A Travelin' Girl: Ahoj Prague!

We said our goodbyes to Vienna as we boarded the train to Prague. After the four hour trip, we were greeted by our driver who took us to our apartment. We could have easily taken a Bolt to the apartment but to be honest I just didn’t feel like dealing with the luggage and finding the pick-up point. Every time I travel outside of the US, I’m reminded how lucky (and spoiled) we are by conveniences we take for granted (ie Uber/Lyft come to you even in most major cities verses having to go to meeting spots in most major cities in Europe…at least that has been my experience).

Here’s a look at our home for the next two weeks. Since our stay is short and we really wanted to be a in a convenient location, we opted for a one bedroom with two beds but as a bonus, it actually has 2 full bathrooms AND a dryer (trust me, it’s a big deal as most places in Europe only have a washer). Dema met us and helped us settle in. Thanks to Google Translate, we learned all we needed to know and also about the pigeon problem in Prague…looks like one of our balconies is a favorite spot for them to lay eggs. We like being close to the sights but not in the heart of tourist central and this place is perfect! We can easily get anywhere in less than 10 minutes by public transportation and we already have a good lay of the area.

After settling in to our apartment, we had dinner at San Carlo just outside our building...aptly called The Palace. Dinner was fabulous as was the Limoncello Spritz! There are 3 restaurants we can immediately see around the apartment and we look forward to checking them out.

Since our time in Prague is short, I took PTO our first three days and will take our last two days so we don’t have to rush to be back to our apartment for me to work (I work East Coast hours when I’m over here so I start working at 3PM local time). Monday was scheduled to be a cooler day (upper 70’s) so we decided to head to Prague Castle. You can visit the grounds for free but if you want to visit any of the buildings, you do need a pass. We bought the Main Circuit pass which was admission to St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George Basilica and Golden Lane. The castle was built in the 10th century and has been the home and seat of power for the kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperor, our old friends the Habsburgs, the presidents of Czechoslovak and now the president of the Czech Republic.

Office of the President of the Czech Republic.
The presence of the Czech flag means he's in the office.

We opted for the audio guide but honestly it wasn't that great so would not recommend it. The pics below are from the Old Royal Palace.

St. George's Basilica was consecrated in 921 and is one of the oldest churches in Prague. It is amazing this simple church played such a large role in the spread of Christianity in Bohemia.

Personally the main attraction of the castle was St. Vitus Cathedral. Since 920, a church has stood on this very spot but the current church was started in 1344 and was finally completed and consecrated in 1929. Due to the time it took to complete the church, it is two different styles...14th century Gothic and Neo-Gothic...which is noticable in the style change but also the slight incline in the flooring. The stained glass windows are stunning and are the creation of Alphonse Mucha. When we were there, they had the entrance at the end of the audio guide so you are a bit backwards but again as I mentioned earlier, I would not recommend the audio guide.

Prague has a good public transportation system as well and as a bonus, LuLu rides for free as those over 65 are free (just need to make sure to have ID proving age for inspectors). Like Vienna, it is on an honor system and you must have a validated ticket if stopped by inspectors. It was a better deal for me to buy a monthly pass verses a new pass every three days (plus more convenient). We were in Vienna a month and not once did we get stopped by an inspector. On our first day in Prague, we were stopped…I suspect it was because we boarded at a tourist spot. The inspector was very nice and helpful. Apparently when I bought my pass I attached it to my Visa so if I’m stopped, I just need to tap my card on their reader.

We wrapped our first full day with in a traditional Czech restaurant and enjoyed pork with cabbage and potato dumplings and goulash with potato pancakes…and of course a Czech beer. Krčma u Parašutistů is one of the places right by our apartment and was definitely a popular local spot. Gotta love a place where our two large beers were a total of $4.35 but if we had a Coke it would have been $5 each!

As I've said before, we normally like to take a hop-on/hop-off tour to get the lay of the land but my research indicated that the two bus companies we normally use were not good here in Prague. We came across a hop-on/hop-off vintage tram tour so thought we'd give it a shot. Cross it off your list as well...the young girl from the company was nice but sadly she wasn't given much to work with as the downloadable audio guide they provided was terrible. After the tour ended, we found our way to Old Town Square.

Prague's Rodeo Drive...every major high end brand is on this street

Every hour on the hour, the Prague Astronomical Clock puts on a show. The clock was first installed in 1410 and is the oldest operating astronomical clock. We arrived about 15 minutes before noon and joined a few hundred friends to watch the show that when it concluded, LuLu said "we stood here for 15 minutes for that?!" Yep, it's a short show. Worth the hype? Not really but it is still fun to see...once.

Old Town Square

Tip: I read you should avoid any of the food
vendors on the square as they charge by the food
weight and it can get rather expensive.

There are a couple churches that flank the square and we made it to the Church of Our Lady before Týn for daily mass on Tuesday. After mass, I was able to take a few photos before they closed so the staff could have lunch. The church was orignally built as a Catholic church and then later became a Hussite (protestant) church and eventually back to Catholic when the Habsburgs ruled Bohemia. When the Habsburgs converted it back to Catholic, they also added in quite a bit of Baroque elements so the inside is a bit more showy than the exterior.

While we were at Prague Castle, we met a family from Texas (I think every American we met this summer has been from Texas...they feel right at home in the heat!) and they told us to make sure to visit the Bascilia of St. James just behind Týn. While walking to St. James, we passed an usual store that had the Blessed Mother under a disco ball and a monstrance (holds the blessed sacrament) made of bones.

The Bascilia of St. James was built in the 18th century to replace a church that was here in the 13th century. While the inside is quite beautiful, it's the legend that makes it really interesting. Legend has it in the 13th century a thief broke in the church and tried to steal the Madonna Pietatis but in the process his arm froze and the only way the police could remove him was to saw off his arm (don't mess with the Blessed Mother). What is left of the arm is hanging on a metal hook at the back of the church to the left.

Madonna Pietatis

They were tuning the organ while we were visiting

The thief's arm

We tried another one of the neighborhood restaurants and LuLu gave a thumbs up to the beer here. Restaurace u Matějíčkú also served up a very tasty roasted duck with potato dumplings and sauerkraut and an herbed chicken with mashed potatoes.

Prior to World War II, there were approximately 92,000 Jews living in Prague...about 20% of the city's population. Today, there are approximately 2,000. The Jewish Quarter (formerly Jewish Ghetto) is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and definitely worth a visit. They have a Prague Jewish Town Pass for about $20 that gives entrance into four synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetary. The passes are good for several days (ours was valid for 4 days) which worked out great as we didn't have time to see the Spanish Synagogue on Tuesday and we're heading back later in the week. The Old-New Synagogue is the only one still holding weekly services while the others are museums dedicated to various pieces of Prague Jewish History.

Pinkas Synagogue
This museum is dedicate the names of the 77,297 Prague Jews killed during the Holocaust.
Family names are in red followed by the first name, date of birth, date of deporation and date of death (if known) in black.

Jews from Prague were deported from the city to several camps such as Terezin and Riga before being transported to the death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau and many others. Many didn't survive the first camps due to illness, starvation and hygenic conditions. On the wall next to the niche, all of the camps where Prague Jews were sent are listed.

Next to the Pinkas Synagogue is the Old Jewish Cemetary...the oldest surviving Jewish burial grounds in the world. The cemetary is quite large with more than 12,000 tombstones. Due to space being limited, there are some graves that are 10 bodies deep. There are several important Jewish figures buried here including Modecai Maisel...the developer and first mayor of Prague Jewish Town.

Mordacai Maisel's grave

Maisel Synagogue was built for Mordecai Maisel for his family in 1592. As I mentioned above, he was the developer and mayor of Prague Jewish Town. The original synagogue burnt down in 1689 and rebuilt several times. The current structure was built between 1893-1905. Today it houses the history of Jews in Bohemia betwen the 10th and 18th centuries.

The Old-New Synagogue is the oldest site in Prague's Jewish Town and the oldest active synagogue in Europe. It is much smaller than the other two synagogues we visisted and I found myself thinking of all that has transpired inside these walls over the centuries. Above the seats, they have photos of Jews still being held hostage after the October 7 attack in Israel.