Wednesday, April 24, 2013

European Vacation (Prague)

We made it to Prague!!  We left early Monday morning and flew throughout the night into Frankfurt and into Prague.  We arrived at the hotel about 1:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday (Prague is eight hours ahead of Salt Lake) and even though we were both very tired I knew that if we took a nap that our bodies would really have a tough time adjusting to the time difference.  We set out to find something to eat and started our sightseeing:)  Prague is a very beautiful city.  The architecture of the many buildings here is amazing!  Everything seems so ornate.  The streets are made of cobblestone and of course the city is very old. 
We walked to "The Town Square" and enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. 
 
 
We stopped at a stand and got something called a Tredlnik.  It is dough rolled onto a long post and then dipped in sugar and roasted over a flame (spit style).  Rick just loves this kind of stuff!
 
 
Around the corner of the town square is the astronomical clock.  It records in three different times;  Old Bohemian time, time as we know it, and Babylonian time.  It was built in 1552.  On the hour those two doors above the clock open up and statues of the 12 apostles pass by.  It's pretty neat!
 
 
We rode to the top of the clock/bell tower by way of elevator and got a beautiful view of the city.
After seeing the sights for about 4 hours we headed back to the hotel.  I took a hot bath to get warmed up and actually fell asleep in the tub because I was so tired.  I don't think I have ever done that!  Thank goodness for a nice soft bed!
 
 
The next morning we got up bright and early....Rick woke up at 4:30 and went jogging but I made myself stay in bed until 7:00.  Darn jet lag!! 
We wanted to see Prague castle so we used the public transportation (the tram).  That was interesting!  The concierge told us exactly how to get to where we wanted to be but we still made a couple of mistakes.  (It is really difficult when everything is spoken and written in Czech).  We had to make a tram transfer and when we got to our stop I hopped off but the doors closed before Rick could get off.  I just motioned to him that I would wait right there until he got back to me.  I wasn't all to nervous because I figured I could find my way back to the hotel if I needed to.  After about ten minutes I saw him walking with a girl.  She had been on the tram with us and realized that he might need a little help so she got off at the next stop with him and walked back to find me:)  We made the transfer and after only one more wrong stop we finally made it up to the castle. 
 Here we are at the castle gardens.  The tulips are just about to bloom:)
 
 
Inside the castle courtyard
 
 
The amazing gothic St. Vitus Cathedral.  It is an amazing building!  Lots of spires, stained glass windows, and gargoyles!
 
 
Here's a view from the front with the clock/bell tower.  Rick climbed to the top of the bell tower. 
Two Hundred Eighty five steps!!  You can barely see him in this picture.  He is in the middle of the three openings and is barely visible.  He was way up there!
 
 
Rick with our # 22 tram coming to pick us up:)
 
 
The Vltava river.  In the distance is the Charles Bridge.  The funny thing is that I thought we were on the Charles Bridge.  It is one of the places that I wanted to go so we walked all the way over to it just to cross it.  It was worth the walk.
 
 
The Charles Bridge lined with statues and the bridge tower in the distance.
 
 
Prague is known for it's handcut crystal.  I was just going in this shop to look.......really I was.
I bought a beautiful vase to bring home:)
 
 
After lunch we walked back to the Town Square for more sightseeing. 
On the way back to our hotel I found a stand selling these scrumptious brownie things. 
I haven't eaten it yet but I'm sure it will be delish!! 
LOTS of walking but all in all.......
A wonderful day in the Czech Republic!
 

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