Prague

For Sam's fall break we headed to Prague for a long weekend.  Prague has been high on our list because everyone raves about it.  It seems like the world has caught on to this so it was somewhat crowded with the tourists leaning toward more annoying than not (see below for an example).  But still a great city!

More Prague photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6pmcjC4Q3KYr65WH7

October 26: We got in late last night.  Ryan was working today so Sam and I made plans to go to the Lego Museum and a Cat Cafe. The Great European Car Tour of 2023 continues!

The Lego Museum exceeded my expectations. We had just been to Lego World in Utrecht earlier in the week so I thought maybe this would be disappointing compared to that.  It was definitely less elaborate but still interesting to see Lego history and there were big piles of Legos for Sam to play with and that's a win.

The Kavárna Kočičí Praha cat cafe was awesome as expected. Lots of very friendly cats roaming around while we were eating.

For the evening we did a dinner cruise on the Vltava River.  They handed us a glass of champagne as we got on the boat.  I think that if I am handed a glass of champagne as I enter somewhere I am automatically happy with the experience.  Note:  Sam had apple juice in his glass. 

October 27:   Rainy morning so we adjusted the plans. We had intended to go to the other side of the river to explore the Prague Castle area and Petrin Tower.  Instead Ryan and Sam hit the pool in the hotel, I hit the gym and then we headed out for lunch and a World War 2 walking tour we had scheduled for the afternoon.

The WW2 tour was interesting and explained Operation Anthropoid and the Czechoslovak resistance to the Nazi Germany occupation at the time.  It was a good tour to satisfy Ryan's need for history.  Sam was completely uninterested and learned nothing but somehow kept the complaining to a minimum.  I would have preferred maybe a 2 hour tour rather than 3 hours. 😪 

This is a church that had a key incident during the war period - the basement is turned into a museum.  

On the tour there were artifacts from this period in history including a gun.  I told Sam this will be the only time he will ever hold a gun!

We went to Champagneria after the tour and before dinner because I saw it on the map and it felt like a perfectly-named place.  It did not disappoint!

Dinner was at Vytopna Railway Restaurant which is a restaurant that serves food by train.  I picked this restaurant to entertain Sam which was accomplished.  It was generally a cool experience but not something I would have done if not for Sam.  The food was good but there were hairs in my food.  Yep, that's right hairs (multiple).  I will be honest that upon encountering the first hair I assumed it was my own because my hair often ends up in random places (Ryan will aggressively confirm this).  So I removed it and kept eating.  But then when the others appeared I had to acknowledge it was not my hair and stop eating.  Ryan confessed that on the dinner river cruise buffet last night he also encountered a hair in his cheesecake, removed it and kept eating.  Sam routinely eats food off the floor regardless of the length of time it has been there. In summary, as a family we have a disgustingly high tolerance to compromised food.  Fun fact!

October 28:  We were supposed to do a self-guided hike just outside of Prague at Divoka Sarka but due to the shift in plans because of the rain the hike was cancelled. I am sure Ryan and Sam were disappointed (said sarcastically - they do not like hiking).

We went to the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Lennon Wall and Petrin Tower. This gave us opportunities to get the views of Prague and the Charles Bridge that you see in pictures. 

We took a funicular up to the Petrin Tower. This is where the annoying crowd part came in. There was a line to get on the funicular which was long but not terrible. There was a family that blatantly cut right to the front of the line to get on. Then, when we got to the top there was a similar line to get in the Petrin Tower and they did the same exact thing! I saw it happening so I left Sam and Ryan in line and went up to yell at them. I am not sure if that did anything (language barrier) but 2 of the family members got in and the rest stayed behind. Line skipping is common in Europe and I will never get used to that. This is a major pet peeve for me but apparently not for others because no one else seemed to care and almost certainly thought I was a crazy lady yelling at random people!

The Lennon Wall is part memorial to John Lennon and part symbol of freedom for Prague. It does not look like it originally did since people have added to the wall, including random stickers.

When we went back across the river to the Old Town Square we managed to see the Astronomical Clock at the hour which there is a "parade of the Apostles".  I had read it is not that exciting and I would agree.  Quotes from us when it was over - "that was it?" - Sam, "lame" - me. 

Dinner was at Vinohradsky Parlament which had a kid's play area and that in of itself was worth it.  And our first dinner with no hair in our food! 😆

Heading back to Amsterdam tomorrow.