Prague

Our general opinion of Prague was that it is a way cooler place to travel in than Berlin! Its extremely quaint, and has a very strong character to the city. It also wasn't destroyed as much in WW2 so there are a lot of gorgeous old buildings. Prague really took a hit during communism and it wasn't until after they regained independence that they gave their city a face lift and cleaned up the buildings and repainted everything. It looks absolutely picturesque.

One of my favorite things we did was just wander the streets and take pictures of buildings and deserted alleyways. We did quite a bit of that actually. When we first arrived, we did as we did in Berlin, which may become a tradition - we took a 3 hour free walking tour of the city. This worked out great in Berlin and in Prague, as you see all the main tourist sites in 3 hours without having to try to find them on your own and get lost (that was a common problem in Berlin, not so much here). You also learn a LOT of history, as well as cool random facts.

After the 3 hours of being a tourist, you can do other random museums or wander around and find random stuff. We went to the Museum of Communism, which was really interesting. Sarah and I have noted a gaping hole in our education. We literally have not learned anything about the Cold War and communism in eastern Europe. It's been really great to actually learn some stuff about that.

Interior of the only cubist cafe in the world

Food in Prague is amazing. I have thoroughly enjoyed almost everything I've had here. Restaurants are cheap here, which is really nice because we didn't have to have sandwiches every day. Unfortunately we didn't get to try any street food here, but it looked really good!

Little plaques on the sidewalk in
remembrance of those who died
in concentration camps.

Prague made us realize that North Americans in general do not do enough walking. Well, at least Sarah and I don't do enough walking! One day, we decided to wake up bright and early and walk up the Petrin Hill, which happens to be the highest hill in the city, and our legs definitely felt it! At the top of Petrin Hill is Prague's mini Eiffel Tower and a very nice park. We didn't climb it, but we did get a lot of picturesque views of the city! We then walked down the hill and wandered along Charles Bridge until we met the workers. We then climbed the hill again, just a bit farther north, and not as high to another park where we sat and had drinks. After this, we again walked down the hill to collect T, our Aussie friend we met at Hambuhren, from the metro station and bring him along to gospel meeting... which was up the hill again.

Charles Bridge is the second bridge

After gospel meeting we walked back down the hill and across the river to have supper and watch the astronomical clock. This is one of the most famous sights in Prague, and it's a very cool clock! The show that happens every hour was pretty lame, but its the oldest working astronomical clock in the world, making it 600 years old and 3/4 of the parts are original. That's pretty amazing. After the clock tolled, we sprinted up the tower to get pictures with the last remaining daylight (which was basically gone, unfortunately) and we almost took the elevator down after because we were so tired of walking!


Once again we decided to get up early to do another long day of walking, but this time to Prague Castle, which is equally famous. It's an absolutely massive complex, and it includes a full size Gothic cathedral, which was very gorgeous! After a busy few hours of walking, we went to a chocolate museum, and I decided that something confectionery will be my plan B if the architecture thing doesn't pan out!

View from the old town hall tower at night

Our last evening in Prague was an interesting and spontaneous one. After walking around the castle, wandering down the streets of Prague, and sitting by the river watching boats, we decided to head to some churches and find a classical concert to attend (basically all the churches have them in the evening, Prague being a big Mozart town and all) and found one at St. Salvator Church, a beautiful Romanesque basilica. After an hour of pipe organs, violins, and soprano vocalists, we sat outside at a cafe and had dinner while entertained by live jazz music. Since it was sunset by now, we decided to head back to the river and watch the sun set over the bridges, but it turned out that there was a live classical concert in the middle of the river, so there were tons of people lining the bridges! We stayed and watched most of that before heading back to the hostel to grab our stuff to catch our train to Vienna.

Prague Castle at night

Between Berlin and Prague, Sarah and I both agreed that we like Prague better. Prague has: charm, character, walkability, romance, original old buildings, and affordability. Berlin has: history, modern architecture, youth culture, and museums.