Well, That Went Quickly

Well, that went quickly.

We’re back at the airport, wondering where the week went. Prague will soon be behind us, or below us, rather, as we take up for Brussels.

Prague in numbers:

1 brewery visited (Pilsner Urquell!)

2 castles explored (Prague & Cesky Krumlov)

3 “day trips” outside of the city

4 (x10,000) humans-worth of bones displayed in the Kunta Hora bone church

5 drinks we tried at the award winning cocktail bar Le Fleur (over multiple days – don’t worry)

6 days in the Czech Republic

We’ve really loved our time here. I don’t know where to start. . . do I just give chronologies of everything we’ve done? Organize it categorically? I don’t know. Maybe let’s go with categories and see how that goes.

THE CITY OF PRAGUE

The city of Prague is beautiful, and being here with Ken is magical. Some of you know that Ken and I almost came to Prague a few years ago – while we were still dating. Some things came up and we ended up canceling the trip just a few days before we were set to depart. Since then, I’ve always wanted to complete that story and explore this city with Ken. Being here with him now as my husband felt like a missing puzzle piece in my heart and in our story finally got settled into place. My highlight of the trip was just exploring the city hand in hand with him, especially at night when the city calms down and the lights come up to highlight the Charles Bride, castle, church, and clock. I really like (and love) that guy.

We did a lot in the city. Our first morning, we did a walking tour with a Prague local which was fantastic. Definitely top 2 walking tours I’ve ever done – maybe top 1. We got a good feel for the city, history, and culture, and had a lot of fun doing it. Everything we did in the city runs together – explored Prague Castle, saw the beautiful libraries in the monasteries (that would put the Beast’s libraries to shame), saw a concert of a string orchestra in a beautiful building, wandered endlessly throughout the streets, explored the Jewish Quarters (museums, beautiful synagogues, an ancient cemetery), ate beef tartar (raw beef) at a butcher shop, shopped for jewelry (eeee!), visited churches, watch the clock strike, visited bookstores, ate a lot, read a lot, and on and on. It is really a beautiful city. We stayed right outside of Old Town, so everything was walkable. I think I would have become a lot fitter during my time in Prague, were it not for all the potatoes/dumplings/goulash/bread/cheese I’ve been having. . . oh well.

Ken’s Thoughts: I loved it. I think that it’s really special how the town itself feels old. It’s not like Rome where amongst the new buildings, there are a number of old things sticking out. It feels like the city of Prague itself is very old, but lived in my modern people. I loved the sites, and how around every corner, you didn’t know what treasure you’d find next. I enjoyed the emphasis on art and performing arts that the town seemed to have. And I loved trying out all the different aspects of Czech cuisine. I don’t understand how the carrots and the cabbage or so good. I also really enjoyed the beer. It was fun having extremely good Pilsners. I think I’ll miss the striking beauty of all the different parts of Old Town. I also think that Petr’s tour was the best tour. I think that’s all my thoughts.

DAY TRIPS

KUNTA HORA - We did three day trips outside the city. The first was to the city of Kunta Hora, which is a city about an hour-ish outside the city that is home to the the bone church. Essentially, after the plague passed through the area, there were more bodies than they had space to deal with (about 30,000). After the battle with the Hussites added 10,000 more, they started getting creative. The ultimate result was the bone church – a church “decorate” with 40,000 people worth of human bones.

There’s a chandelier that uses every bone in the human body. There’s a crest of arms. There are 4 pyramids 16 feet tall of bones. There are garlands of skulls. Being there.  . . strange, to say the least. The goal of the “art” (?) was to show that we are all equal in front of God, and the brevity of human life. I would say mission accomplished. It’s interesting – some sites you feel like you get your fill of. You can say, “okay, I’m content. I feel like I’ve seen this and have processed what I’m seeing.” Not so here. I think we could have stayed for hours and hours and never reached the point where we felt like we wrapped our mind around what we were seeing. This was my second time there, and it was no less eerie and beautiful and bizarre and harrowing. I don’t think anyone can ever feel content with the time they spend there. There is no way to comprehend it.

Ken’s Thoughts: It was striking and oddly beautiful at the same time. I felt like I could stare at it for hours or days and still feel like I wasn’t comprehending what I was looking at. I think it was one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen, and I’m really glad I saw it. That’s all my thoughts.

CESKY KRUMLOV – Cesky Krumlov is a small town in the south of Czeh that has somehow been untouched by time. Czech’s own Brigadoon (isn’t that what that play is about?). It has a giant castle and a little village, and even the “old time” videos they were playing in the museum looked like they could have been filmed yesterday. We spent a day there, wandering the cobbled streets, eating (a theme of this trip) and exploring. It was a wonderful, delightful, quiet day.

Ken’s Thoughts: I thought it was just a picturesque little town, and I really enjoyed exploring it. I don’t know if I have much else to say.

PILSNER URQUELL – The birthplace of the lager, apparently, and the pride & joy of Czech. We bussed to a town a bit west of Prague to go to this brewery. The brewery was huge and different from any brewery we had been to before – probably because it was the oldest brewery we had ever been to before, and they had to account for things like fluctuating weather before there was modern climate control (result: tunnels!). Cool tour, and we got to try unfiltered, unpasteurized beer.

Ken’s Thoughts: It was a lot of fun! It was the largest scale brewery tour I’d ever been on, and I actually learned a lot. It was fun tasting their unfiltered, unpasteurized beer fresh from the barrel. I think that’s all my thoughts.

OTHER THOUGHTS/THINGS I FORGOT

It started snowing as I was sitting in the airport writing this! I’ve enjoyed the (cold!) weather. This was the first sprinkling of snow, and we’ve had a few splashes of rain, but otherwise, it’s just been delightfully cold. I love being all bundled up (boots, jacket, scarf, hat/ear warmers, gloves!) and cozy outside in the cold weather. We’ve also discovered that every inside room is somehow the perfect temperature. Well done, Prague. Fun fact: my scarf is from here (thanks Ken!), my jacket & boots were gifted by my grandparents when we almost came here 6 years ago (thanks Poppy!), my ear warmer thing and favorite socks are from Ireland (thanks Ken!), and my beanie and gloves are from Yellowstone (thanks parents!).

Another fun thing – my cousin Nicko happens to be studying abroad in Prague right now! So we were able to meet up with him for dinner last night at a really amazing little hold in the wall restaurant (capacity: 20 . . . maybe) that was recommended to him. Delicious and fun to catch up! The last time we saw him, Ken and I had only been dating for a few months, and I think he was 13. It was great catching up!

Also, I forgot to mention we went to the public library to see the book tower. It was just as cool as it was on Facebook. Well done, Prague.

Overall, I loved my time in Czech, and it was made all the better by having a wonderful man by my side. I feel like these blogs used to be filled with adventure and daring, and now they’re just sappy sonnets gushing over my wonderful husband. I knew I was in for it when we were dating and I realized I liked him more than travel, which if you know me, is a lot. I guess that’s reflected in my blogs now. Sorry for the gushing. . .  but he’s really great, so it can’t be helped.

Ken’s Thoughts: How did I forget about the bar? I think the main thing about Czech Republic is it shattered my expectations in great ways. The people were always nice, the public transportation was always on time, the food was great, and it was just as pretty as people say. I wholeheartedly recommend visiting Prague. And I also agree with the local sentiment that a week there is about the right amount of time. Closing thought, since I forgot to mention earlier, the mixology bar that we went to was hands down the best bar I’ve ever been to, and had the best cocktails I’ve ever had. I learned a ton just talking with the bar tenders, and they were extremely friendly  - and generous. The presentation was remarkable, the flavors were perfect, and the people were really nice. I really enjoyed talking with the bartenders – their stories of winning Best Cocktail and Best Bartender in worldwide competitions. If anyone ever goes to Prague, to go Le Fleur. Best cocktails you’ll ever have, for about $12USD. I love Prague. It was great. I think that’s all my thoughts.

We’re now on the plane, and Ken is cracking open our Belgium Lonely Planet. Bring on the waffles!

(P.S. Sorry for the low quality photos! I - now posting from Belgium - reduced the resolution a lot so that they'd upload quickly and I could go eat some fries. Thanks for understanding.)