Day 24: Prague (Oct 10)

Today's pictures are here on Flickr.

It's Columbus Day back in the US. Over here, it's "A European allegedly discovered you 500 years ago? What were you guys doing for a couple thousand years before that while we were over here building castles and cool stuff like that?" Day.

Day 23: Prague (Oct 9)

Today's pictures are here on Flickr.

Since I had all day today (Sunday) and one more night at the apartment, checking out in the morning, I originally planned to relax for the day, get some writing done (both here and figuring out future plans), and then on Monday I’d go to the Castle Quarter while leaving my bag in the room. That would end with dinner, picking up my bag, and heading to the train station.

Day 22: Prague (Oct 8)

Today's pictures can be found here on Flickr.

I had an email waiting for me when I got up, from my host telling me that the room was vacant the next 2 days and that I could stay if I wanted (I’d pay in cash at the same rate). The only things really on my agenda for the day were to do laundry and change my train ticket from Prague-Budapest on 10/9 at 12:04am to Prague-Vienna on 10/11 at 12:04am. I’d put off the Castle Quarter for Sunday or Monday.

Day 21: Prague (Oct 7)

Today's pictures can be found here on Flickr.

Rather than getting up early to visit the Jewish Quarter, I saved that for after lunch, which was from the vendors in Old Town Square, roasting hams and grilling bratwurst. I had a wurst and a Gambrinus beer, with some pretzel-y thing for dessert (they put dough in a spiral around a metal bar, then heat it over the fire, then put cinnamon and sugar on it).

Day 20: Prague (Oct 6)

Today's pictures can be found here on Flickr.

Once I did my usual thing of getting my bearings, finding a map, and finding some wifi to check in, I made my way down to Prague’s Old Town Square where my apartment was. I couldn’t have asked for a better location, it was literally right in a back alley off of Tyn Church, about a minute’s walk from the Square. It wasn’t too long before I realized that Prague was what I was thinking of when I wanted to see “Old Europe”, even though I didn’t know it at the time – churches, cobblestone streets, castles, rivers, photogenic bridges. By the end of the first day I was already thinking that this was my favorite new city of the trip so far.

Prague details

My initial plan was to spend 3 days touring Prague, and one of my weekly days off, making 4 days altogether. But both Frommer's and Rick Steves said I could to pretty much all I needed in just two days. I took a look at the guide books and split the difference - I'll do their 2-day trips in 3 days (really 2-1/2, since I get in early afternoon from Berlin on the first day), all of which include a lot of easy wandering and meandering, which I'm good at. And to me that's relaxing too, just checking things out without a tight schedule. So I'll leave a day earlier than planned, and use that in Budapest.

Prague (Oct. 7-10)

Growing up in the 1970s and 80s, Soviet Russia and the Warsaw Pact were the bad guys. So the fact that some 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism (mostly) in eastern Europe, countries like the Czech Republic are in NATO and are tourist attractions would have been too absurd to even consider. Yet here I am, ready to plan a trip to see Prague, and I don't even need my passport to cross a border. Just goes to show you something or other.