Prague with the Loops

Prague...Praha. One of the oldest cities in Europe. Like Krakow, its old town city center was untouched during the bombings of WWII. We got to visit Prague with the Loops - Charles and Lian (ages withheld for confidentiality reasons), Eric (9) and John (12). Our kids awaited the arrival of the Loops (mainly Eric and John) with great anticipation. Brody even likened the waiting to the anticipation he felt himself when we were leaving to move from Dallas to Krakow. The Loops stayed with us in Krakow for 5 days, doing all the usual sites with Chris (her 3rd or 4th time to many of these sites, since she seems to play tour guide while Corey works whenever we have guests from the states). Sometimes work ain't so bad ;-).

So we took the overnight train to Prague, just as we did to Budapest a couple of months ago. Sleep was not easy, but is always better than you can get in coach on the airplane. I'd say the average sleep was about 5-6 hours, which isn't too bad. But John had a real tough time sleeping, and in the process decided that it was his job to keep his dad up most of the night too.

But we were all troopers as we arrived at the train station at 7am and prepared for a full day of site seeing. We took a taxi to an apartment that we were renting for the two nights we would be there. It was spacious, clean and very close to the city center. One shower was the only downside, but that's no different than our apartment in Krakow when we have guests at the Ladd B&B.
Having done a little research in advance for a change, we had booked a tour guide who did a 3 hour walking guide with us through the old town. It was very inexpensive and was a great way to get acclimated to the city and get advice and what to do for the remainder of the weekend. With our guide we walked down the Wenceslas Square (pictured to left), kind of the main boulevard leading into the old town. We also walked through the Jewish Quarter where she told us a great tale about the Golem, a monster created to protect the Jews. And we saw the cemetery that was about 20 feet above street level because they have added graves on top of graves and just raised the headstones. Space was really at a premium when the Jews lived in the ghettos.



Another thing of interest on the tour was the upside down horse statue, just kind of a unique thing hidden in one of the buildings nearby. We also visited the Havelska Market, a great open air market that sold fruit, veggies and, of course, tourist chachkis.

On our second day, we primarily visited the Castle Quarter. To get there, we took the 500 yard stroll over the ancient Charles Bridge built in the 14th century and named after Charles IV, not our friend Charles Loop...though he is so noble too! It has an abundance of local artists selling paintings, wooden boxes and jewelry. It is adorned with large statues every 20 yards, and I think Ariana took a picture of every one.

In the Castle Quarter, we of course visited the Prague Castle, Royal Palace, and the St. George Basilica using an audio tour with a monotone voice and way too much information. To get to the top of the hill where all this was, we took a funicular (cog train) which are always deemed in the guidebooks as a treat for the kids. But we have now been on 3 of these in various European cities, and the kids think they are universally short and boring. Adults agree. But at least it keeps them from whining on a long walk up a large hill.

So, the big dud of the trip (there's at least one of every trip...other than the funicular of course) was the maze. The kids have always loved the mazes, so we headed straight there as soon as possible. Well it turns out it was a maze of mirrors, that only had one path through and took about 45 seconds. Ok, so we had a very good laugh watching each other stretch our bodies on the concave and convex mirrors in a room at the end of the "maze."

In the Castle Quarter, there was even more. We had bagels at Bohemia Bagel (twice!). We visited Golden Lane (pictured to right), a very old, narrow street with an Armory Museum, Franz Kafka's apartment, and antique watch and music shops. And, we tried to visit the Toy and Barbie Museum, but it was closed...woe is me.

And there was pain. Brody bonked his head jumping off the 4 person swing in the park (see left). And, Ariana had a nasty spilled caused by...well...walking! Unfortunately it was our camera that broke her spill and has not taken a picture since. At least the memory card was undamaged. Thus all the good pictures attached.

Thanks to the Loops for great fun and friendship!