Our hotel in Prague, Hotel Leonardo, was located in the old city about a block away from the Vitava River, the river that runs through Prague.
The "old city" is full of narrow, cobblestone streets - yet there is a modern tram service that operates and drops off at various points outside the old city.
Everywhere you see evidence of outside cafes bustling with people enjoying beer (Pivo), wine, coffee, and sweet treats.
There are multiple bridges over the river, but the most famous is the St. Charles Bridge. King Charles IV started the construction of the bridge in 1357 - the bridge was finished in the beginning of the 15th century. Prague, unlike so many other European cities, was spared the bombing during World War II - for that reason, the city truly has an "old world feel."
The St. Charles Bridge is filled with musicians and artists.
A photo with the St. Charles Bridge in the background.
Truly a highlight of our first day was a 4-hour walking tour with Pavel Kuca, our 36 year old local tour guide. Most of us agree, he was truly the best guide any of us have ever had! He was trained as a teacher and has his Masters in history; however, now he was a full time tour guide.
He made Prague's complex history come alive for us! This trip has been a wonderful chance to compare and contrast three different cities' experience during World War I, World War II, and the time since the Berlin Wall (and Soviet block) fell. Like Hungary, the current Czech Republic has been often a pawn in the hands of more powerful empires such as the Habsburg empire, Hitler's empire, and the Soviet empire. After a while, it gets very confusing about what really constitutes "a people" as there have been so many border changes over the years. For example, when I was in school, we learned about Czechoslovakia- in 1993 Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia (not to be confused with Slovenia:-)
Pavel took us on a tour of the old city where we got to see many highlights like the Prague Astronomical clock which was first installed in 1410.
We then walked up to the Prague Castle which is located high up on a hill overlooking the river. Prague Castle is dominated by St. Vitus Catheral but also includes a group of other buildings that were used by the royal families over the years.
After our tour of Prague Castle, we walked down the hill through a vineyard while enjoying the beautiful views of the "old city" across the river.
Enjoying some hot mulled wine on our way down.
For dinner, we went to a traditional beer hall where we had another great meal complete with beer and some special Czech shots of liquor.
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We even had musicians to entertain us!
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