Winter Trip to Prague

January 21, 2018

Winter Trip to Prague

In the time between Christmas and lectures ending, I took a small solo trip to Prague and Bratislava. Both are beautiful cities and absolutely places that I would recommend visiting.
Today, we will be diving into the few days I spent Prague.

I flew pretty early from Copenhagen arriving around noon in Prague. I tried to leave my luggage at my hostel because I could not check in until 2 pm. However, when I tried to ring the reception, no one answered. I even tried to call the reception, and no one answered. Luckily for me, there was a hotel across the street. The reception at the hotel also attempted to reach the hostel, but no one answered. The bellhop was kind enough to let me leave my luggage behind the counter for two hours. (Note: the hostel's name was The Republic Garden. Other than that one incident nothing else drastic happened but I wouldn't go so far as to recommend it) I took a long lunch and coffee break before checking in.

After checking in, I decided to go back out and try to get tickets to the opera that night. I had heard that you could get very cheap tickets if you go to the ticket office the day of the event, but since it was almost Christmas and a Sunday all shows were sold out. The first day, it snowed fairly heavily, so as I walked down towards Charles Bridge it seemed as if Prague was transformed immediately into a winter wonderland. During my evening snow walk, I came across the cutest store that was jammed packed with hundreds of nesting dolls. Nesting dolls of all sorts! Sports teams, movie characters, politicians. You name it; they probably have it! I broke down and had to buy the Mississippi State set of nesting dolls when I saw them. They only cost about $25, so I thought they were a perfect souvenir for myself.

Hail state!

Unfortunately, I could not find the website or address for the store, but I did find a fun article that was written about the nesting dolls by Dallas, TX newspaper: Czech Republic shop sells Dallas Cowboys nesting dolls. The evening ended by wandering around the Christmas Market near St. Nicholas' Church.

My second day in Prague started early. I wanted to get to Prague Castle right when it opened and before the droves of annoying tourists arrived. I greatly enjoyed walking around the castle grounds. It was much larger than I expected. I spent about 2 hours there. Some of the best views of the city can be seen as you walk up to the castle, so if you are physically able and have the time I recommend the hike up! It's worth it! The castle offers multiple different ticket options, so depending on how much you want to see or spend you can decide which ticket works best for you. I chose the "Circuit B" which includes St. Vitus Cathedral, Golden Lane, Old Royal Palace, and St. George's Basilica which will set you back 125 CZK with student discount (about $5.95).

Golden Lane.

Gorgeous early morning view of Prague

After exploring the castle grounds, I found the cutest little place to get lunch called the Green Stove Cafe. There I rested and enjoyed the lunch menu which included a sandwich and soda for 115CZK. For being so close the castle, the prices were great. You just can't beat that! The remainder of day two was spent just walking around and getting hopelessly lost.

I decided to sleep in a little before beginning my third and final full day in Prague. After a late breakfast (at Starbucks), I walked over to the John Lennon Wall. I am glad that I made time in my trip to visit the wall. It was interesting to see all the different types of people that came to enjoy the art at the wall and around it. Since it is free to take artsy, hipster pictures at the wall, it seems like a no-brainer to stop by while in Prague.

John Lennon Wall

After paying tribute to John Lennon, I walked over to the Jewish Quarter (Josefov) to visit all of the synagogues which Hilter was planning to make into the "Museum of an Extinct Race." All of the synagogues are well kept up and different in their architecture. Going inside the synagogues was fascinating. I feel like I am always visiting famous old churches while traveling, so it was welcome change of traveling pace. I bought a ticket to explore all of the Jewish sites in Josefov on a self-guided tour for 340 CZK (about $16 - student price). The ticket included Maisel Synagogue, Pinkas Synagogue, Old Jewish Cemetery, Klausen Synagogue, Ceremonial Hall, Spanish Synagogue and the Old-New Synagogue. I would recommend allotting the most time for the Old Jewish Cemetery, Spanish Synagogue, and the Old-New Synagogue. I visited all of the open buildings (because I am a cheap traveler- I mean I paid for it why not go?) It took me about three hours to walk through all of the buildings. I ended the evening with cake, coffee and a well-deserved stroll through the Christmas Market.