Our last morning in Munich had arrived, and, with it, some unexpected snowflakes.
SNOW!
IN MID APRIL! SPRING! Spring?
Anywho, we hopped on a train from Munich’s Hauptbanhof to Prague early in the morning,
and watching the snow falling over the trees and the grass during our journey was rather pleasant. Our trip was relaxing and uneventful…
There was nothing bothering me aside from the tiny worry I had about going to a country without speaking their official language (Czech). I tried learning some basic sentences and expressions such as thank you, excuse me, how much is this etc and etc, but, Leuteeeee, what a complicated language! I didn’t want to be one of those annoying af tourists who just impose their English on every local.
Oh, btw, Dobry den (from le title) = good day, hello.
This time, instead of staying at a hotel, my friend and I had booked an apartment on Airbnb.
The apartment (this one) was about a 15-minute walk away from the Central Station, and we arrived at its location simply by following Google Maps AMEN GOOGLE MAPS OUR ALMIGHTY SAVIOUR. It was clean, equipped with a modern kitchen, really close to the touristy stuff and our host was kind enough to leave us some travel guides, so it was aaaall perfect.
It was already afternoon when we reached Prague, so, after a quick shower and nap in the apartment, Ju (my friend) and I decided to do what we’d done in Munich: randomly walk following cute little streets and whatever interested us.
So, out we went…
And in love I fell.
After having lived a couple of months in The Hague, I’d gotten used to the city’s ‘grey and rainy’ default settings. There, it’s really common to see entire streets filled with dirty/dark-red or grey brick houses. Little did I know…
Prague felt so alive!
It was (is!) colourful, bright, lively, UTTERLY CROWDED WITH TOURISTS (in the touristy areas, of course), filled with narrow crooked streets that you can rarely see where they end at.
Almost every building had a different colour from the ones next to it; there were sculptures carved into the buildings, cute little artworks hanging on top of each door, and each door was an artwork itself.
We walked countless streets through the New Town, completely amazed by the Gothic, Baroque and Romanesque buildings housing cafés, bars, restaurants and little stores all over town.
At some point in our aimlessly walking around, we arrived at the Old Town Square. It’s one of the oldest places in Europe. Prague’s astronomical clock (aka Prague orloj) is located there, as well as The Gothic Church of Our Lady Before Týn, with towers that are 80 meters high.
At that time, a market was being held on the square. It was just like the little markets from my villages when I played Age of Empires (LOVE IT)!!!!! Full of colours, smells, music and traditional food… All the while reminding you of the medieval times.
After taking our time in exploring everything in the market, we headed towards the Charles Bridge.
*insert more cute, narrow, crooked streets here*
Connecting Prague’s Old Town and Lesser Town (Malá Strana), this Gothic bridge across the Vltava river was commissioned by Charles IV, Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor. Its construction began in 1357, and it used to be called The Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) during its first centuries.
Oh the right bank of the river, you can get a pretty neat view of the Prague Castle, as well as the Lesser Town.
look, its me! again! and the beanie + scarf + raincoat combo! ty for le pic, ju ♡
Crossing the bridge to the left bank of the river, you will reach the Malá Strana, aka Lesser Town.
Located on the hills below the Prague Castle, it was created by King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1257. The king then expelled the original residents of the region and invited German craftsmen and merchants to live there.
*pff royals*
The view from the left side of the river is also very beautiful.
In fact, I don’t think it is possible for there to be an ugly view of Prague. Regardless of where you are in that city, there will probably be beauty before your eyes.
As it was getting dark, we started walking back ‘home’.
But not before trying the damn thing we saw selling e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e: the trdelník. It is a rolled dough cake (kinda?) wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix (and other stuff if you pay extra).
We kept seeing it everywhere, and not buying one on our first night there just seemed like such a sin! We got ours at the Old Town Square market, a tad bit more expensive than it is in other places because, well, tourists.
T’was very yummy, thank you very much.
After we got back to the apartment, we had leftover pizza from Munich. This is a very long and odd story, which I will write about on le Spring break: ALL THE FOOD! post I’m drafting.
As usual, here are the numbers for our first day in Prague:
Have you ever been to The Czech Republic? To Prague? Would you like to? ^.^
If you have anything to say, questions or whatever, feel free to leave them in the comment box below or tweet me @tweetsbysofi.
xoxo
