Prague, Part Two

Read Part One here!

Our second morning in Prague, Tuesday morning, we headed out after breakfast to see Prague castle.

I caught Matthew and Charles brushing their teeth together in the communist era bathroom of our suite. So cute! 

The Little Quarter, where we were staying is directly "below" the castle quarter, so it was a fairly short walk, though it was up hill the whole way! When we reached the Castle, we were rewarded with fabulous views. Unfortunately we were looking towards the sun at that hour of the morning, so no photos really turned out very well. Not that photos could really do it justice!

Stunning view! 

In the Castle Square, in front of the Main Entrance.

Crowds gathering in the squre to watch the changing of the guard. 

He is about to be one relieved dude.

Lots of tourists taking photos made it hard to get one of just us! 

Inside the gate, headed in through the main entrance. 

I wish we'd had more time to really explore the Castle, but we enjoyed a couple of hours there. We rented the audio tour handsets, which was really a waste of money here. It was good information, but really each description was too long. I thought it would be easier than trying to read Rick Steve's guide as we walked around, plus I was wearing Matthew and he gets grabby. Oh well, live and learn.

St. Vitus Cathedral was probably my favorite part of the Castle tour. We spent a good bit of time inside exploring (and listening to the audio guide!)

St. Vitus Cathedral.

Some of the interior of St. Vitus.

St. Wenceslas Chapel. 

Add caption

Exterior of St. Vitus

Exterior of the cathedral, with the golden gate behind them, where the king and queen would enter on coronation day. 

"Illegal" photo of Vladislav Hall inside the Old Royal Palace. I just thought it was cool, so I discretely snapped a photo. This room used to host everything from markets to horseback jousting events. 

The best view we could get of the Noon Changing of the Guard (which is a much bigger ceremony). Because it takes place inside the gates (pictured above) it is really hard to see unless you are on of the privileged few who get a front row view. We were glad we stopped to watch it at 10 when we first were coming in! 

The Golden Lane, where the goldsmiths and other artisans lived, now houses a few shops and replicas of the homes. 

View as we walked out from the Castle. 

Finding lunch afterward proved to be a bit more difficult than we expected, the place we planned to go was crowded, so we ended up walking back out of the castle quarter and across the river to an Italian restaurant that is on a boat. It is probably a bit overpriced because of tourists, but our hotel had recommended it and the food was excellent and Emmy thought it was awesome to eat on a boat. It was a nicer place, but they were super friendly and seemed happy for the kids to be there, which is something since Matthew spent a lot of time running around.

View of the Charles Bridge, as we walked to
lunch.

After lunch, we went back to towards the Jewish Quarter to see the New-Old Synagogue that we'd missed the day before. Then we headed back to Old Town to try and see a couple of the churches that were closed on Monday. We also stopped back into the toy store and marionette shop we'd visited on Monday. We had seen a doll house and since Emmy has been wanting one, I wanted to see if it would be possible to buy it boxed up and take it home for her birthday. She and Charles explored the marionette shop while I did some covert purchasing. The lady was very helpful and tied the box up and made a handle from string and packing tape to make it easier to carry! Emmy was DYING to know what was in the box, but we held firm! It helped that we did let her pick out a marionette.

We took a wrong turn in our walk back towards the river, so getting back too longer than it should have, which at the end of a long day with a super whiny six year old was not the most fun. We finally made it back to the Charles Bridge, and after a quick snack on the steps, we crossed the bridge. I'm so glad we were able to cross it at night this time, it was lovely to see it with the lamps light and the lights of the city shining all around.

For supper we ate at a Thai place back across the river. It was delicious and they had a big box full of toys right by our table for the kids to play with. And, it was only 11 minutes from our hotel so we were back and putting the kids to bed in no time, which really seemed like an hour when you are tired and dragging sleepy children home.

Walking across the bridge. 

Prague Castle at night. 

Wednesday we packed up and headed home after breakfast.

The German Embassy, as viewed from our room, opened the gates and we happened to be looking out the window and were able to catch a glimpse of the pretty garden behind the gates. 

Quick photos of our room as we were departing. 

The super awesome green "communist era" bathroom.

It was really a fabulous trip! If you come visit us, make sure you add Prague to your list of places to see!