The Pickle Jar in Poland: Road trip...Prague! Part One

Well, Internet, I've fallen in love again. This time, with Prague!

This week is Emmy's winter break at school (last week ended the first term/semester). We'd originally tried to plan a few days skiing with friends, but multiple complications caused us to cancel that plan. So, at the (almost) last minute, we booked a few days in Prague in the Czech Republic. It is a little over five hours from us, so it was not a bad drive. Everyone we'd talked to about it has said they loved Prague, so we were excited to see for ourselves.

We headed out Sunday mid morning. As usual, the best laid plans had us on the road about an hour after our ETD, and then we had to stop for diapers on the way out of town and TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN TAKES FOREVER.

Beautiful day!

The route took us through Germany, and boy does Germany (and other parts of Europe) do a "rest stop" right. Not only are they, as my friend Jocelyn calls them, beacons of culinary deliciousness, they also frequently have playgrounds! It was a nice day, and the kids had a great time running around for a few minutes after we ate.

Some road work with no detour signs caused us a bit of a headache, but we finally made it to the Little Quarter of Prague. To get to our hotel, we had to drive past the US Embassy, and we'd been told that we'd have to stop for a Police checkpoint. Charles was asked to open the hood of the car as a part of the check. I could not hear what was going on, but I saw the officer and pointing and he and Charles looking at something, and then he called over the other officer to look under our hood. I was starting to get a little concerned as to what was going on with my car, when Charles finally closed the hood and hopped in. Apparently, a dead bird was under the hood. GROSS. Later that evening, Charles went back to the car with some plastic bags and deposited the cooked, headless bird in the trash. His theory is a cat killed it and dragged it up there, since a) it was headless and b) the insulation under my hood was torn up. Ahh, adventures!

The sun was in the wrong place for
a photo, but here is our hotel.
http://www.dumuvelkeboty.cz/

So, we arrived at our hotel on a quiet square across from the Germany Embassy and down the street from the Italian Embassy. A lovely lady named Lauren welcomed us, showed us to our room, and told us a bit about the hotel and Prague, and gave us some restaurant recommendations. The hotel is in a old house and owned by a family. We met one of the owners, Jan, that evening and saw him every day. He is delightful, as was everyone who worked there.

We had dinner at a one of their recommendations (which was also one of Rick Steve's guidebook recommendations) and then walked back to our hotel to settle everyone in for the evening.

We were up bright and early Monday morning and after breakfast at the hotel, we took off to start Rick Steve's walking tour of old town. (I am a big fan of his books, by the way, if you are in need of any travel guides, he gives good information that tries to keep you away from super touristy spots and get you into the local culture, and he has a good sense of humor). Since it was Monday, some of the churches were closed, but most of the sites were open. The tower at the Old Town Hall was not open yet when we stopped there, so when the tour brought us right back by this area closer to lunchtime, we headed up to ride the elevator up. I am definitely glad we took the time for this, the views were lovely!

Gothic Týn Church in Old Town Square.

Old Town Square, memorial to Jan Hus, a symbol of Czech nationalism. Hus, a priest, was a religious reformer who stood up to both the Catholic Church and the Hapbsburg oppressors from Austria.

Walking through the Ungelt, one of the Old Town's oldest palces, where during the Bohemian Golden Age traders were able to safely stay with their wares to pay their customs and keep their goods protected at night. There are only 2 entrances to the square.

Emmy with the Powder Tower behind her. Built in the 1400's, it was the gate of the old town wall, and where they used to keep the gunpowder.

Havelská Market, first set up in the 13th century.

Wenceslas Square, as in "Good King Wenceslas," turns out St. Wenceslas was Czech! We did not spend much time exploring this area, we'll have to come back!

View of the Týn Church from the Old Town Hall's tower.

Selfie in front of the view.

Finally Emmy decided to join us.

It's a long way down!

Waiting to watch the Astronomical Clock on Old Town Hall chime the hour again (we saw it at 10 and noon, I think).

Astronomical Clock in the background. Fascinating to watch and to read about what each part represents.

We headed over to one of the guidebook recommendations for lunch. It was a Latin American place and after not having a Mexican, or any Latin food for so long, it was heaven. We were all so happy.

After lunch we did a few stops in the Jewish Quarter. After the Spanish Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery, and the, we could tell everyone (Emmy) was done. We headed towards the Charles Bridge to walk back towards the Little Quarter, where our hotel was located. We stopped for supper along the way for more yummy Czech food (and beer).

After lunch we did a few stops in the Jewish Quarter in New Town. After the Spanish Synagogue, the Maisel Synogogue, the Pinkas Synogogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, and the Ceremonial Hall, we could tell everyone (Emmy) was done. We headed towards the Charles Bridge to walk back towards the Little Quarter, where our hotel was located. We stopped for supper along the way for more yummy Czech food (and beer).

Emmy really was interested in the Kafka stature, outside the Spanish Synogogue.

The walls of the Pinkas Synogogue are filled with the handwritten names of the 77,297 Czech Jews killed during the Holocaust. The red letters are the family names, the black are the individual's first name, birthdate, and date of death (if known). This was very moving, though the large group of obnoxious teenagers on a tour were very distracting.

Beautiful ceiling of one of the Pinkas Synagogue.

The Old Jewish Cemetary, which sits above street level. This was the only place Jews were allowed to bury their dead from 1439-1787, so the graves had to be piled on top of one another, and a wall was built around it and dirt was piled on top of existing graves.