Campo Family Travels: { Prague }

{ Prague }

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Aug 10-12, 2013 -- We arrived in Prague with a ton of anticipation. Unlike Vienna, everyone listed Prague among their favorite destinations in Europe. Even professional travelers like Rick Steves seemed to devote a few extra sentences in their travel books to describe the city's romantic streets and ancient beauty. With this being the final stop on our trip we decided to enjoy the beauty and take a more laid-back approach to our site seeing (most people that know me are probably laughing when they read this because I don't do anything "laid-back").

With a great hotel just south of the city center's commotion, we ventured into the city on-foot , and it seemed like a pretty easy city to explore on foot (most landmarks are outside, free of charge, and very accessible by public transportation).

A view of the Legii Bridge and St Vitus Cathedral in the distance
as we walked down Prague's waterfront toward the city center.

In the spirit of taking a "laid-back" approach, we wandered into the city without an agenda. Crowds seemed to build as we approached Wenceslas Square so we followed the crowds in search of Romantic Prague. The square was adorned with colorful flowerbeds and shiny storefronts, and all of this was backgropped by the powerful National Museum in the far end of the square. Perhaps we were starting to see the city's beauty?

Moments later Sarah's father commented on all the police sirens and belligerent men. At least four or five police cars had passed us with sirens blaring, all responding to what seemed like separate incidents. As we continued toward the Museum, we walked past a man with a bloodied face (clearly the losing end of a street fight) sitting handcuffed in the back of a police car... accompanied by his 4 year old son, no less. To top it off, the large crowds were predominantly well-hydrated bachelor parties making their rounds through the nearby strip clubs.

We eventually made it through the square and a nearby park seemed like a nice reprieve. Perhaps we've been living in Portland's Pearl District for too long, but the park was horrible! The pavement was full of pot-holes, the facilities were vandalized, and transients were sleeping on all the benches. Even grass didn't want to grow in this park. I decided to call an audible and use my iPhone to navigate us [past a girl shooting heroin in a telephone booth] toward some real tourist spots... fast! Rick Steves surely must have missed this part of town when he visited.

Fortunately this turned out to be the low-point of our visit and we quickly found the "romantic" side of the city everyone had promised. I think the best part of this entire experience was realizing later that night that I forgot to replace the memory card in my camera. Even the higher powers wanted us to forget this experience!

Ultimately we had a great time in Prague and the city lived up to its reputation. Sarah and I are looking forward to returning soon - perhaps skipping Wenceslas Square. We have so many memories over the past few weeks that seem to blur together when we look back at the trip. When we returned to Amsterdam I tried ranking the cities we visited but all of the cities seemed deserving of the top mark. Each city offered a unique experience and we can see ourselves returning to all of them. If this trip is a prelude to the travel opportunities we're going to have over the next two years, I'm certainly excited for the months ahead!

After replacing my memory card, we walked through Stare Mesto (Old Town) in search of dinner. So many tourists!

We found a great little restaurant in Old Town Square. My first mission: Czech Beer!

Old Town Square

St. Nicholas Church as seen from Old Town Square. The church was built in the 18th century and is a great example of Baroque architecture (so I've been told).

Sarah and I parted ways with her parents after dinner. With only one map between the four of us, we had to get resourceful in case they got lost. Who needs a smartphone when you can take a 12 megapixel photo of a smartphone?

All the Prague guidebooks listed this Astronomical Clock as a must-see attraction. I'll admit I was impressed that the clock is more than 600 years old and the world's oldest still in operation. We stayed to watch the "Walk of the Apostles," the clock's hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures. What a disappointment!! Sarah's comment summarized it perfectly: "McKayla is not impressed" (click here or here for pop culture reference).

A close-up view of the Astronomical Clock. The door on the left is one
of several that open to show the animated Apostles every hour.

One of my favorite pictures capturing the great sunset

I went on a run later that evening to burn off some energy.
These stairs looked enticing, and turned out to
have a great view of the city from the top.

I dragged Sarah up the stairs the next morning to share the view.

St Peter & Paul Cathedral

The entrance to the Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Starbucks did a great job in every city blending their coffee shops into the existing architecture. This was a good example of a store built into an old building in the castle / palace district.