Prague

"Here's to Prague and to being married almost two months." This was the toast Jon and I shared while at a wonderful dinner in Prague last weekend overlooking the Vlatava River and the Charles Bridge. I realize we have been quite behind on updating the blog the past couple weeks, but we appreciate you bearing with us and continuing to check for new updates.

Our Prague adventure began last Friday when, at 10:30 p.m., we boarded a night train headed for Prague. Despite our tiny "apartment," they called it, it was great to have our own space and to go to sleep in Germany and wake up early on Saturday morning to the beautiful landscape of the Czech Republic.

After arriving in Prague at 9:00 a.m., we headed to our hotel that was located on Kampa Island, adjacent to the bustling Charles Bridge. Although we were only 100 meters away from the middle of the action, the island was very quiet and right next to the popular Kampa Park. We had a great view through neighboring buildings to the river and Charles Bridge. The best part about our hotel was the enormous room and bathroom we had, which is quite rare for Europe.

After dropping our bags at our hotel, we headed up the long hill to the top of Prague Castle. Halfway up, we stopped to take a picture of the beautiful view below with all the red-tiled roofs and the river and the Old Town in the distance.

When we entered the guarded gates of the castle, which is still in use and houses the offices of the current President of the Czech Republic, we entered three courtyards to the interior of the castle, which housed the beautiful St. Vitus' Cathedral. This stunning Gothic church is still used today and has gorgeous stained glass windows, and stairs that lead to the top of the bell tower.

We climbed the 10 kabillion stairs to the top and had an excellent view of the city below.

We also toured St. George's Basilica, the Old Royal Palace, the national gallery, which housed many famous Czech paintings, and the golden lane, which was lined with some of Prague's oldest houses, including the house where Franz Kafka lived and wrote most of his works.

Admission into the castle came with a mandatory 1 hour conscription in the Czech army, utilizing the latest in advanced Eastern-European weaponry-castle storming all around! Arrrgh!

After our castle adventure, we decided to make plans to meet with Mike Long, a Baylor professor friend of mine who happened to be in Prague this month. It was great to see a familiar face and get a personal tour of Prague from a Czech language and culture expert. After meeting up at our hotel, we walked across the Charles Bridge to Old Town, but had to stop to take a pic of the beautiful rainbow that appeared after the typical afternoon shower.

We headed to the Old Town where I posed with both Mike and Jon in front of the square and colorful buildings.

After hearing the history of the square, we walked over to the edge where there was a tall,

decorative clock tower.

Every hour, the clock comes to life and all the characters play a part in the musical performance. Our favorite was the skeleton on the far right that rings his bell and tips an hour glass upside-down. After dinner at a fabulous traditional Czech restaurant, where we were served by the owner who is a duke, our walking tour continued to Prague castle where we got to experience the splendor of this place at night. Walking around the vacant castle at nightfall and hearing about the historical events that took place here... it was a night I will always remember.

After parting ways with Mike, Jon and I decided to experience some Prague nightlife. We headed to a club recommended in our guidebook, however the book failed to mention that most of the clientele would be from the age of 13-18. We felt a little old, to say the least, but it was pretty entertaining to see all the kiddos get wild and crazy, but also a little disturbing. Needless to say, we didn't stay here too long before deciding to call it a night.

On Sunday, Jon and I decided to explore the famous Jewish quarter, but first found the Lennon Wall near our hotel. This colorful, graffiti-filled wall became a monument after the death of John Lennon in 1980 when he became a hero of freedom, pacifism and counterculture throughout Eastern Europe.

We made our way to the Jewish quarter, where we visited the Jewish community center, synagogue and cemetery, which makes Prague one of Europe's greatest historic Jewish cities. The Old Jewish cemetery is truly fascinating and is actually Europe's oldest Jewish burial ground, where the oldest graves date to 1439. Because the local government of the time didn't allow Jews to bury their dead elsewhere, as many as 12 bodies were placed vertically, with each new tombstone placed in front of the last. Hence, the crowded little cemetery contains more than 20,000 graves.

After touring the Jewish quarter, we headed to the river where we rented a row boat and gained new perspectives of the city. Lucky for me, Jon did all the rowing and I just got to sit back, sip our bottle of wine and relax. I realized how lucky I was, when I noticed all the other couples "rowing around" were taking equal turns. I married such a chivalrous stud!

We enjoyed our hour on the river immensely and it was great to see all the sights from the river including the castle, Charles Bridge, and once again, it was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy the serenity of the water.

After our hour on the river, we headed to our romantic dinner for two along the river, which started this summary of events. On Monday, we spent the morning souvenir shopping and strolling the never-ending cobblestone streets of the city. We caught our train back to Weisbaden, which lasted a total of eight, grueling hours, and have spent the week recovering from exhaustion. Prague was definitely worth it, though. The city was filled with historical sights, a reunion with an old friend, and another adventure for Jon and I to always remember. Here's to you, Prague!