Perfect Prague

Prague was the perfect adventure for our travel week and it greatly exceeded my expectations! I had heard rave reviews but it takes one to actually see and experience it to believe it. And let’s just say it lived up to the hype. We stayed in a great location at the Marriott in the center of the city (thanks Mom, Priceline & Mormons!) making it very easy to hit up all the major Prague hot spots.

1^st day we did the Astronomical Clock-as we happened to time it right on the hour when it goes off. Next we walked up Old Town Hall-with a great view overlooking the whole city down below (where my pic above is taken). Then we went over to the river and walked over Charles Bridge-its only a pedestrian bridge so we took our time meandering across & taking lots of pics (both day & night). We even ran into the missionaries walking by-it was their last day there & you could tell they were pretty excited to see us BYU girls & to be going home. We then saw the major event-the Prague Castle, which was huge (the largest castle in the world to be exact). We toured the inside of the castle, St Victus Cathedral and St George’s Basillica-it was absolutely amazing. Then that night we had a beautiful dinner right along the river & our restaurant was a boat. It was perfect because we had time to just sit as they made our reservations from 6-8 so we took advantage & enjoyed lingering just a little longer (which I have never really done at a restaurant before).

Sweet little missionaries on Charles Bridge

Julie & I on the bridge. Julie's from AZ, a Public Health major & we have a mutual friend- Bradford Waldie (Eric Olsen's Air Force buddy) who we had lunch with at Oxford

The girl crew in front of the Prague Castle

2^nd day we did the Jewish Quarter going to the Jewish Museum & cemetery. The cemetery was crazy with like 12,000 graves but since the Jews could occupy only limited portions of land, they would bury coffins on top of each other so there were tons of burials in such a small area. It was a really neat experience to read about the Jews in Prague. After that we did Wenceslas Square-fun little shopping area & then the National Gallery (where one of the Mission Impossible scenes was filmed). That night we decided (but were all a little nervous) to try typical Czech food for dinner at a place our concierge (who was probably way sick of me by the end of the trip) recommended. It ended up being way good tho! We just all shared a bunch of typical Czech dishes-goulash, pork, sauerkraut, fried cheese, and of course apple streudel for dessert!

At the Jewish Cemetery

Czech dinner time!

3^rd day we decided to venture out into the Prague countryside to the Karlstejn Castle for Carly’s birthday. Although the train station was a bit hard to figure out with no one speaking English there-we were quite proud of ourselves when we finally made it. It was like a 20 minute walk up to the castle from the station but so worth it. It was so nice to be out in the fresh air and we just walk around the outside of the castle without actually going in. It was really beautiful and nice to be there when it wasn’t tourist season too. After that half day adventure we came back to do Charles Bridge at sunset and walk along the river one last time (absolutely gorgeous at night). It was such a good trip & I would recommend anyone who hasn’t been to Prague to try to go at least once in their lifetime-well worth it!