On to Prague!

Our second stop was Prague, which we chose because of its history and charm. Kris was there a few years ago, and thought Jim would really enjoy it. Part of its appeal was its in tact old architecture and city plan, not destroyed during WWII.

We rented an apartment for the four days we were there. Excellent location -- convenient to transit, walking distance from everything, and very cozy. It also had a kitchen with a washing machine -- so we did a bunch of laundry (some adventures with that but ultimately successful.)

The apartment ended up beign right across the street from one of Kris's favorite restaurants from her first visit to Prague. The first night we got a good Czech meal (and first Czech beers for Jim; Kris discovered the non-alcoholic beers actually tasted great). Here's Jim at the restaurant working on his language phrases "cheat sheet," begun in Germany and used daily throughout the trip, then dropped accidentally into the foundations of Wawel Castle in Krakow on our last day.

After dinner we took the short walk down to Old Town Square, always atmospheric...

....especially when decked out with holiday lights.

We continued our stroll down towards Charles Bridge, where it began to snow, heavily. Beautiful!

We were able to keep up our home tradition of leisurely morning coffee at our Prague apartment.

On our first morning, we headed towards Prague Castle and Strahov monastery. Here's the first of several obligatory WC visits. This one exceeded Kris's expectations.
Gate to Strahov Monastery.

The monastery grounds were a wonderland.


Here's the entrance to their impressive monks' library.

The monastery brewed beer since the 1200s -- and now have opened a great little microbrew pub. Jim thought the smallest size (.33 L) looked kind of like a sampler, so ordered all three of their brews to try. We were both surprised by the size!

The monastery meal was another highlight food wise...Kris ended up with a skewer of pork wrapped in bacon; Jim had pork in a dark beer sauce.

From the monastery we walked down towards Prague Castle, past smaller palaces.

Jim managed to run ahead to catch a close up of the changing of the guard at this actively in use seat of government. (Kris, lagging behind, fell in the snow.)

Prague Castle's impressive cathedral. We hired a guide to take us through the castle grounds, which helped us understand more of the complexity.

The cathedral is a blend of styles, including this high Gothic portion. Snow and dusk added a lot of atmosphere.

It began to snow heavily at the castle; here's one of the towers.

The end of the tour featured a vista over snow-covered Prague.

We walked back over Charles Bridge.

The next morning, Jim out front of our flat, showing off its ring of skeleton keys.

Here's our front door.

We headed across town to Vysherad, or High Castle, Prague's original fortifications and settlement. It's also the location of the citadel and most of the remaining fortifications of the 17th and 18th century.

We walked the entire perimeter of the wall during our visit. They offered exceptional views of the city, and allowed Jim to survey the many 18th century seige points.

The neighborhood below Vysherad.

Some walls in below Vysherad.

The Vysherad grounds buzzed with people using the area for recreation, including this snowsuit clad school group.

We took a tour through the casements where food and ammunition was stored by the Austrian army in the 18th century.

Prague Castle, viewed from Vysherad's walls.

For lunch, we walked to the neighborhood below the citadel to a restaurant in a cubist apartment building. We ordered potato pancakes stuffed with meat (pork for Kris, "spicy meat mixture" for Jim.) Very good, but certainly one of the most daunting meals we attempted, portion-size wise!

Could hardly lift it with one finger.

Back up to Vysherad for more walking; here we are posing in front of the Vlatva River.

Jim is discovering the wonder that is "Good Soldier Svejk" -- a quintessential Czech novel featuring the escapades of a conscripted soldier in the Austro-hungarian army in World War I.

Svejk is very popular. Here's one of the first Svejk themed pubs we encountered.

Here's another, where we ate lunch. This one had Svejk-themed entres.

Trdelnk, a Christmas market pastry, spin on dowels over coals.

Old Town Square's Christmas market.

After visiting the Museum of Communism the night before, we wanted a closer look at Wenceslas Square, where many protests occurred in 1989, culminating in the Velvet Revolution.
Here, the snowstorm was beginning.

U Kalicha, where Svejk gets arrested in the first chapter of the book. We headed here after seeing a mention in a guide about it. This place was all about Svejk.

Jim enjoys a dark beer, just like Svejk. Fortunately Jim avoids arrest, unlike Svejk.

After a good final dinner at the pub across the street, we braved the snowstorm to make our way to our overnight train to Krakow. This was by far the most awkward transition of the trip -- dragging luggage through a foot of snow, more snow pouring down, extremely jam-packed subway cars (and a subway transfer.) All to arrive at the station for a very delayed night train....which turned out to be more than we bargained for. When this picture was taken, Jim already looks just about done, but the worst is yet to come! We have yet to experience the Soviet train!