Czech Mate!

One of the modern pieces of architecture you will find in the city. This is called "The Dancing House," and was influenced by the great Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

This is one of the major cathedrals in Old Town that is in the square across from the Astronomical Clock.

What an awesome city! We had heard great things about it, and it did not disappoint. Prague is relatively new to the world of letting in foreigners and just having them roaming about. The change has been accepted well and they have truly flourished as a city. The Czech Republic hasn't moved to the Euro yet, they have Koruna, which I just called "Koreans" because I could never remember that word. We were only there for two days, so it worked for us. Example of that conversion, $100 USD equals 1730 Koreans.

The Astronomical Clock in Old Town that is the big attraction. It's from 1410 and is still in perfect working order. Large crowds gather every hour to see the Apostle statues come out (from the two boxes above the astronomical dial) and at the top of the tower a man comes out and blows his horn and everyone claps and yells for him.

This is one of the Apostles making his hourly appearance.

Clock Tower horn blowing man

You can pretty much cover Old Town in about two days. It's small and very walkable. We covered the lower region in the morning and then headed up to the castle for the afternoon. Of course you have to take a walk across the famous Charles Bridge to get from one to the other. The statues are beautiful and we think they are in the process of being restored, but they are so black, very few of them photograph well. The bridge is covered with people of course, but also, artist, musicians, and jewlery makers.

One of the statues on the Charles Bridge. This one isn't as dirty as some of the others. Regardless of where you go in the city, if there is gold on a statue, tower, etc, it shines, shines, shines! This is one of the statues that you hold and say a prayer.

We are standing on the Charles Bridge and behind us you see one of the towers that flanks both sides.We broke down and had to go buy some fleece due to early morning frigidness. Apparently I am trying to look like an escaped convict. When I walked into a hotel to potty (again!) Ragan said, "If you think you blend, you don't. Just so you know." I do not fear the stripe. I'm getting wider and I've...almost accepted it.

We made our way across to see the Castle and this is the cathedral on the grounds It's a beautiful piece of neo-Gothic architecture! 

Side view of the Cathedral

This is looking back at Prague from the grounds of the Castle.

We heart Prague and really enjoyed our time there. The rest of the trip is fast and furious! We head home on the 19th, and have two more countries and 3 more cities to hit before then. Hang on for the ride!