Prague

We arrived in Prague on Friday afternoon. As we drove in, we were blown away by how big and beautiful it was. It was culturally rich and we immediately fell in love with it. We met up with our friends, the Hinckleys, and Ted took us for a walk.

Here are a few things we saw along the way.

Perspective. The beggars in Prague beg on their knees like this

The buildings that line Wencesles Square

Kelsey and Tally in the Old Town square

The Prague Orloj or astronomical clock tower and The Church of Our Lady. I find it interesting that they built shops around the front of the church in later years. As for the clock, we stayed until the hour and watched the 12 apostles circle through the windows. The clock also features figures outside representing some of the seven deadly sins.

The view from our hotel window at sunset

Wenceslas Square and the National Museum

Our hotel was on the left of side of this street (further down, not pictured)

The next morning, we headed out to see more sites.

The underground subway in Prague

Palace gardens, art & architecture

Changing of the Guards

Where's Kelsey? I got separated from the group while taking pictures so just like the tour guides do, Tally held up something in the air for me to see. Can you find them?

Price family near the gate of the Prague castle/palace

Kelsey and the view of Prague

Kelsey instigates a fan club wherever she goes. She likes the attention but not when they get inbetween her and mommy
Funny story here. We walked out after seeing the changing of the guards and turned to say hi to the guy on post here. He looked really pale and suddenly, he fell backwards in his booth! He passed out I guess from locking his knees. His buddy couldn't leave his post to help him either! The guy got up and said something to the other guy and LEFT HIS POST! So, Tally and Kelsey took care of business protecting the Royal Family of Prague.

We walked from the castle/palace across Charles Bridge and down to the next bridge. There were a ton of stairs, I should have counted, but wow, what a view.

I loved the ivy on this building - the leaves are changing!

Charles Bridge

I could not believe how crowded it was on this bridge. It was hard to get any goods shots. I would have loved to have seen it deserted and taken some pictures then. I saw it on a postcard with a bit of snowfall and it looked unbelievable.

Family picture on the Charles Bridge (Kels was snoozin)

The Vlatava River from Charles Bridge

The enormous crowd combined with construction

Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, and the Vlatava River behind us

One way to bring customers in...or keep them out

A well-dressed sidewalk with cafes and quaint shops

Saturday night, we were walking around looking for a place to eat. This guy brought us down a back alley to the restaurant that used to be a brothel. He's not military - it's just to reel in the tourists. And we bit! We had goulash that was pretty good. When I was ordering, I asked for mashed potatoes and I mentioned they were for the baby. The waiter said they would not be good for the baby so I asked for bread - also not good for the baby. Okay...so I ordered them both anyway and she ate them just fine. At least he wasn't trying to oversell me, right? Until the end when they "accidentally" doubled our bill. Since everything was in Koruna (which was 18.65 to the dollar), some things were hard to tell but this was outrageous. We straightened them out though.

There was a noose as you walked in - just in case you try to dine and ditch. I guess Tal didn't leave a good enough tip after the whole accidental charge (haha).

The next morning was regional conference in Prague which meant church would be held at a rented facility. In the states and other places in the world, this might mean a boring old carpet and white walls meeting hall. In Prague, it means a grandiose old building with chandeliers dotting the halls and hand-carved molding. Of course, every building is like this in Prague, right? Centuries old?

After church, we got a ride from a new member who was very sweet but didn't speak a lick of English. He was from Ukraine, that much we learned. The hotel brought us our car that had been valeted and stored in an off-site garage. Of course, Tally immediately noticed it's new paint job, or lack thereof. We questioned the hotel clerk and even drove to the off-site garage. The guy at the garage had a huge poster of porn above his work station and didn't even want to look at the scratch saying it must have already been there because it couldn't happen in their garage. SO, it's no surprise we still haven't heard back on the subject. It's a good thing the car already had a few dings and scratches otherwise it would have been a bigger issue.

We saw this modern piece as we came into the city so we had to take a picture on our way out.

Built during 1992-96 by Frank Gehry and Vladimir Mulunic, the Dancing Building is a piece of controversial Prague architecture that the locals still aren't sure about. However, the delightful design of the building, nicknamed "Fred and Ginger" for the way the building mimics the forms of a dancing couple, houses one of Prague's most expensive restaurants, "La Perle de Prague."

Off to Karlovy Vary!