Prague!

Prague wasn't exactly on our "must-do" list but it was definitely of interest, especially since it was the only regret from Jen's whirlwind Western European trip almost 20 years ago.  Since it worked nicely into the Nemcicky vineyard/orchard plan, we parked for three days and took in the sights.

Much like everyone who goes to Poland visits Krakow, practically everyone who goes to Europe visits Prague so we'll keep this short.  (Our Czech Republic flickr set has a lot more context on our visit... we've included some links to our photos below as well.)

We now understand why people rave about the city: the charm of Charles Bridge (and all the bridges, actually) and the numerous squares around town; the architecture styles; the beautiful panoramas from the top of Prague Castle; the amazing astronomical clock; the easy-to-navigate city streets; the tasty beer!  

lokal - the kind of place where

they put a piece of paper on the table

and mark a tick for each beer you drink

prague beer museum

Prague is one of those places you could blow an entire month's budget if you're not careful so we mostly cooked at the hostel and stuck to cheap or free activities - the free walking tour, Vyšehrad Castle in the southern part of town, Letna Park and the Stalin metronome, meandering along the canal.  One day we went in search of thrift stores for work clothes - thank you, random blogger, because this ended up being a great way to see the less traveled neighborhoods.

We also took a day trip to Kutna Hora (an hour east of Prague) to check out the famous ossuary - according to Wikipedia, it's "estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have in many cases been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel."

deschanel and boreanaz would have a field day in here

It was beautiful, creepy and interesting all at once.  Potential visitors should know that it's absolutely tiny and the admission fee is a bit steep.  We found it terribly crowded as well, so we took in what we could and then headed to the much quieter town center to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

cobble stones in Kutna Hora

view from St Barbara's cathedral

Food notes:

• see beer notes above

Lodging notes:

• other than its excellent location and generally helpful, nice staff, Hostel Tyn was not the best choice - they moved us three times during our four-night stay; the kitchen and common area were too small for the number of guests it accommodated; the hostel seemed to be designed by a man (no handwashing sink in the toilet) who had never stayed in a hostel (the rooms had no hooks, no bedlamps, and big empty spaces where they could've at least put a table and a few chairs) who loved hot pink

Three days in Prague was the perfect amount of over-stimulation and mass-consumption to get us ready for a new mindset: small village farming.  Our Nemcicky summary is here - enjoy!