Once we were situated in our hostel we walked to one of the main city centers in Prague called "Old Town Square." On our way there we went through the very touristy shopping district (like always in any European city) and eventually found ourselves in a square with a variety of different street food vendors, music, and street performances going on. Immediately the smell of the amazing food from the stands grabbed my attention. I decided to go to a stand where they baked a delicious ham on an open wood flame and had a special side dish in with potatoes, sourcrout, and ham mixed all together. It definitely was a very delicious meal, although, my friend and I were unaware of the way in which they charged us for the meal. They weighed the food and charged us per 100 grams. In the end, we were charged with an almost 20 dollar lunch. But, it had to be easily in the top 10 best meals I've had in Europe so far!
From "Old Town Square" we walked down one of the main streets through a variety of different alley ways and found ourselves right next to the Prague Opera building. It is beautifully decorated and has a multitude of different gold panels and statues embroidering the building. From there, we crossed the Vltava river to the other side of town during dusk. It was quite a beautiful scene with shades of purple and red reflecting off the river and the hills surrounding the city.
After we crossed the river my friends stopped at a stand and bought a waffle with ice cream and maple syrup. I was disappointed I did not get this desert, it looked very good! From there we walked up the river until we got to another large bridge crossing the Vltava. This bridge was erected in the 13th century by King Charles IV and has survived numerous attacks through the years and has not ever collapsed in its history. It is a walking only bridge, and at the time we walked on it, was swarms of people! Along the bridge we saw various artists, street performers, and music playing.
On our way over the bridge we decided we were going to look for a place to go out for drinks and dinner. We decided on going to a place called the Communist Pub. It was once a bar used by the communists that once ruled the Czech Republic. During dinner I had a decent sausage dish and a very sweet beer. It had to be one of the sweetest I've ever drank. We stayed at the pub for a few hours and walked back the hostel to regroup on the next place we wanted to go to that night. We decided on going to a local bar near our hostel. Ever bar you go to in Prague is very cheap. Drinks range from 1 to 5 Euro when you do the conversion of their money into the Euro. Prague has to be the cheapest place to drink so far in my journey throughout Europe.
The next day we woke up in mid morning and decided to head to Prague castle and its large cathedral. On our way we stopped at "Old Town Square" once again for food, however, this time I went to another stand and bought a cabob on a stick with chicken, onions, and peppers with a bun. It was very very good! From there, we crossed the river and had to walk up a large hill to get up the sites we wanted to see for the day. One we reached the top we saw the old palace in Prague. We arrived when the changing of the guard was occurring. About 20 or so soldiers marched down the main street to the palace and did a celebratory march and anthem during the change. It was interesting to see this event because I've never witnessed a changing of the guard before anywhere else in the world!
Our group passed the palace and eventually made it to the front of the Prague Gothic Cathedral. This cathedral is much like the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. It has a ribbed ceiling with a high vaulted feeling within the church. It has a very long nave in the church as well. It was just a massive structure! Outside, it had large gothic murals as well as flying buttresses holding the structure up. It was quite amazing to see!
After we looked at the cathedral we walked through a small vineyard at the top of the largest hill in the city and overlooked the entire city of Prague. It was a very good view of the city. We saw everything for miles which was awesome. Once we finished overlooking the city we decided to hit up a place to eat right across the street from the Prague Opera building. I ordered a delicious serving of duck, potatoes, and sourcrout for lunch along with an original Budweiser beer (the American version of this copied it hundreds of years ago and sucks in comparison.). Just as we finished lunch it was about time to head back to the train station to head back to Vienna.
Overall, Prague was an awesome city to visit. Only being there for 48 hours wasn't enough time to see all the museums and sights. But, we were able to see Prague and get a good feeling for the city which is all that matters to me!
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