PRAGUE- Unique and Charming. Makes you want to keep coming back for more!

It was a beautiful drive from Ilshofen to Prague. We drove up the mountains to the beautiful town of Praga and experienced our first rain (in Europe) there. Few things that we noticed in Prague: Heavy traffic on a Friday evening. Never plan to go to popular pubs or restaurants for dinner, without a reservation!

The locals speak Czech. However, most of them know English, which made it fairly easy to get around. The Czech are the largest consumers of beer in the world.  The Czech girls are very pretty.  

The accepted currency is “Korunas” and not Euros. At every nook and corner of the tourist streets, there is a forex shop with a board in front that would say CHANGE. There are plenty  of such shops with different conversion rates, we always have the choice of going with the best rate. The only thing to watch out for is “commission”, as some shops charge a small fee as commission.

Prague was indeed a place for beer lovers. It appeared as though beer was more popular than water. You can drink to your heart’s (and wallet’s) content :-)

The city thrives on tourists visiting the country. The main mode of transport are trams, metros and buses. You can buy a day pass for 110 Karunas and it is valid for 24 hrs, from the time it is used.

We stayed at a nice hotel called Angelo by Vienna house. I loved the note they left on their blackboard at the reception (below picture)- "We want to be your favorite hello and hardest goodbye". It was a comfortable stay and they had complimentary breakfast and a welcome drink. The only thing that put us off was that they charged guests for parking.

One tip for visitors would be- if you can book a stay near the Old town’s square, take it! You would have the chance to cover the entire town by foot.

Visited Old town’s square- The town has narrow streets, souvenir shops, cafes and of course, the most famous Charles bridge, decorated with a lot of statues.

Another main attraction is the medieval astronomical clock, which is one of the oldest working astronomical clocks in the world. The clock apparently gives a lot of information like the movement of the sun, the moon and the seasons. It announces every hour with 12 apostles passing by the window above the astronomical dial and with symbolic sculptures moving aside. Saw several tour groups led by guides. Most tour guides used an umbrella as a prop for the identification of their groups.

We saw many street vendors making big bubbles out of buckets, filled with soap water. It was amusing to watch and all the kids went crazy trying to catch the bubbles.

Then, we walked up a long flight of stairs to see the Prague castle. We could get a glimpse of the charming city from the top (below). Be prepared to do a lot of walking, as it is claimed to be one of the largest castles in the world.

We took a boat trip for 12 euros per person. It included a museum visit , along with free drinks and snacks on the ride, served by tall and gorgeous sailor girls in uniform. Everyone got a share of wine, beer, ice cream and gingerbread.

Spent a good 2.5 days in Prague a.k.a Praha. I would love to spend more time just walking down the beautiful streets in Old town’s square, with its marvelous architecture and great food. One of the most popular cafes n Prague is the Tricafe (shown below).

Thank you to our loving cousins, Rein and Seethu, for being one of the best travel companions we could ever ask for!