Prague, take two

So it's back to Prague we go! After our parents' night out on Friday night, we hit the ground running on Saturday. BK was a little weary about the trip, with lots of questions about exactly what we were going to be doing because I didn't do the serious planning that I normally do. I looked at some stuff, knew the landmarks and areas we should see, but didn't have a ton of stuff booked and scheduled, like I normally do. Not sure why; but don't worry, things turned out just fine.

We started Saturday with a walking tour. For some reason we also started like amateur parents as well, forgetting Baby K's coat, mittens and hat. I'm not sure if we thought it was warmer than it was or what, but we seriously failed on that one, and then we didn't have time to go back and get them. At least there was a blanket in the bottom of the stroller and we had the winter lining on it. We stopped and bought the hat, mittens and a scarf.

Make-shift bundling

We went on the Royal Free Walking Tour. The guides work off of tips, but it's essentially free so they get you into their other tours available (which we did as well). We took this tour because it was ranked the best on Trip Advisor, and it was a really good experience.

Outside of the fact that there are a lot of people on the tour with you, our tour guide gave lots of great info, turning everything into an informative story that kept our attention. BK and I were both interested in hearing some of Prague's history since we had no clue about it prior to arriving, and the guide did a good job at incorporating that in as well, but not bogging you down too much.

In a nutshell, here's what we did in 2.5 hours (as to not make you take 2.5 hours to read this post)...

Astronomical clock

Old Town square

Rudolfinum

Old New Synagogue in Jewish Quarter

Franz Kafka statue

Spanish Synagogue

After we walked for the first tour we had a little less than an hour before the Castle district tour started. We figured we would probably just be wandering around otherwise, so we figured we might as well go on this one too. The Castle district is across the river from Old Town. We worked our way from the Astronomical Clock again, took the tram up and walked around the district. All of Prague is really old and charming, and this area does not disappoint either.

Starting our second tour

Monastery at the castle

St. Vitas Cathedral

Flying buttresses, back of cathedral

View of Old Town from Castle

Saturday night BK and I enjoyed another dinner out in Prague while Baby K slept soundly at the hotel. Sunday we took it a little bit easier and wandered around leisurely. We had brunch at Cafe Savoy, which feels much like a cozy Parisian cafe, then walked up Petrin Hill.

Cafe Savoy

Petrin Hill has a tower you can climb to the top of that was done by the same person as the Eiffel Tower and typically provides a great view of the city.  It was foggy the day we climbed to the top of the tower, but it was still a nice walk and climb to the top. We also stopped at a playground "for" Baby K, and got some good giggles from the merry-go-round and teeter totter.

Fun on the playground

Observation Tower

Cloudy Prague

Monday was our last bit of time in Prague and when the stomach bug came and got me. We were up and out relatively early and spent the morning exploring the Jewish Quarter. It was once the Jewish Ghetto, where no one wanted to go and where Jewish people were sequestered in a tiny little area of the city. It often flooded and was a nasty place to live. Now, it is one of the nicest places in Prague and a highly desired area to live.

Jewish Quarter

We did the walking audio tour of the Jewish Quarter, which consists of the museum, synagogues and cemeteries. The whole thing is extremely impactful, as there is such sorrow, discrimination and pain in all of these monuments. The Jewish Museum is a former synagogue which now has over 77,000 names of the Czech Jews who were killed during WWII, along with their date of birth and last known date of life- typically the day they were shipped to a concentration camp.

In the museum we also saw the Jewish cemetery. The Jewish population was only given a small plot of land for the cemetery, but it seems like it goes on and on. Because the city would never give more land for burying Jewish people, there are generations and generations piled on top of one another, dating back from the 1400s.

Jewish cemetery

BK and I decided that Prague is definitely somewhere we would visit again. We missed a few things we wanted to see and thought we would also like to a day trip outside of Prague. Of course, Baby K was a great traveler as usual, so I'm sure she'd be up for it as well.

Like many other places we've visited in Europe, go if you get the chance!