Our day in Prague was quite fun…very cold, but fun. We had stayed at a hotel called the Art Deco Imperial the previous night. It was a bit extravagant, but when three people are staying in one room it becomes affordable. Hotels.com describes the hotel as perfect for Honeymooners or Retirees. Obviously the three of us (Brad, CH and myself) are neither…we picked the hotel based on its location and the pictures that we found on the Internet.
The complimentary breakfast at the hotel was outstanding and a great way to start out the day. Also, a representative from Delta Airlines called me at the hotel and informed me that my luggage had made it from Paris to Berlin and that they could have it delivered to the hotel that I would be staying at in Berlin on Sunday. I was hoping that my luggage would be delivered to me in Prague so I could get out of the clothes that I’d had on for 3 days straight, but no such luck. I was, however, glad to know that it had made its way to Berlin.
We decided that the best approach to seeing the Prague (or Praha as it is known in the Czech Republic and most of Europe) was to just wander about and then see a few major landmarks. The landmarks we chose to see were the National Museum and Charles Bridge. We also saw plenty souvenir shops as CH was on a quest to find a winter hat that said Prague on it (which he finally found later on that night). After walking around for an hour or two we ate lunch and then headed over to the museum.
We spent about an hour and a half at the National Museum where we viewed the zoology exhibit (I skipped the spider section of the exhibit only to be laughed at by Brad and CH), the Czech Hockey exhibit, and the featured exhibit called Republika. The Republika exhibit contained information and displays about the history of the Czech Republic and was the most interesting thing that we saw at the museum. We also spent a lot of time sitting on benches in the museum because Brad and CH are both pushing 30 and their old joints can’t handle the cold weather and the excessive amount of walking we did that day. When I made fun of them they reminded me that I was only three years away from 30 myself.
Here is a link with info about the Czech National Museum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_(Prague)
After leaving the museum we stopped at a few more souvenir shops on the quest for a Prague snow hat. Souvenir shops are all over the place in the tourist area of Prague and are all basically the same. When you first walk into one of the shops you are almost blinded by the light reflecting off of the crystal objects situated on the shelves. It appears that the Czechs are obsessed with crystals or they think that tourists are obsessed with crystals. I’m not sure which it is, but believe me when I say that the amount of crystal objects in each souvenir shop is astounding. In addition to crystals, there are plenty of t-shirts, magnets, coffee mugs (I added another to my ridiculous collection of mugs from different places), and bottles of real absinth (apparently the Czech Republic is the only country in the EU where it is legal). There are also plenty of shop owners and workers who seem to dislike tourists, but know that tourists are their only source of business so they put up with them, but look miserable all the while.
When we finally found a Prague snow hat we started to make our way over to Charles Bridge. I won’t bore you with the historical details (you can find those by following the link below), but let me say that the bridge is well worth seeing. The view of the city from the bridge is brilliant. The architecture of the bridge and the many statues lining either side of the bridge are also quite brilliant. The city is situated on both sides of the Vitava River and looks great at night. Again, if you are in Prague then Charles Bridge is a must see.
Here is a link to info about Charles Bridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_bridge
Our day concluded with dinner and a stay at the Hotel Josef. We booked a different hotel for each night we were in Prague and you will be happy to know that the Hotel Josef was recommended for young singles and not retirees or honeymooners.
That’s all for now…Gute Nacht!
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