Prague, Czech Republic

The weekend after Perugia, mom and I flew to Prague, Czech Republic to meet up with Abby. Our flight landed before Abby's, but that was ok because the airport had a Starbuck's!!! I get very excited everytime I leave the country and get to have a CUP of coffee.  Don't get me wrong, Italian coffee is good, but I will always love Starbuck's.

Our Lady before Tyn-Old Town Square 

Our hotel was in a great location, around the corner from the main square called, Old Town Square. We had a drink and some appetizers at an outdoor restaurant in the square and got to see Our Lady before Tyn and the Astronomical Clock Tower by night; quite beautiful! We stumbled upon a jazz club that evening with a local Czech band that played songs in english.  They were really good!!

Jazz Club-Prague

Friday, we walked around the Easter markets in the square and bought a few souvenirs here and there. We walked to the top of the clock tower and took pictures of the city.  Every hour, there is a guy, dressed up in a jester-like costume who plays the trumpet from the top of the tower. I think we walked around the entire city and back that day.

view from the top of the Astronomical Clock Tower

We walked across the famous Charles Bridge and dined in a small restaurant along the river. We also tasted a typical Czech baked good called, Trdlo.  It is rolled dough cooked over the grill, topped with cinnamon & sugar...we got one each day, it was that good.

Charles Bridge with Prague Castle in the background

Atop the hill on the opposite side of where we stayed is the Prague Castle, the largest castle in the world, according to Guiness book of records. In the same vicinity is the Basilica of St. Vitus, as well as, Basilica St. George. We went inside Basilica St. Vitus, but not St. George because it was closing time.

St. Vitus Basilica 

The castle was closing so we didn't get the chance to go inside.  Instead, we stumbled upon the toy museum where the exhibition was Happy Birthday Barbie-50 years. It was a really neat museum to visit and see toys from different decades.

Mom and Abby at the top of the clock tower

Friday night, we took the metro to the movie theater and saw The Hunger Games.  In every country other than Italy, except maybe Spain too, movie theaters show films in original language with subtitles. We were all really excited to see the movie together since we have all read the books.

city street with tram 

Saturday morning, we ate crepes from the Easter market for breakfast.

munching on Crepes...nom nom

We went inside St. Michael's Basilica in the main square. We walked along the street with the most famous stores, window shopping, of course.

St Michael's and the top of Easter Market tents

We visited Josefstadt or Joseph's City-the Jewish ghetto. Six synagogues, a cemetery and the Jewish Town Hall still remain today.

Old-New Synagogue

Prague has a giant metronom atop one of its many hills. Abby and I walked to the top before our boat tour along the river. The hour-long boat tour showed us almost everything we had already seen, but it was nice to relax along the river and take pictures from a different view.

I love the colors of the building...view from the river

We even watched a few minutes of a puppet show at the Easter Market in Old Town Square that evening.

Puppet Show

Near the Charle's Bridge was a giant shopping mall.  We hadn't found too many boutique stores along the road.  Of course we had to get a few pieces of clothing to remember our trip to Prague :)

Astronomical Clock Tower-Old Town Square

That night, we were extremely exhausted after walking for HOURS.  We stumbled across a bar called, Bed Bar.  It's a bar that literally has beds.  You must take off your shoes and you lay back, relax and enjoy your drink...best.idea.ever!

Bed Bar

We ate dinner on the terrace of a hotel in Old Town Square and enjoyed our last view of the sites of the city before our departure the following morning.

Margarita's on the rooftop terrace