The Prague Blog — ALEXANDRA.MBK

Before my backpacking excursion in 2013, I never thought of Prague as a “must-see” city by any means. While I am partly Czech and very keen on the Bohemian lifestyle, it was not a city I heard many people discuss when they told of their European travels. After my first visit in 2013 though, I was shocked that it was one of my absolute favorite European cities. This is one of the few cities that my mom had not been to, and she always asked what I loved so much about Prague. Truthfully, it was so hard for me to put into words what I specifically was enamored with, but with how close Prague and Munich are (5 hours by bus), I knew Matt and I would go. And yet again, it rocked my world. Prague is in the heart of Bohemia - a place that venerates artists, musicians, vagabonds, and free souls. Adorned with burnt orange roofs, incredibly old religious buildings, graffiti walls celebrating “Lennonism” (not Leninism), and a SPECTACULAR bridge, Prague has remained one of my favorite places in the world.

As I alluded to before, Matt and I reached Prague by bus, which was supposed to take only five hours. The departure time was set at 3:00 PM in the afternoon, allowing us to get in by 8:00 PM that night, but our bus was delayed and did not take off until 4:30 PM. This was terrible because it took us over an hour and a half just to get out of Munich. Traffic was infuriating, and not something I am used to being a Nebraskan and only using the metro here. Still, riding through Bavaria and the Czech Republic at sunset was breathtaking and we arrived at our AirBnB that night. For the first time, we had an entire apartment to ourselves for a very reasonable price in a location that was only ~25 minutes from Charles Bridge by public transportation.

On Saturday, I had a very full day booked for the two of us. We scheduled a walking tour + traditional Czech lunch + canal cruise through Viator, and then I scheduled a photoshoot for Matt and I with Prague Photo Day on Charles Bridge at sunset. While it was an absolutely perfect day weather-wise (70 degrees, the bluest and clearest sky possible), the tour was subpar to say the least. The whole excursion was supposed to only take 7 hours, going until 4:00 PM, so I scheduled our photoshoot for 5:30 PM, thinking we would have plenty of time to get ready for it. I also figured that the tour would be slightly shorter because we were not allowed into the infamous Prague Castle due to the death of Karel Gott, whose funeral was being held there that day. Karel Gott was known as the “Sinatra of the East.” We saw parts of the service and heard a recording of his voice, and it was beautiful and haunting. But back to the point - the tour, lunch, and cruise were all supposed to happen within 7 hours, and it took way longer and we were not even able to do the cruise, which was super frustrating.

Views of Charles Bridge (Click image above to see more pics)

Still, we saw the incredible sights of Prague and my knowledge of the Hussite-Catholic battles from Introduction to Christianity in college really paid off. We started the day off at Knights of the Cross Square, near the Charles Bridge. In the square, there is a statue of Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia who commissioned the bridge. Also in the square was the St. Francis of Assisi Church, which has a beautiful dome that is always seen on Prague’s skyline. We then crossed the Charles Bridge, which is over the Vltava river and connects the Old Town with the Prague Castle. The bridge is 1700 feet long and 33 feet wide with 30 baroque statues situated on each side of it. It is now only a pedestrian bridge that is absolutely packed with people, ranging from artists selling their work, an incredible variety of musicians, and crafters, along with so many tourists. One of the most famous memorials on the bridge is for St. John of Nepomuk, who was sentenced to death by King Wenceslas IV (not the guy from the Christmas carol). St. John was drowned in the river because he refused to tell the King what his wife said in the confessional, becoming a martyr. Legend has it that where he was dropped in the river, five stars appeared overhead that night over his body, and fisherman found him and believed it was a sign of his holiness, or something along those lines. Now, there is a statue honoring him and a metal grate with a depiction of his body and the five stars, which people touch and make a wish on.

Views from Charles Bridge (musicians, artists, and tourists galore!) (Click image above for more pics)

After we crossed the bridge, we went to the John Lennon Wall, or what was SUPPOSED to be the wall. Apparently, Matt and I went right when it was blocked off to be cleaned, which is infuriating because I absolutely LOVED this area of Prague. It was so beautiful and inspiring and full of passion and love aaaaand it was covered up of course. People made a mini version of it nearby, but this was super anticlimactic. We instead walked through Mala Strana, the “Lesser Town” of Prague, which is a very bougie area with many noble palaces.

(Click image above for more pics)

The next stop was the Strahov Monastery, which had an amazing panoramic view of Prague. The compound also has a church and apparently the most beautiful library of all time, but of course our tour guide didn’t tell us that. Still, the view of Prague was stunning from up there. Following this we ventured to the Prague Castle, which we unfortunately could not enter that day (Karel Gott). The castle itself has hosted the kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and Czechoslovakian presidents, as well as being the largest ancient castle in the world.

Strahov Monastery, the Panoramic View, and Karel Gott’s service at the Prague Castle (Click image above for more pictures)

The next part of the tour took us to Old Town Square, which has the Church of Our Lady before Týn, Prague Orloj, St. Nicholas Church, and the statue of Jan Hus, who spoke against Catholicism, started a Protestant reform movement, and was later burned at the stake. When he died, his followers (known as the Hussites), fought the Catholics in Prague for religious freedom in Bohemia. They were defeated and Bohemia was reconverted to Catholicism (by force), starting the “dark ages,” where all religions except for Catholicism were banned. Prague Orloj is the medieval astronomical clock on Old Town Hall. It is the oldest astronomical clock still in operation, and it has a show on every hour of religious sculptures moving around. The clock is beautiful, but the hourly show is…less than exhilarating. It was a “can miss.”

Sights of Old Town Square (Click image above for more pics)

There is also a rich Jewish history in Prague - it is one of the oldest communities in all of Central Europe. We went to the Jewish Quarter and ghetto, which was a center of Jewish mysticism. The Old Jewish Cemetery is contained within the ghetto, and though it is not very large at all, there are over 200,000 people buried there, with the tombs stacked on each other. The Maisel Synagogue is also in the Jewish Quarter, adorned with flowers and very beautiful. It was built in the “golden age of the ghetto” in the 16th century. It is located near the Old New Synagogue, which was completed in 1270 and is Europe’s oldest active synagogue.

Sights of the Jewish Quarter (Click image above for more pics)

After this, we finally had our traditional Czech lunch at 2:30 PM, but it was not exactly our favorite meal. By the time this got done, we would not have gotten onto the Canal Cruise until 3:45, which would not have finished for another hour, making getting ready for our photoshoot very difficult. We still went with the group to try and see if we could make it work, but when we got there, there was a line of at least 100 people, and it would have taken at least an hour waiting to board the boat (though, we sorta thought we had guaranteed “skip the line” tickets). Our tour was a bust in the end, but we still got to walk around the main sights of Prague several times on an absolutely gorgeous day. We rushed home, got changed super quick, and rushed back to the Charles Bridge for pictures at sunset with Prague PhotoDay. Matt agreed begrudgingly because it was a really good deal, but the pictures turned out gorgeous and it’s nice having good photos of us together traveling, so I was THRILLED. We walked around Old Town for a few hours afterwards, buying souvenirs, eating a fancy dinner, drinking the esteemed Czech beer, and eating a heavenly churro-like, sugar-dipped cone with ice cream.

(Click image above for more pics)

Random sights of Prague (Click image above for more pics)

Overall, Prague mystified me yet again, and Matt also fell in love with the city. Without a doubt, I know that I will return here again, and hopefully with our dear friends Andrea and David (David is fully Czech with family here, visiting often, so hopefully we can tag along someday haha!) - Prague is already sorely missed.

Until next time!

Alexandra