Yesterday Stephen and I spent the entire day in Prague, Czech Republic.
Before moving to Germany, we made a list of the top 10 places we wanted to visit. (He picked 5 places, and I picked 5.) Prague was pretty high up on the list. It’s only a few hours away from where we live in Deutschland, it’s got a lot of history, and we’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Naturally, I was over the moon to finally go for a visit.
We signed up for this trip via the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation agency on Post). For a reasonable price, we got bus service from post to Prague, a 2 hour walking tour, the rest of the day to explore on our own, and then bus service back home. I woke up at 4 am to get ready and make it to the bus pick-up on time. Early!
We tried to sleep on the bus ride, but the bus was really uncomfortable. (Just imagine the most uncomfortable plane you’ve ever been on.) There was zero space for Stephen’s long legs. I kept telling myself that if I could survive hours seasick on the Great Barrier Reef, I could manage 2 hours on a cramped bus. It wasn’t terrible, but it was annoying.
When we got to Prague, the first stop was a lookout over the city.
Prague looks huge! (At one point in history, it was the 3rd biggest city in all of Europe behind Constantinople and Rome.) The view was obscured by the bad weather, but I was still impressed. Beautiful buildings as far as the eye could see.
It was still early in the trip, but we were already freezing. The high was in the 50′s for the day, but it felt much colder. That plus the constant rain had just about everyone in our group shivering. (Some of our fellow tourists were wearing shorts or going sans jackets. I was bundled up and still cold to the bone.)
Our next stop was one of the many town squares in Prague.
Can you see the bride and groom taking pictures in the background? I swear, every single weekend that we go sightseeing, we see weddings taking place.
All along the way our tour guide would stop to give us information about what we were seeing. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the best tour guide. She would turn away while she was talking. Her voice wasn’t very loud, and she didn’t use a microphone. As a result, I gave up on trying to listen to what she was saying. We still followed the group (for fear of getting lost or deserted), but I didn’t get too much information from the 2 hour walking tour.
The last stop of the tour was the Charles Bridge. (The bridge is that big stoney thing on the left side of the first picture.) The bridge is 655 years old. I don’t know if that’s old for a bridge, but it seemed old. We had the choice to either go over the bridge and see the other side of Prague or stay on our side for the remaining time that we had on our hands. Stephen and I were starving, so we decided to backtrack and eat at one of the many restaurants we passed.
My lunch:
Mushroom risotto with a few other veggies and topped with cheese.
Stephen’s lunch:
He had traditional Czech food complete with duck, cabbage, and bread dumplings. We enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch. We were able to warm up in the cafe and the service was muy bien! I have declared it the best service we’ve had in all of Europe. The woman who waited on us was so wonderful.
After some eats, it was back into the streets of Prague hit up as many malls as possible. We had heard tales of the excellent shopping. Krones aren’t worth that much compared to euros or dollars. ($100 euros got us $2,300 krones!) But it seemed to me stuff still cost the same. A McDonald’s burger is $35 krones, which is in the neighborhood of two bucks. That’s about right. No major steals or awesome deals were found, so we didn’t end up buying much. Stephen got two cigars and I got a new scarf.
Rocking my new scarf with my Rudolph Run 5k t-shirt.
The rain eventually let up and we were able to enjoy a street fair that was taking place. It was basically “Taste of Czech” with inexpensive beer, wine, and food from all of the country. I got a small glass of wine and a sugary pretzel treat. Stephen got a sausage. We thoroughly enjoyed the people-watching in this area.
Before long, it was time to head back to the bus for the 5 pm departure time, and we were back home by 9 pm. Geronimo has asked that we never leave him alone all day again.
I had high expectations of Prague, and in the end, it was just kind of ‘eh.’ You can blame it on the lackluster tour guide, the crummy weather, the constant warnings about pick-pockets, or the fact that I’m traveled out. In the end, I think it comes down to my own high expectations. I thought it was going to be “wow!” but instead I kept thinking, “I like Salzburg better.” As of now, we want to visit some of our other must-see places, but I’m hoping we can go back to Prague on a better day and get a better experience out of it.*
Tours like that are so hit-or-miss. I always try to stay close to the tour guide and get friendly with them so I can hear and learn little bits that the rest of the group wouldn’t get. Is that hogging the tour guide? Oh well!
I thought you didn’t like mushrooms?
Also, you know we all wanna know what other places are on your list…
We had ah-mazing tour guides in Australia and Mexico, so I’m trying to tell myself we were due for a lousy one. And you are right – I’m not a huge mushroom fan. (I ate around most of them in my riosotto.) They are very common in vegetarian dishes here. (Maybe because they are in season right now.)
The number one thing we want to do while we are here is visit old ww2 battle sites, so many of the places on our list are along those lines: The Ardennes in Belgium, the beaches in France, Anne Frank’s house, that kind of thing.*
Ah, I should’ve known! Those places would be on my list too.
Part of family is Czech, so the picture of Stephen’s food brings back great memories. Instead of the duck, our usual meat was a pork roast. Gosh, I’m hungry!
I never knew that about you Robin!*
Aw, sorry to hear that you didn’t have the best experience in Prague!!! The bad tour guide and crummy weather certainly makes a huge difference when you are traveling. I am also surprised because I’d always heard that Prague was so affordable, too – so that is disappointing. But I am glad you got to cross it off of your list of travel destinations! You’d never know what you really thought of it until you actually get to experience it!!! And given how easy it was for you to visit, I’m sure there will be ample opportunities to go back and get to see more of it on a better weather day!
The weather does leave a little to be desired and if the tour guide sucks,well….Definately think you need to try again sometime when it’s warmer and have more than just a day. Everything I’ve seen about Prague, the city is interesting, but the out of the way places seem to be quite interesting as well. The food looks great, have you started to eat fungi???
I mostly ate around it. I don’t mind it if it is mixed in with other stuff, but I can’t handle big bites of it. I think because it is in season here, it’s in a ton of dishes. Plus, there weren’t too many vegetarian offerings, so I just had to go with it.*
Boo, that weather sounds like it ruined everything! I’ve always wanted to go to Prague, but it might be a little bit lower on my list now.
When you go to Italy, I volunteer to be your tour guide. I promise I will talk loudly and in your direction….now there’s just that little problem of airfare! Think the MWR would hire me?
I’d hire you!*
I love reading all about your Euro travels!! If/when I ever get to Europe, I will definitely look back at these posts as a resource!
Prague was one of the first places that my husband and I traveled to when we moved here. We loved it!!! In fact it is one of our favorite places that we have visited!!! In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we want to buy an apartment there!! I would recommend going back when there is better weather and staying for the weekend. You can take a free tour (we use Sandeman Free Walking Tours all the time- we have never had a bad experience with that company. Plus they offer tours in many cities world wide- we used them in Prague, Berlin, Munich…) Go back this spring or summer and let me know how it goes!! (Either stay at a hotel the offers parking or take the train)
Thanks for the tips, Jacki! I’m bummed that I didn’t love Prague (as it seems quite loveable). Hopefully the next time around it will be much better!*
I started up a blog again! wooohooooooooooooooooooo.
Ok so I totally hear you on Prague. My first thought of Prague was “wow this place is a dump.” Maybe that’s a little harsh but at first I was like “meh” but after 2 days there I really started to love the city. Not a place I’d go back to, but a place I’m glad I went to once.
Welcome back to the blog world!
Thanks for making me feel less crazy. Everyone loves Prague, so I was starting to feel like I missed out on something. I agree that it seemed kind of dirty. And our tour guide said over and over again, “Hold on to your purses! Pickpockets are everywhere!” It just made me feel unsafe and definitely hindered my enjoyment.*
Yeah we were warned about the pick pockets. But they are everywhere and I’ve never had any issues. I’ve gone to Amsterdam a few times and have always been warned about them there. The only time I have ever been scared was in Paris by the Sacre Coeur when a few African guys cornered me and were grabbing onto me, asking for money and for me to buy whatever shit they were selling. I elbowed my way past them and said a few bad words and tried to act tough but it was still a little scary.
What happens if you go to all your must see places really fast?? Sad that it was disappointing, but still cool you got to go there!
If we see all the places on our must-visit list, we start talking about making a baby!*
Ohhh dang!! Kinda dig this way you two operate! Very cool. We’ll just keep following along and see what happens! =)
Definitely blame it on the tour and weather, because Prague is one of my favorite places ever!! I would recommend going back on your own and spending a couple of days there. You can’t really get a good sense of a city with a day tour. Wandering around Old Town (especially during the holidays, the Christmas Market is incredible), hopping into pubs, learning about (and buying!) the crystal, the Jewish Quarter… all of it is just so amazing. Walking along the river at night and looking over at the castle and cathedral.
Good point. I don’t think we got to spend enough time in Prague. Salzburg & Berlin (my two favorite European destinations so far) were both places that we spent a ton of time in. I think that extra time makes a difference. And we really want to see the Jewish part of Prague. I bet we’ll go back just to see that part.*
I dunno, that day trip sounded pretty cool to me. So much to look at! That does suck about the tour guide. I would have told her to speak up but I’m mouthy like that.