Prague, Czech Republic

So it’s been a while since we were actually in Europe on vacation, so it’s about time we told the world (or the 3 people who read this) how it was…

Friday June 29 -> Day of departure. We didn’t really give ourselves enough time to get from Oak Park to O’Hare via the green/blue line trains. Plus it didn’t help that once we got off the blue line at O’Hare we were sent meandering around the airport as they were doing construction and getting to the International terminal took forever. Checking our luggage didn’t take but a few minutes, but that security line was about 2 miles long (or so, it seemed like there was no end). I, Alichia, almost had a panic attack in line because I was certain we were going to miss our flight. We eventually made it through security, but let me say that there aren’t enough metal detectors/x-ray machines for the international terminal, the whole thing becomes a giant funnel and there really isn’t a single file line that people use… it’s nearly a free for all. With probably about 20 minutes before departure we made it on the plane, but of course it didn’t take off on time anyway so we were good to go.

The flight wasn’t nearly as bad as either of us expected, given we’ve never flown internationally before. We left around 6pm and arrived (local time) at 9:30am in Vienna. They served dinner, and then Tom and I were some of the only people to actually decide sleep was a good idea. While we didn’t sleep super sound, it was enough to feel fairly decent that next day. We unfortunately however woke up later than we anticipated and had missed breakfast. Luckily one of the stewardesses’ was kind enough to get us something to eat before landing.

Saturday June 30 -> After landing in Vienna we had a connecting flight to Prague, this flight also was delayed a little bit, but we weren’t complaining because after 8½ hours on a plane who wants to get on another immediately? The connecting flight though… man it was small! There is a picture of my view from the window… the propeller! Compared to the first flight, the connecting one felt like it was done and over in 10 minutes!

Once in Prague we had to exchange dollars for crowns (Czech isn’t on the Euro), find a taxi and get to the hotel. Taxi drivers abroad are just as crazy drivers as they are here in Chicago. Our initial reaction to the city, especially the area our hotel was in, was that there was a lot of graffiti. Our hotel was really cute, not a very large hotel (number of rooms or room size), but it was definitely new and clean. We did nap for a while once we checked in, I think it was more the fact that we could sleep laying flat as opposed to just slightly leaning back on an airplane.

We did get out that first day to see some of the city. We had to find an ATM and figure out the tram system. I’d say that Prague’s public transportation system is easy to use, once you get the hang of it. We just walked around the Old Town Square and grabbed a bite to eat in an out door café. A lesson was learned from our first meal however, the few outdoor cafes right in the center of the Old Town Square are a rip off… we paid nearly $40 for two sandwiches and two cokes! So you can imagine we only ate at that place once.

Sunday July 1 -> Day two in Prague. A lot of our time in Prague was spent in the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square. In Old Town Square there were tons of small and winding streets just filled with touristy shops, ice cream stores and cafes. Wenceslas Square was a bit more modern in terms of shopping, seemed to be where department stores were located.

This day was also our 5 year anniversary… the whole reason for our trip!

Monday July 2 ->
Day three in Prague was spent exploring more of the city. We started out in search of the National Gallery… but it turned out Tom didn’t exactly read the map correctly so we were WAY on the other side of the city. So instead we just explored what we were near. We started out at Petrin Hill, which one of the cities largest parks. It sits more than 1,000 feet above sea level. There were some really great views from the top, especially from the Observation Tower. Unfortunately the tower only had stairs and therefore only Tom went up (I wouldn’t have been able to walk the rest of the day after doing that many stairs, stupid bad knees).

From there we wandered down the giant hill and over towards the Royal Palace and St. Vitus’s Cathedral. These two items are one of Prague’s must sees for tourists. The great thing about Prague is that there are so many locations in which you get amazing views of the city. We thought Petrin Hill had good views, but the Royal Palace had even better. We did the non-guided tour of the Royal Palace, which included the actual Royal Palace, Golden Lane (a row of old shops), an old torture chamber, and St. George’s Basilica (chapel).

Tuesday July 3 -> As our last full day in Prague we had a few more items on our list we wanted to see. First up was the Charles Bridge. This is one of the major tourist spots, as every travel book pointed out it can get very crowded in the afternoon. What makes this bridge so attractive is that it has 30 statues that line both sides (obviously it is a pedestrian only bridge). The statues are all saints and other religious figures. Here we did pick up a 8x10 watercolor of Prague which we intend to hang, with other pictures from our trip, in our bedroom when we redecorate.

We also tried to go to the National Museum, but it turned out that was closed the first Tuesday of every month. So we then tried to, again, find the National Gallery which we knew was going to be hard given it was on the outskirts of the city. However once in the general area we couldn’t figure out where it was at! We decided being our last day we didn’t want to waste time lost, so we headed back to our favorite part of town… Old Town Square. I did get my art fix in as there was a small gallery in the OTS that has a Salvador Dali exhibit (they also have Mucha, but we weren’t as interested). The Dali exhibit, I thought, was really fantastic. He had a whole series of small paintings about Dante’s Inferno. There were also a couple of larger pieces of his that I’ve never seen and are now my favorites.

Our last day we also ended up doing something that was probably one of favorites, the Old Town Hall viewing gallery. So in the OTS there the Astronomical Clock, which is supposed to, on the hour, be quite the show (dancing statues, bells, etc)… but every time we were around for it nothing would happen. But what was really great, is you can go up in the clock tower to the viewing gallery. This had the ABSOLUTE most AMAZING view of the city. Tickets were cheap and you could spend all day just admiring the city and taking pictures.

And that was Prague... I'm working on remembering what we did each day in Vienna and then I'll post about that. Pictures are linked to the left [on Webshots]!