Prague, Czech Republic

I am so so so behind with my blogging.  This summer has completely flown by!  We have loved every minute.  We have seen friends and family and traveled to some awesome places.  One of which was Prague.  As a side note, going to Prague, CZ was actually the last place that we needed to go to have gone to all the places recommended in our Rick Steves' Eastern Europe book!  I am so proud of us! 

We went to Prague over a three day weekend that we had in mid-June.  We took a train from Budapest that left about 5:20am and took about 7 hours to get to Prague.  We arrived right about lunch time and immediately after we checked-in to our hotel we were off to find lunch.  We were on a mission to find a stand selling Czech sausage.  So so so good!!

And while we are on the topic of food, we had this amazing ham the next day for lunch.  We walked by this pit and after smelling the ham cooking, we had to stop.

Overall, we thought that there were so many similarities between Budapest and Prague.  Of course the two countries have had similar experiences, with both countries being under communism until 1989, but also the landscape of the cities were similar.  We loved comparing and contrasting the two cities as we walked around exploring Prague.  One difference is that Prague has a main town square area known as the Old Town Square, which isn't really the set-up of Budapest.  The square was beautiful and even more so at dusk and early evening.  The large amazing church on the right side is the Tyn Church. 

Another focal point of the Old Town Square is the Old Clock Tower and the Astronomical Clock.  The tower is 250 feet tall and marks the location of the 14th century town hall building.

Here is the Astronomical Clock up close.  This clocks keeps several versions of time. 

This tower has an elevator to the top, and it provides one of the best views of city.  We took the elevator up one evening, and we realized immediately why the city is nicknamed the "City of a thousand spires".  The views from the top were awesome.

Enjoying my views from the top!

Like Budapest, Prague sits on a river that runs right through the city.  In these pics you can see the Vltava River.

We also loved walking across the Charles Bridge from the Old Town over to the Castle District.  The Charles Bridge ( a pedestrian only bridge) is one of the most famous landmarks in Prague, and it was constructed in 1357.  Amazing!

Once we were on the other side of the river, we got to see the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral (started in 1344).

And, a couple more pics of  the city.

Of course, any trip to Prague would be incomplete without sampling the world famous Czech beer (or pivo in the local language).  I think Phillip liked it :)  Our guide book said that the average Czech adult drinks 80 gallons of beer a year.  Whoa!