Praha!

I spent the majority of my winter holiday in Switzerland yodeling, herding sheep and trying to find elusive St. Bernards with brandy around their necks, but there was one other place I decided I absolutely had to visit: Prague.

 

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is beautiful beyond words. I recall first seeing images of it in a music video I watched in high school by my then favorite band, HIM (“The Sacrament” if anyone is curious). The city’s architecture is a plethora of Gothic, Renaissance, Romanesque, Moorish and much more, however they all blend together to make a magnificent city.

 

I’ve dreamed of going to Prague since I saw that music video and was ecstatic to finally be making it a reality. The city did not disappoint, even though it was at the tail end of my trip and I was tired and low on money. 

The highlights of included: walking across the Charles Bridge (named after Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor), eating more kinds of meat and biscuits in 2 days than I have in months (rabbit is delightful!), seeing the defenestration windows in the Palace (did you know that Prague is one of the defenestration- the act of being forcibly hurled from a window, usually by an incited mob- capitals of the world?) and going to the Alphonse Mucha museum (my favorite artist!).

Charles Bridge, looking back to Prague Castle

The Astrological Clock in the Old Town

 I wish that I had been able to spend more time there with more money because there were some excellent looking day trips offered by the tourist council that went outside of Prague, such as one to a concentration camp. 

A Christmas market in the square near The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

  Prague was just as beautiful and charming as I had always been told it was, despite the crowds of Russian tourists and the globs of vendors trying to sell cheap trinkets. The Czech Republic has really only opened up its doors to tourism in the past 20 years or so, so the tourism infrastructure hasn’t matured yet to the same level of other major cities in Europe.

My face the entire time I was in Prague

   One day I will go back, if only to have a cup of coffee and meander along the Charles Bridge once more.