our arrival at the pub we were given traditional shots that tasted much like cinna-bears, followed by a dark beer (the only beer they served at the pub), and delicious Czech cuisine (a hardy pork and dumplings meal to soak up the alcohol;)).

Dancing in Old Town

We headed back to our hostel to drop off some souvenirs we had picked up throughout the day and then headed back out again to trek across town to the largest castle in the world!!:)

We hiked up to the castle and walked around the grounds while admiring the cathedral in the middle that towered over the rest of the impressive layout, all while trying to take in the expansive and (need I say it?) GORGEOUS views of Prague. You get the idea—LIFE IS GOOD!:)

On the way back into town we stopped at an Italian/pizza place, only to miscalculate the price of the food to be twice as expensive as it actually was (it’s a rough life changing currencies four times in a matter of three weeks…;))…but needless to say we ran out of that restaurant in a hurry, only to feel like HORRIBLE people two minutes later when we realized our mistake…OOPS! We debated going back to the restaurant but thought it would be too awkward and finally decided to stop at the next comparable pizza place closer to Old Town to enjoy TWO delicious full pizzas as the modest family across from our table split ONE. We wrapped up our second day in beautiful Prague with gelato and people watching (but what’s new?)—Prague, you are AMAZING!!

Dancing Building

The next morning, with most of our ‘To-Do’s” already checked off of our list we took our time moseying around the city, feeling like true Europeans as we slowly consumed our coffee and pastries while watching the world pass us by outside the window without a care in the world. We walked around our favorite areas—Old Town and the river and relaxed until it was time to meet our tour group at 7pm later that evening for the ‘Castle After Dark’ tour. Despite the tour being less ‘spooky’ than we had originally thought it would be, we learned a ton of interesting facts about the stories and mysteries that made Prague what it is today. Part of the way through the tour the group agreed to stop for a beer at a restaurant/bar that used to be a monastery but is said today to have some of the best beer in the city. Seeing as the Czech Republic drinks a LOT of beer, it didn't take much convincing to try this particular pub's brew selection.:)

After the Castle After Dark tour we had a couple of hours to kill before the underground tour that would take place in the bell tower in the center of Old Town. We grabbed some dinner and thinking we still had some more time before the tour started so we ordered ice cream JUST as our tour group started walking into the bell tower (I’ve never eaten an ice cream cone so fast in my life!). The tour was an eerie reminder of the mysterious and gruesome history of this city as we walked past torture chambers in this supposedly haunted underground area of Prague.

Our last morning in beautiful Prague consisted in some speedy packing (not that we had much to pack) and one last trip down the street to Good Fellows café. We walked around the bustling streets for the next hour, in need of a Zara and some spare time for a last minute shopping spree. After our last outing in Prague we headed back towards our hostel in search of a Mexican restaurant nearby that we had passed multiple times throughout our stay. However, the unparalleled side streets that make up the city had us turned around in our own area of town as we strode up and down three different side streets (more than once) before finally seeing the blatant sign that pointed us right in front of the restaurant doors (in our defense, the picture of the donkey in a sombrero on the restaurant’s sign looked much more like a wiener dog than any donkey I’ve ever seen…but Kathryn later informed me that I was delirious and crazy for thinking this).

U Fleku Brew Pub!

Beyond tired and hungry at this point, I apparently did not try to hide my disappointment when we were told that the restaurant only accepted cash. The man kindly told us that there was an ATM nearby and with little to no emotion in my voice or facial expression I simply responded “WHERE”. After finally indulging in a delightful meal we stumbled back to our hostel laughing at everything and nothing at the same time as delirium quickly took over both of our state of minds. As you can imagine, this didn’t help our productivity level when we arrived back at our hostel to find both of our bags completely buried by dozens of other traveler’s belongings.

When we left Prague I felt that we had given ourselves plenty of days to explore it's beauty but somehow at the same time, not nearly enough. However, before we knew it we were back on a bus towards Budapest where just one more night’s stay stood between us and our last adventure of this simply amazing trip together (but it wouldn’t be complete without ONE more currency mishap which led to us arguing with a cab driver for five minutes, thinking he was charging us $60 USD rather than $6…).

Exploring on the St. Charles Bridge

Leaving Prague was a heart-wrenching experience because it meant that the end of our trip was near. But with our heads held high we boarded the plane back to Madrid with a few new souvenirs and endless new memories.:)

Awaiting our arrival was a couple of days worth of relaxing (wine and arts and crafts in the form of bracelet-beading included) in my sweaty apartment in the heart of the city and one more trip to my beloved city of SEGOVIA.:)

SPAIN, here we come (again)!!!