Prague, Czech Republic

One of the places I have always wanted to visit, even back when we lived in England years ago, is Prague.  A few weekends ago, the boys had a Friday off of school, so we took advantage of the long weekend and headed east. Prague did not disappoint! It is beautiful! Even with cold and rainy weather, it's still beautiful! There were times when we were walking around that I felt like I was looking at something from a stage production. Cole and I both agreed that we have never been to a city like Prague!

We arrived in Prague on Thursday evening, so we settled into our apartment, grabbed a quick dinner, and headed to bed.

We decided to take a walking tour on Friday morning to get an overview of the city, so after eating breakfast, we walked towards Old Town to meet up with the group. We walked past the entrance to Petrin Hill, through Lesser Town, across Charles Bridge, and through Old Town before meeting up with the tour guide.

Memorial to the victims of communism at the base of Petrin Hill

Lesser Town is called Lesser Town because historically, it was the smaller and typically less busy half of Prague. One thing we noticed walking around is that the buildings are so colorful and beautiful. 

St. Nicholas Church in Lesser Town

St. Nicholas Church

Entrance to Charles Bridge from Lesser Town

This was Harrison's favorite statue - he still talks about it

He thought the jail was interesting

Looking down toward Kampa Island or, "The Venice of Prague"

View from the bridge of Lesser Town towards the Castle

St John of Nepomuk

The place where St. John of Nepomuk was thrown into the water. Legend says that, if you touch the brassy cross, you will get whatever you wish.

Looking toward Old Town

Love these boys

The other side of Charles Bridge looking back toward Lesser Town

After we crossed Charles Bridge, we stopped for a traditional Slovak cake called Trdelník. It was both delicious and very messy! 

Waiting for Trdelník 

Success

After our snack, we headed to Old Town. From the 9th century on, merchants from around the world would meet here, the crossroads of major trade routes. 

Old Town Square

Not so sure about the hat

St. Nicholas Church in Old Town

St. Nicholas Church

Old Town Square with a view of the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

Old Town Hall with the astronomical clock

We walked through some other streets in Old Town (we missed some of the details and pictures because of the kiddos) before coming to the Old Jewish Quarter. The Jewish people in the city were forced to live in this one area known as the "Jewish Ghetto" during WWII. Despite occupation by the Nazi's during WWII, the synagogues, buildings, and sites survived the war because Hitler decided to preserve the Jewish Quarter as a "Museum of an Extinct Race." Many Jewish artifacts from other occupied countries were transported to Prague by the Nazis to become part of the "Museum." I really wish we would have had more time to explore this area, but alas, we were only able to walk through briefly.

Statue of Franz Kafka

Spanish Synagogue

Old-New Synagogue - The oldest Synagogue in Europe

Old Jewish Cemetery in the background

We took a lunch break after the Jewish Quarter and then headed back over Charles Bridge to Kampa Island.

Checking out the map

Kampa Island

Lennon Wall - Symbol of freedom and rebellion against the communist regime

We skipped out of the tour a bit early to rest back at the hotel and then headed to a fun train-themed restaurant, Vytopna, for dinner. They had tracks all over the restaurant as well as draw bridges and tunnels. They even had tracks that delivered drinks right to the table. The boys were in train heaven! Thankfully, there were so many shrieking kids in the restaurant that ours just blended right in. 

Waiting for the metro train to go to dinner

Eating in a train car

The next morning, we decided to tackle Petrin Hill so we could see Prague from the top of the city. We had planned to take a funicular to the top as it is 327 meters (1073 ft) high and pretty steep, but it was closed for repairs, so we ended up walking to the top. It was a beautiful walk through the trees, but also pretty tiring for everyone except Cameron, who pretty much ran the whole way. Even though it was tiring, it was worth every step for the magnificent view from the top. 

About halfway up

Checking out the funicular repairs

At the top of the hill is a lookout tower which resembles the Eiffel Tower, although it's not nearly as big. Cameron and I climbed the 299 steps to the top while Cole, Harrison, and Zoe took the elevator. The view from the top of the lookout tower was also worth every stair climbed! 

The red roofs of Prague

After the observation tower, we took a fun break and went to the Hall of Mirrors, also located at the top of the hill. They boys thought it was so funny!

We then decided to take the scenic walk from Petrin Hill toward Strahov Monastery. We were unaware of the fact that a good portion of the walk included stairs, so we ended up carrying the stroller up and down a ton of stairs. But once again, it was worth all the work for the views!

We had just carried the stroller (with Zoe in it) down these stairs

More stairs!

Stahov Monastary

We didn't visit the Monastery, so once we took in the sights, we continued on to the Castle. The walk the Castle was also very interesting and beautiful. 

We were just over there!

Beautiful colors!

The Prague Castle is basically a village in itself with churches, museums, gardens, and lots of other buildings within the complex. It is actually the largest castle complex in the world covering 18 acres. It doesn't look at all like a castle like I imagine, but it was still beautiful. We didn't take time to walk through all the buildings, but we did walk through the complex and watch the changing of the guard. 

Entrance to the castle

Saint Vitus Cathedral - The largest and most important church in the country

Changing of the guard

Zoe took a tumble in the castle (can you see the big red spot on her head?!), but was still all smiles!

We also explored the streets around the castle before moving on to our next activity.

Schwarzenberg Palace

After visiting the castle complex, we decided to let the boys have some fun at the Prague Zoo. The zoo has been ranked the fourth best zoo in the world, so we thought it would  be a good places to visit. The zoo is built on a hill, so there was, once again, a ton of walking and climbing, but once again, every step was worth it for the view from the top. Unfortunately, due to the cooler weather, there were many animals inside, but we still had fun! There were also playgrounds and fun stops to help with all the walking.

Waiting for a tram to the zoo

Now waiting for the bus - Thank goodness for Cole's navigation skills! 

Beautiful location for the elephants (they were inside)

Making wishes

Speckily buns as the boys like to say

View from the top of the hill - the city is in the distance

Chair lift ride

Playground at the zoo

We decided to take a tram back to Old Town and walk back over Charles Bridge to get a view of the city at night. It was beautiful!

Model??

On Sunday, we walked back to Old Town for a bit, then to New Town before having to leave for the airport.

Charles Bridge

Jan Hus Monument

Dancing

New Town is now the commercial and administrative area of the city. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and more modern architecture. We didn't spend much time here, but we made sure to stop for the bubbles in Wenceslas Square!

National Museum on the Northern end of the square

Last tram ride of the trip

We took a different route back to Lesser Town so we could see some other parts of the city before we had to leave.

The Dancing House - Office building

Vltava River

It was hard to leave Prague because it felt like there was so much more to see, but after a quick lunch, we headed to the airport. Side note, the Prague airport is really nice for kids. There was a giant chess board and airplane game as well as a huge LEGO airport for the kids to play with. We spent quite a while playing before going through security.

Sweet snuggles on the plane ride home

This was probably one of the more difficult trips we have taken as a family of five. First of all, there are supposedly seven big hills in Prague and lots to see, so there was a lot of walking...up hill. Second, Zoe is at an age where she is mobile enough to want to be on the move, but not mobile enough to really be out of the stroller for too long. She's also not ready to just eat at restaurants or what we're eating, so there was a lot more to lug around with us than other trips we've taken. Traveling with kids means that you probably won't get to see everything you want to see or do everything you want to do, but how can we complain?! It was an awesome trip.

We were all exhausted and sore when we got home (Zoe slept until noon the next day), but as I look back at these pictures, I am so thankful! I am thankful for a family that's open to adventure and new things. I'm thankful for a husband that helps me see the possibilities when the things I have planned don't happen exactly how I've planned them. I'm thankful for the opportunity to see new places and new things with the people I love. And I'm thankful for the memories made in each of these places.