Impressive Prague

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Today we took a group tour to the Prague Castle, which is a castle complex that dates back to the 8th century. It's currently where the President of the Czech Republic works, and was a place for former Bohemian Kings and Queens. The crown jewels of Bohemia are hidden in a private room. It's the largest ancient castle in the world, and a major tourist attraction.

St. Vitus Cathedral is a huge attraction within the complex, as it's an example of Gothic architecture. It's still a practicing cathedral. We saw the Changing of the Guard at 12 pm, which occurs every hour, on the other. There was a big crowd gathered to see that.

After the tour, we went back to the Old Town Square (dating back to the 12th century) and did some souvenir shopping. We had dinner at a traditional Czech place in our neighborhood called U Deloveho Krize, which was down in an old cellar with funky wall decor. Jeff had pilsner goulash and Dad and I had marinated pork ribs. Meat, meat and more meat.

Prague is impressive, we decided. The buildings, so many different styles and colors, seem to go on forever. I can understand why 6 million people visit every year.

At one point today, we rode the tram 3 stops to our hotel without a valid ticket. Don't tell the Prague authorities. We couldn't find a machine near the stop, and I think the driver only takes exact change. I'm not even sure what that is. To make up for it, I did drop some coins in hats of homeless people, especially the ones who had dogs. Damn, I'm a sucker for the people who have dogs. Hopefully lightning won't strike me down.

Tomorrow, it's off to the airport very early. We fly from Prague to Brussels to Chicago. Here, Jeff will take a separate flight back to Omaha, and Dad and I will take the bus to Milwaukee, drive to Sheboygan to pick up Bailey, and head to Green Bay. Then Dad will drive the 30 minutes home. We are looking forward to arriving, but will miss it. There wasn't any place we didn't like, and every city had something special about it.

Thanks for reading,

Jamie