forgive me for my month long lapse. i can explain, i swear…
anyway, prague. oh right.
it was a beautiful city and a great last stop on our european excursion. the city was full of culture, music, historic architecture, fine foods and great weather. yes, to top the last few days in europe, god granted us gorgeous blue skies and moderate temperatures.
we arrived in the city early in the morning by lufthansa airlines (our favorite) and took a bus from the airport to the nearest metro stop. from there we arrived at a stop near our hostel and walked along the quite streets to our destination. the hostel was great: all sorts of amenities, ikea furniture, and relatively cheap prices. we dropped of the luggage and headed back into the city center by metro. its signature medieval square greeted us as we gawked at the spires, stonework, glockenspiel and bells.
like most european cities, it is entirely possible to traverse it by foot. which we did. we walked down the main shopping street and stopped at a chíc café for lunch where we ordered something like a mushroom & cheese crepe. delicious. the only difficult thing about prague and the czech republic was its currency. the crowns were at a conversion rate too tedious to conquer by quick thinking and so we decided it best to spend little and not think about it.
in lieu of the fact that the city is packed full of music venues and classical concerts we attended an opera that evening. i didn’t quite know what to expect. there weren’t too many people in the audience, but the singers and musicians were excellent. with our extensive mastery of the german language we were able to decipher the meaning of the opera by understanding words like “man” and “ham”. very useful.
it was a very colorful city. red and copper rooftops, green gardens and bright flowers, and unique shops and stores. the river splits the city 70/30 with the castle being on the latter side.
we took this trip as our last opportunity to relax in europe. while we did a lot of sight seeing and walking, it was a relatively easy-going trip. sometimes its just beneficial to people watch.
the city was full of glass and jewelry shops. and at night, they were the most well lit establishments, boasting and sparkling their treasures.
at the castle, the royal cathedral was too a sight to see. it reminded me a lot of the cathedral in cologne. basically the same plan and interior/exterior styles.
we walked a little through the palace, but there wasn’t too much to see: a great hall, chapel, and knight chamber.
the last days we spent most of our time at the national museum of art. it was somewhat comparable in size and capacity to the louvre. it contained mostly modern art, though also had exhibits on architecture, design, industrial design, and some ancient folklore artifacts.
one of my favorite installations was this bright red assortment of instruments and tubes, making up two opposing characters, set adjacent to a red background.
finally, we took a few night pictures of the city all lit up.
