Praha. Where do we begin with beautiful, beautiful Praha. The whole city & experience shot straight up to one of our favourite places so far. We had heard wonderful things about Prague, as we’re sure you have to, but it’s not until you go there & experience the city & vibe & sights yourself that you truly understand what is so extraordinary about this vast city.
Charles Bridge was a ‘how cool we’re really here & really walking this piece of history’ moment for sure, and something we truly enjoyed doing. We had actually found the bridge by accident whilst walking to find a quaint cafe in old town but had in fact slapped it on our to do list the day before so it was divine timing – which has happened this whole trip for us, I’m putting it down to my Nanna, thanks Nan.. But don’t worry, you don’t need divine timing & my Nanna as your guardian angel to find it, the crowds are a dead give away. The bridge itself is 621 meters long & is lined with statues, buskers and merchants offering their goods for this & that euro. We were told through our googling it is considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic style buildings in the world – and when we got there, we could see precisely why. We walked slowlyyyyy slowly soaking in every sight & sound possible & stopped at almost every – ok no I lied, it was every single stall that was doing characteruters of tourists paying to have there’s done – it was so incredible & fun to watch their cartoon transform on paper in front of us. The views alone of Prague that you can see from every vantage point on the bridge are worth the adventure itself as you can stand and soak in the Vltava river & get some great shots of this area. Don’t forget to make a wish at the statue of a saint with 5 stars & a small dog that allegedly comes true … you just rub the area that a million other tourists have rubbed, and voila…wish come true – stand by for an update if ours does!! – FACT: Morgs & I had in depth negotiations over coffee that morning pre bridge visit to succinct our wishes so we had extra wish power by wishing for the same thing, genius idea we know & we’re happy to share the idea for future wish placers like yourself.
So there is a remarkable story behind the clock but should you ever go to Praha and partake in said marvelling at it’s size & detail I wouldn’t dare want to spoil the story & fun for you. Let’s just say, the clock, since it’s beginning was the main attraction that brought merchants from across the seas to sell their goods but more so to see the clock, but by bringing their goods, it also brought many other people & money to Praha. The architect of the clock had something terrible happen to him from masked men (therein lies the story!) & so he went & destroyed part of the clock and then, sadly, and allegedly died of a broken heart. It wasn’t until some Two hundred years later, that another clock ‘genius’ figured out how to fix and return it to it’s full working capability – and it still works today. Local legend has it though, that when the clock strikes & rings out on the hour you can still hear the architect laughing in joy that the culprits who inflicted the terrible incident on him never got to hear it work again. It’s incredible, it’s huge and it is in the middle of old town so is an absolute must see.
4. Do the 2 hour bus tour around all of Prague
It shouldn’t surprise anybody – who follows the blog – that Morgs & I jumped on another bus tour of a new city…we still maintain it is the best way to see a city first up and to learn of it’s rich history. This took us all through Praha – including through the Jewish quarter & up near the palace so it was the perfect way to suss out what we wanted to go back and see, where we wanted to visit… and of course not to mention how much we learnt in those lovely 2 hours. Being huge walkers and huge ‘let’s run around like crazy tourists every waking minute of the day’, the 2 hours sitting quietly on a bus is actually a serene time to relax & take everything in not on foot. It cost us $15 euro each & was worth every cent.
5. Visit the Palace
So if you’re in to nightclubs & music then this is a must see – otherwise obviously don’t do it. You can visit the ice bar seperatley during the day if you so wish but seeing as though it costs to get in to the ice bar, and costs to get in to the night club we just went to the ice bar at night & only paid the one price to enter the nightclub as the ice bar is just another area on the ‘ground floor’ of the nightclub – ahh the tricks you learn once travelling. Admittedly it’s all a rip off in terms of entrace fee’s and drink prices – we’re talking Perth prices compared to Europe prices everywhere else – but was a fun experience and something we ticked off our to do list! We had a few drinks, explored all 5 levels of the nightclub, danced to some old 90’s music & I busted out to some hip hop – each floor has a different genre of music – & then like the crazy kids we are these days….were still home in bed by midnight.
7. Underground Catacombs tour
8. Walk everywhere
9. Petrin Hill & the Observation Tower
Eve.H
Hi Anna, I´m glad you both liked our capital so much. You reminded me with the astronomical clock, we have a saying here when somebody stares strangely that he´s staring like a tourist at the astronomical clock 😀 And you´re right, a walk on the Charles bridge holds an amazing atmosphere. Once I saw there a jazz band playing. Just awesome. Hope you´re both OK and have no difficulties on your journey 😉
Anya Volkov
I am loving all your posts Anna! You guys are taking the time to explain each city and not just doing the usual ‘we went here, did this’
Love it all! xxxx
Anya Volkov
P.S your face in the underground tour…..PRICELESS!