One of the advantages living somewhere with a great airport, and accumulating lot's of miles through business travel, is that you can get away for an extended weekend without much trouble (or expense). For Eid, at the beginning of November, we took a short trip up to Prague. This was our first family trip into Eastern Europe, and we were highly impressed. Prague is well known for it's architecture, gothic and otherwise. We think it's a serious contendor for 'The Most Beutiful City in the World'.
We arrived on a Thursday and checked into our renaissance era hotel. We were less than a block off of the old town square. We spend the next few days wandering Old Town, crossing Charles Bridge, and touring the Prague Castle. We had some great food, and appreciated the cooler (but not cold) weather.
We're part embarrassed and part smug that Allison has no idea what a mitten is. Finding cold weather gear in Dubai was easier than we expected it to be. Right now it's easier to find a toque than a sun-hat. You can't find shorts anywhere. The temperatures were around 10C at the high point, and they didn't drop below 0C. We're told that it was an unseasonably warm fall in Prague, we loved it.
Our hotel was right off the Old Town Square. We walked through a tunnel and came out at the Astronomical Clock, with a gorgeous view of Tyn Church.
Charles Bridge was another highlight. The bridge connects the Old Town with the Prague Castle. It's a popular tourist trap, and was supposedly built mortar that used eggs as a binding agent. Seems to have worked, it's been standing for over 600 years. We were lucky enough to have the Anderson's along with us on this trip. They're the good looking ones in the picture.
Every day they have a set of trumpeters in full medieval costume connecting the Prague Castle to Old Town via a series of towers. They play a quick standard, and wave an 'all's clear ' to the next tower. It would be quite an ego massage for a high school band student to be applauded day after day by a crowd of strangers.
The waterwheel was a beautiful reminder how old some of the 'regular' buildings are. Maybe it's someone's backup generator.
Walking across Charles Bridge from Old Town it's hard to miss Prague Castle dominating the skyline. The castle doesn't look much like a castle, it's made up of St. Vitus Cathedral and a series of palaces and squares around it. It is walled, but the fortifications are less military than what you'd imagine.
We've heard Prague called the city of a hundred spires, and the city of a thousand spires. We think that the 'thousand is a little closer to the mark. Walking around on the hill you could see most of them poking through the golden mist. The light there was different from anywhere else we've been. We hate to wear out the word, but it really was beautiful, maybe the most beautiful city in the world.
We arrived on a Thursday and checked into our renaissance era hotel. We were less than a block off of the old town square. We spend the next few days wandering Old Town, crossing Charles Bridge, and touring the Prague Castle. We had some great food, and appreciated the cooler (but not cold) weather.
We're part embarrassed and part smug that Allison has no idea what a mitten is. Finding cold weather gear in Dubai was easier than we expected it to be. Right now it's easier to find a toque than a sun-hat. You can't find shorts anywhere. The temperatures were around 10C at the high point, and they didn't drop below 0C. We're told that it was an unseasonably warm fall in Prague, we loved it.
Our hotel was right off the Old Town Square. We walked through a tunnel and came out at the Astronomical Clock, with a gorgeous view of Tyn Church.
Charles Bridge was another highlight. The bridge connects the Old Town with the Prague Castle. It's a popular tourist trap, and was supposedly built mortar that used eggs as a binding agent. Seems to have worked, it's been standing for over 600 years. We were lucky enough to have the Anderson's along with us on this trip. They're the good looking ones in the picture.
Every day they have a set of trumpeters in full medieval costume connecting the Prague Castle to Old Town via a series of towers. They play a quick standard, and wave an 'all's clear ' to the next tower. It would be quite an ego massage for a high school band student to be applauded day after day by a crowd of strangers.
The waterwheel was a beautiful reminder how old some of the 'regular' buildings are. Maybe it's someone's backup generator.
Walking across Charles Bridge from Old Town it's hard to miss Prague Castle dominating the skyline. The castle doesn't look much like a castle, it's made up of St. Vitus Cathedral and a series of palaces and squares around it. It is walled, but the fortifications are less military than what you'd imagine.
We've heard Prague called the city of a hundred spires, and the city of a thousand spires. We think that the 'thousand is a little closer to the mark. Walking around on the hill you could see most of them poking through the golden mist. The light there was different from anywhere else we've been. We hate to wear out the word, but it really was beautiful, maybe the most beautiful city in the world.
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