Czeching Out Pretty Prague

My mom, sister and I had planned to do a mini Euro-Trip in May 2020, but we all know that in 2020 and a lot of 2021, international travel was a no-go. Luckily, we were able to complete the original trip in May 2022. We started off in Paris, but that’ll be another post for another time.  

We arrived in Prague late one evening and were staying three nights; which gave us two full days to explore this city. Now, if you know me (or have read any of my other posts), you know I travel with an itinerary – and let me tell you – that thing was packed full of things to do in Prague. We were staying in Mala Strana, or Lesser Town. Our hotel was right across the street from a tram pick-up spot (although we never used it) a beautiful church and restaurants. We could walk basically anywhere and the only times we took an Uber was when we were in a hurry or at the end of the day when we had already walked 15 or so kms.  

The first day we had a private city tour scheduled. This was the same tour we booked in 2020 and luckily – even though our guide, Sarah, wasn’t providing tours at that time – she agreed to give us our original tour. Private tours obviously cost more, but honestly; they’re worth it. You get one-on-one time with the tour guide, and if you want to see anything specific, they’ll almost always cater your tour to what you’d like to see and/or learn. When you visit landmarks, historical buildings and just cities in general on your own, you don’t get the lived experience information that you get from a local guide.  

We met Sarah in Old Town, and it took us a little bit to find the meeting spot. For anyone that’s been basically anywhere in Europe, you know that Google maps can be frustrating. Rarely do the streets go in a straight line or a grid, like we’re used to in Canada and the United States. I’m already directionally challenged, so if you ever see me anywhere and it looks like I’m turning in circles – no you didn’t. I’m just trying to figure out which way the dang arrow is telling me to go.  Anyway, I digress.

If you’ve seen photos of Prague, you’ve likely seen the Astronomical Clock. Every hour, people gather around the Clock to watch it do its thing (it’s got bells that ring and little “puppets” move at the top of the clock). It’s actually been voted one of the most disappointing attractions; however, on our tour we learned more information about the clock that actually makes it quite cool. Since it’s a clock, it obviously tells time – but – it also has photos of the different seasons on it, a letter on every day of the year that spells out a poem, zodiac symbols and a name on each day, so if you were born on that day, that’s the name you received.

You can tour City Hall (which we did the next day) and there’s a lookout point where you can see the square, including people waiting to watch the clock, as well as Prague Castle. Since I work for a municipality I always like to see what other City Halls look like; and ya, that probably makes me a nerd. City Hall is attached to the clock tower so you can see the inner part of the clock as well.

Sarah also took us to the Jewish Quarter, which has the oldest active synagogue in Europe. There is a memorial that has the names of over 80,000 Jewish people that were taken from the area by the Nazis.

She showed us little gold markers that replaced cobblestones in front of certain houses in the Jewish Quarter. These were installed to commemorate the Jewish people that were taken from the last home that they lived in.

We then went to Charles Bridge, which we had already crossed over on our morning walk to get to the meeting spot. Charles Bridge is the oldest bridge in Prague and was once the only connection from Old Town to Prague Castle. In 1648, the Swedish Army was stopped at Charles Bridge and could not get into Old Town. The bridge is lined with 30 statues; most of which are replicas and the originals have been placed in museums.

The statue in the photo is of the oldest statue on the bridge, of a Czech saint, who was proclaimed a saint after he was thrown off of the bridge by the King. There are two spots on the statue that are shiny as they are said to be good luck, and if you rub it, you will return to Prague one day. During the day and into the evening, the bridge is lined with artists selling their work and buskers putting on performances.

Another stop we made was the “old Venice of Prague”, which is just down some steps from the Charles Bridge. There is a Czech fairytale that says a spirit named Vodnik lives in the water and takes the souls of those who drown. It’s a pretty little area that’s home to a creepy little story. This stop led us to the final stop of our tour; the Lennon Wall. After John Lennon was killed, the wall was created by activists and artists to spread his message. The Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) was a communist country until 1989, and each month, the communist party would paint over all of the messages/art on the Lennon Wall. Once communism fell, artists still used the Wall as a symbolic place for freedom of speech and to express themselves.

All of this only took us until lunch time! We found a spot to have lunch and had traditional Czech food, including beef and dumplings (with whipped cream and jam) and schnitzel. After lunch, we headed to the Prague Castle. It was already getting to be later in the day, but we thought we could see a bit of the castle and come back the next day. Fun fact – the Prague Castle isn’t actually a castle. Not in the way we pictured it anyway. We assumed there would be a separate “castle” for us to walk through. We walked around the complex and could not find the castle anywhere. So – we walked into the office where you buy tickets and asked “where’s the castle?” and they said “you’re in the castle”, while likely simultaneously thinking we were the dumbest people alive. So, if you’re ever in Prague, the Prague Castle isn’t actually a singular castle; it’s everything inside the walls (palaces, churches, chapels, towers, fortifications, offices, halls, courtyards, gardens). What you see in photos and assume would be the “castle”, is a church. However, the Castle complex is the biggest one in the world. Once we were done roaming the Castle, we hit a brewery recommended by Sarah to try out some Czech beers and cider and then grabbed some drinks to sip on in our hotel courtyard before we went for dinner.  

On our second full day in Prague, we had a hiking tour planned for the afternoon. Let me tell you one thing about Prague, and basically just Europe in general. You’re going to do a lot of walking, and a lot of that walking is going to be on cobblestones. Pack good shoes; I cannot stress this enough. I packed “cute” runners on this trip, and my feet were absolutely destroyed by day two in Prague. I ended up having to buy runners here because I wasn’t about to last a hiking tour (and the remainder of our two week trip) with blistered feet and bad shoes.  

That morning, we went back to Old Town to tour City Hall, climb the clock tower and eat a chimney cake (and also buy the runners mentioned). Everywhere you look, you can find a chimney cake being advertised as a traditional Czech pastry, but our hiking guide, David, later told us they didn’t actual originate in Czechoslovakia.

We met David at a mall in Prague and he took us on a 9km hike around the outskirts of the city. We walked through Kinskeho Zahrada, which is a large park, where there was a water feature of a seal. The seal was named Gaston and the water feature of him was installed to commemorate the large flood that occurred in 2002, which was the largest flood in Prague’s history. All streets along the Vltava River flooded and it ruined the bottom level of the zoo. Gaston swam into the river and was eventually found swimming in the Hamburg River in Germany. He was captured, but unfortunately died from stress, exhaustion and an infection.
Quite the adventure he went on! 

We continued our hike above the city and saw the fortification wall that surrounded the city, which is nicknamed the Hunger Wall. David told us that in the 14^th century, King Charles IV was ruling a large part of Europe and Prague was the capital of his empire. A legend has it that one summer, there was a food shortage because of flooding. People were hungry so the King decided to pay people to build the wall, which provided protection, and in turn, they could afford to buy food. Our tour ended after walking through the Prague Castle gardens and we were off to get ready for our dinner cruise. David was full of knowledge about Prague and provided us with so much information we wouldn’t have known otherwise.

We boarded our dinner cruise, which had an all you can eat buffet and included one glass of Prosecco. Well, we were early and I think we (or, maybe just me) had three glasses of Prosecco before the cruise even started. We paid extra so we were guaranteed a window seat, and I think it was worth it.  We cruised down the Vltava for three hours; under the Charles Bridge, past the Dancing House and then on our way back, saw the Prague Castle lit up.

The lights at the Castle were actually paid for by the Rolling Stones. They had a concert there after the fall of communism and told the President that it was a shame you couldn’t see the Castle at night, so they paid for it to be lit up.  

And just like that – our time in Prague was finished, and we’d be off to the airport in the morning to head to Croatia (again, another post for another time).  

I absolutely fell in love with Prague and would love to go back. I didn’t really have any expectations about what I thought Prague was going to be when we booked the trip. I love Europe in general, but there was something special about Prague that I really enjoyed. Living in Canada, everything is so “new” compared to Europe, and the countries that I’ve been to so far just have so much character, charm and history. Obviously, Prague is beautiful, as you can tell from my photos (I hope). It’s very affordable compared to other European cities I’ve visited, the food was delicious, getting around was easy; it didn’t feel overwhelming like some other cities do, and the people were very nice. The Czech Republic is part of the European Union; however, they still have their own currency, the Czech Koruna (CZK). Euros may be accepted in some places (hotels, stores, restaurants) but we mainly used the local currency when paying in cash. For reference, as of writing this, $5 CAD is roughly just over 80 CZK.  There’s so much to see and do in Prague, and even though we fit in as much in as we could, you could definitely spend more time there. If you’re looking to tap into Europe and want an affordable, safe destination – definitely put Prague on your list!  

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