Mid-August, Adam had a surprise three-day weekend, so we hurried to make something happen. Our quick trip of choice: Prague! (Or as my kids would pronounce it throughout the trip: Brague.) The apartment I booked was only 60 bucks a night but the drive ended up being longer than we thought: 8.5-hours instead of the 6.5 we'd mapped earlier. Whatever, we bit the bullet and went for it. I'm so glad we did.
We got to our place around 10 pm, but the host was really nice. The next morning, it was a short walk to the grocery store with an ATM outside where I changed from euros to Czech koruna. I always hate changing money because that means I have to do math in my head all day. Boooo. I'm terrible at math in my head. But I do love seeing how countries design their currency. Hey old bearded man.
We had initially hoped to stay outside the city, but choices were slim so we stayed somewhere in the city. I ended up really liking our neighborhood. Each of the three mornings we were there, the kids and I developed a routine of walking to the same bakery while Adam either slept in or rode his bike.
Parts of the sidewalk looked like this:
Some of the buildings in the 'hood.
Our Airbnb host recommended this bakery and it was a good choice.
Brownie for Sienna and apply-raisiny-streudelly thing for Adam.
Noah had this same one bread stick every single morning. He is a picky eater, so it was nice he found one thing that brought him some routine happiness.
Brownie for breakfast ... what can I say, she wore me down. And it was a freaky delicious brownie. We don't see brownies at all in Lux, so this was a tiny taste of home.
I got the custard filled dinner roll on the right every morning. Soooo good. The poppyseed filled one on the left? Not so much a fan.
We hopped on the tram and on our way to Old Town Prague, we made our way through what looked more New Town Prague. We passed the gay pride parade prep.
Became hypnotized by the trdelnik, a cinnamon bread cone filled with ice cream...
But chose lunch first....
Pork in all its forms and a sauerkraut/potato mixture. Plus four pieces of bread.
We donated money to allllll the painted people and in return they gave us a pose.
When we stepped into Old Town Square, I didn't know where to start taking pictures. The place is beautiful at every turn.
I'd like to thank all the street performers on this trip for giving my kids a much-needed morale boost at several key moments. Pooh, I'm looking at you.
Say hello to the oldest operating astronomical clock, age 606 years.
It rings on the hour and we stood around with the rest of planet earth to see what would happen. Aaaaaannnnnd it was really nothing. A skeleton representing death rang a bell while caricatures of the 12 apostles circled in and out of doors. Upon reading more about it, the other small statues next to the skeleton represent vanity, greed and lust, and when the skeleton rings his bell, they all shake their heads because they don't want to go away. Make sense? Not bad for a 606 year old clock, right?
I have a bit of snack/dessert regret when it comes to Prague. I didn't try these potato chips on a stick. Nor did I try trdelnik. I was too full from the pork! Blast you, pork and sauerkraut sludge. Which I actually do not regret. I guess the only regret is that my digestive system can only do so much processing in one day. More incentive to visit again!
Even the candy in this candy shop was suspect. Oh well. We must come again. We must!
Ah well, to some folks, sugar is just sugar.
We made our way over to Charles Bridge. What's the big deal about a bridge? You ask. That's the thing about Prague, it's such a great destination for just walking and looking. The beautiful views and the beautiful buildings ... these a good city make.
Noah was like, "Walking and looking. WHY ME."
This couple was like, "Why not us?"
Sienna was like, "Let's do this!"
This band was excellent, especially the guy on the washboard. Three korunas for you! Or something.
Just a little guy at the end of a very long bridge.
I liked the yellow and the orange, and of course, the spilling-over flower sills.
Playground at the end of the bridge, I repeat, playground at the end of the bridge!! Could not have come at a better time. We camped out here for a couple hours.
The view of the bridge was great, the weather was warm, and it was a happy resting spot for us all.
Noah took my camera for awhile.
And then I took it back. And then they all left to find a bathroom, which took 12 years, but shhhhhh, let's not speak of it. #travelrage
The day was drawing to a close and people were getting hangry, but I insisted we climb four million steps up to Golden Lane and Prague Castle. It. Was. So. Hot. I think I carried Noah most of the way. But the views at the top!!!!!! Were worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The rust-colored rooftops were killing me.
We made it to Golden Lane right as the gate was opened to all non-paying tourists (aka us suckers) and we entered this tiny little street with the rest of mankind
The Golden Lane is this series of small houses built in 1597 by Emperor Rudolf II for the archers (yes, men who used bows and arrows) whose job it was to help protect the walls that surround Prague Castle. Throughout the ages it has been associated with alchemists (people who tried to turn basic metals into gold) as well as goldsmiths and other artisans. It's also where three famous writers lived at various times (none of whom I recognized). We didn't spend long here as we were suffocating in the midst of the tourist hoards.
But not before snapping this pic of this extra cute door.
Outside, we rested and replenished with some over-priced watermelon cubes. Ahhhhh, tourist life.
We wandered around trying to find Prague Castle, where the president of Czech Republic lives, but we couldn't even locate it! We didn't last much longer.
Back over the bridge and we were overdue for some dinner.
We ate food somewhere ... I don't have pictures because I think this meal I forced myself not to take pictures and just enjoy it in the moment. And now I'm sad I don't have pictures. I do remember dumplings for dinner and dumplings for dessert. Just know I ate BREAD.
A ride home on the tram and this Bird was cooked.
The following day we wanted to get out of the city and see something in the country. Kutna Hora is a town that kept coming up, so we went. One of its main attractions is the Sedlec Ossuary, or bone church. I really could not believe what I saw.
A monk in 1278 sprinkled dirt from Golgotha over this cemetery which made it a hugely popular burial site. After the Black Death and Hussite Wars, many thousands were buried here. The estimate is 40,000 - 70,000 people.
The massive graves had to be dug up to make room to build a church in 1400.
The point of the church was to serve as an ossuary, which is a place where skeletal remains are kept after being exhumed to make room for more burials. In 1870, a woodcarver named Frantisek Rint was given the task of putting the bone heaps in order, which he did with a macabre (gruesome) result. (Thanks, Wiki!)
I was first grossed out, then fascinated, then felt bad for liking it. Then I read more about ossuaries and how there are more like this in the world; it's to honor the dead when space is scarce for proper graves. I guess I can be okay with that. I can even like it. It was a fascinating display of artistry using a highly unusual medium, let's just put it that way.
The church from the outside:
The cemetery grounds:
The rest of Kutna Hora was not morbid ... it was so beautiful and I'm so glad we went. But first, lunch:
I sprung for the beef goulash whenever I could. It was different both times, but both were really good.
Adam had ribs (always the right choice).
A friend of mine who did a church mission to Prague told me to try the fried cheese. So I did. It tasted like mozzarella sticks.
The chicken schnitzel was a big hit with the kids. Fried chicken that is more fried than chicken ... SO. GOOD.
The McDonalds toys followed us everywhere.
And ice cream across the street.
St. Barbara's Basilica in the background.
I was loving this church even from a distance, so I asked a dude to take our family picture in front of it. He completely missed the church and moved to take a picture of us in front of the building next to it, which was a modern art museum. He spoke no English, so I couldn't correct him. And who knows where Noah was at this point?
St. Barb, you're a BEAUT!
We spent some time resting on the lawn by the church and the kids played forever with this bubble guy.
Heading out of town, we stopped for some fresh mint lemonade in these cute little pitchers.
And finally, a cute window full of cacti.
P.S. On the drive back home through Germany, we stopped in Nuremberg at the Nazi Documentation Center, which is housed in a section of the largest remaining structure built by Nazis, the unfinished Congress Hall, which held many Nazi party rallies.
On the audio tour, we basically learned about how the Nazis became the Nazis. It was really interesting.
At the end of the museum tour, you can step outside on a balcony and look at the actual structure they built.
It was a humbling learning experience for sure.
P.P.S. Two last pictures from Prague, just because they're my favorite. (From our neighborhood where we stayed.)
And because we all thought this was hilarious.
