29 October 2009

Stověžatá Praha - Prague City of 100 Spires

These posts about Mom's trip will be a little out of order...well, a lot out of order as I am starting with the end of the trip.

Mom was flying out of Prague on Monday, so on Sunday morning Kelly, Mom and I took the train to Prague. Its a 4 hour train ride through some lovely countryside. We had breakfast in the dining car....coffee and what not. If you look closely at this picture you'll see a deer out in the field. A nice train trip indeed.

We got in at lunch time so had the whole day to explore. We checked into our hotel and headed straight to the Old Town Square. It was mobbed, but we got a good spot to watch the Astronomical Clock do its business at Noon.


We then sat in a cafe' on the sqaure and had some good stick-to-your-ribs food. Mom had some Chicken Schnitzel and I had the Czech variation of Goulash & bread Knodel...with a Dark Budwar beer...mmmmmm. I don't remember what Kelly had but it was awfully nice of her to lift the napkin so we could see the bread in this picture. She's very thoughtful.

We sat and enjoyed the afternoon...but we still had a lot to see !


Ahhh Prague. What a rich history. Once the capitol of the Holy Roman Empire and the political, economic and cultural center of Bohemia for over 1100 years. It is impressive.


Its one of those cities that just walking around can keep you entertained for hours on end. Just look at the tops of the buildings !



Around every corner is another "oooohhhh wowwwwww look at that" moment.

I have seen a lot of churches , but I think the towers of the Gothic style Tyn Church are some of the most impressive in all of Europe.


Like every other tourist to Prague, we walked across the Charles bridge, which has been under construction since my first trip to Prague 2 years ago. It doesnt "ruin" the experience, but it stinks having half the bridge covered in scaffolding and guys going at it with jackhammers.

We also explored the grounds of Wallenstein palace, home of the Czech Senate. The gardens are beautiful and there are all kinds of birds about including ducks and peacocks. There is also an owl house with a bunch of giant scary owls in it.


There is also a huge articifical drip stone stalactite formation....pretty cool!



We had a lot of fun just walking around....see, look how much fun Kelly is having.


After some late afternoon downtime in the room, we went to the Seven Angels restaurant for our dinner reservation. The reason Kelly chose this place ? Gypsy Music !


It was a nice dinner, but they sat us right next to the band....normally this would be ok but one of the guys was playing a giant hammer dulcimer ! It was a little loud at times, but it was fun. I couldve gone for a little more Gypsy Folk music rather than a lot of classical favorites played Gypsy style, but they were very good.

I had a Deer Sirloin Steak, Kelly had some undercooked Pork Medallions in a mushroom sauce and Mom, big surpise here, had the Schnitzel...again ! This time it was Veal at least. She apparently loves schnitzel ! It was a fun night.

The next morning we got up super early to take Mom to the airport. Daylight savings time apparently confused the crap out of the girl at the hotel desk because she woke us up at 4:15am instead of 5:15am, but it all worked out in the end. We got Mom to the airport with plenty of time to spare, got her all checked in and through security, then Kelly and I made our way back to Vienna by train.

Prague was a great way to end a spectacular trip. Kelly & I enjoyed having Mom visit and were sad to see her go....I have a hunch that she'll be back though !

Thanks Mom !

Press play on the video below to hear crazy gypsy music.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you been to Zlatá ulička
(golden street)where in middle ages alchemics lived?

Cathi Davis said...

Alli is seriously jealous of the eating on the train thing. Jack says hi, to Aunt Kelly, Grandma, and Uncle Chris (in that order lol), Jimmy says Ola, and Katie says Hiyo :) Fantastic Pics!

Chris said...

Eating on the train is great as it helps pass the time !

No visit to the Golden lane this time around, we'll be sure to hit it next time !

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me with that music. I felt like ripping my hair out of my head just listening to those few seconds! eileen

Chris said...

Yeah it was a bit crazy at times. I wouldve been fine with just the violin dude...the dulcimer guy thought he was backing up Metallica.