Europe, September, Week One: Czech Republic!

Over four weeks without a blog post! Y’all must think I’ve fallen off the face of the Earth. I am alive, I am doing very well, and I’m having a blast in Europe!!! Let’s play catch up, one post for one week at a time. This post’s edition, the Czech Republic!

Me with all of my gear at 5:00am
on the day of my flight to Europe. 

The first two weeks of my time over here were spent with my parents and one of my mom’s sisters. We left the USA on August 30^th and took separate flights into Prague (I had to fly separately because I couldn’t buy my ticket until I received my work contract from France. Blasted paperwork!). I checked my big backpacking backpack through for the flights, and it wound up being left in London for a little while. This was scary, seeing as that’s all my clothing, shoes, etc. for 9 months! It all worked out well in the end, though, and I was able to retrieve my bag without any trouble when it arrived on the next flight from London. Whew!

The Charles Bridge and Prague Castle are in the background. 

Hanging out with a guard at the Prague Castle. :)

Havelska Market and a church in the background, in Old Town.

The AWESOME astronomical clock on the
side of the Town Hall building. So cool!!

The main square near the Town Hall.

After arriving and getting settled on the 31st, the four of us spent four full days in Prague exploring the city. My mom and my aunt enjoyed leisurely walks and some shopping, and my dad and I were busy stomping all around town for most of the day each day. The whole family explored the Prague Castle & St. Vitus Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, an amazing library in a monastery close to the castle complex, the Old Town area, the Jewish Quarter, a beautiful and very thorough medieval Bohemian art museum, we took in a classical music concert in an old town hall building, and enjoyed all sorts of delicious restaurants. The Czechs love meat of all kinds, especially goulash! It was delicious, but I was sick of meat by the time the week was over. I was dreaming of salads and fresh fruit, haha.

A "shot from the hip" illegal picture of part of the
ceiling in the Spanish Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter. So ornate!!

Prague from the top of the Town Hall building.

The call this building "Fred & Ginger" because it resembles Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing. The architect is the same guy who came up with the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Cool!

This library is where I will go to heaven.

Some of my dad and my explorations during the week included visiting some historical sites relating to then-Czechoslovakia and WWII, which were extremely moving and interesting side-stories of history. We also wandered past the John Lennon Wall, which is a graffiti wall that was started as a protest against communism back in the day, and on another day, we walked all over a huge park in town called Petrin Hill, where we found a 200+ year old wooden Ukrainian church and then climbed up an observation tower that was modeled after the Eiffel Tower (but much smaller scale) and were rewarded with wonderful views of the city. After the observation tower adventure, we had a delicious Czech lunch at a restaurant where Madeleine Albright ate lunch with the Czech president, who was an old friend of hers, several years ago. All sorts of great history in that city!

People tagging the John Lennon Wall.

My dad and I are rockstars.

As far as climbing goes, my dad and I also climbed to the top of one of the spires in St. Vitus Cathedral, as well as to the top of the Town Hall building. We like to achieve the highest vantage point possible whenever we can! It usually means several hundred steps and tight spiral stairways, but it’s always worth the effort. I think the Town Hall view of the city was my favorite. Prague is just beautiful; the streets are windy and crooked, the roofs are mostly all terra cotta tiles, and the church spires popping up here and there on the horizon added some interesting depth to the skyline. I never imagined myself in Prague, but I had a wonderful time and would love to go back and explore some more!

View of the city from the Petrin Hill Observation Tower!

Madeleine Albright had lunch here. The food was delicious!

On Wednesday, 5 September, we all hopped onto the Czech version of a Greyhound bus and took a three-hour trip south to Cesky Krumlov, a very ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What a cute little place! There is a beautiful old castle on top of the hill right above the village with a wonderfully painted watchtower/clock tower, and just like Prague, every street was a perfect photo opportunity with lots of twists, curves, and interesting architecture. We all wandered around town, took a tour of the castle, as well as a tour of the Baroque Theatre therein, one of only three Baroque Theatres in the world to be so amazingly preserved as far as original costumes, architecture, and stage mechanics go. It was impressive!! We also explored the castle gardens, saw the bears in the castle’s bear pit (the castle has been keeping bears on the grounds since the 17^th century as a family tradition), and my dad and I took a walk around the city, which is partly defined by the Vltava River, which runs through Prague as well as south through Cesky Krumlov.

Mom and I taking in the view of Cesky Krumlov from the castle.

The Cesky Krumlov castle's awesome tower, as seen from the street our hotel was on.

Another view of Cesky Krumlov, taken from the top of the cool painted tower.

Luckily, we enjoyed wonderful weather throughout our time in the Czech Republic. A bit of spitting rain here and there, but lots of sun to help us enjoy all the new things we saw. The four of us stayed in Cesky Krumlov until Friday, 7 September, when we took the bus back to Prague and caught a plane to Cologne, Germany. I’ll save Germany for the next post!