| Family Travels Prague |
| Prague is a beautiful city....its decorative buildings will delight you. Most of the sights are central to the Old City Area and are in a reasonable walking distance. You can easily spend a week here...but you can do Prague in three full days of sightseeing. Start with a day in Staromestske Namesti-- Old Town Square with Tyn Church, the Astronomical Clock, the Church of St. James, and its many side streets filled with shops and black light theaters. The second day we focused on the Jewish Quarter which is fascinating for all religious types -- Hitler in his quest to purify Europe planned Prague to be a "museum to the great exterminated race of the Jews....so huge collections of art, culture, religious artifacts including ceremonial rites of birth, marriage and death fill the museum/synagogues of the Jewish Quarter. You can easily fill a third day of sightseeing Hradcanske Castle, St. Vitus Catherdral and the castle square and gardens, spending a late afternoon in Little Quarter exploring this unique neighborhood....with a stroll over Charles Bridge at Dusk. |
| Day One - Markets, Shopping and Old Town Square |
| We arrived at Prague in the late afternoon and enjoyed a nighttime stroll around Old Town Square |
| Date Visited -- 2008 |
| Hilton Old Town Prague V Celnici 7, Prague, Tel: 420-2-2182-2100 With all the comforts of a modern Hilton at home Very central to trams and metro....easy walking distance to Old Town We cashed in our Hilton Honor Points for this stay www.hilton.com |
| Then we shopped the side streets and headed back to Old Town Square to visit it in the daylight. Follow Rick Steves' "Spin Tour" as described in his Prague book. You stand in front of the clock tower and read and identify all the major buildings and sights We watch the antics of the town clock....visit St. Jacob Church and Tyn Church |
| We listen to Dad as he reads from Rick Steves' Prague book and we take the Spin Tour |
| Watch the clock.... and watch for pickpockets |
| We visited Rick Steves' recommended Cream and Dream for ice cream Husova 12 |
| We ate a early dinner at this little beer hall. Above: Pretzels on the stand are NOT free Above Right: Kraut in Czech Republic is made from red cabbage Left: Pork, gravy, bread dumplings and potato dumplings...not low calorie |
| Day Two - Jewish Quarter |
| Day Two we visit the Jewish Quarter Pinkas Synagogue Old Jewish Cemetery Ceremonial Hall Spanish Synagogue Klaus Synagogue Old New Synagogue |
| Pinkas Synagogue Worsphip sight for over 400 years. Now is Nazi/Holocaust Memorial 120,000 Jews lived here in 1939, only 15,000 survived to 1945 Walls covered with 77,297 handwritten names of local Jews sent to Auschwitz Hometowns are listed in gold, family names in red, individual listed in black With birthdates and dates last know to be alive Upstairs.....Artwork from children at the Terezin Concentration camp. |
| Maisel Synagogue Private place of worship for the Maisel family for 400 years |
| Old New Synagogue Established in 1270 |
| The Klausen Synagogue contains exhibits associated with the everyday life of the Jewish family and customs connected with birth, circumcision, bar mitzvah, wedding, divorce and the Jewish household. |
| Spanish Synagogue |
| Ceremonial Hall This 1911 mortuary house exhibits burial ceremony rites and artifacts |
| Somewhat unique to Prague cultural arts are the Black Light Theater performances Actors/Dancers in brightly colored and strange costumes give a quirky, bizzare interpretive dance and show. A Must See. |
| Any time we got tired and cranky...we would stop for beer and pretzels. --Mom |
| Day Two - Castle Quarter & Little Quarter, Charles Bridge |
| Day Three we spent at Prague Castle. The Castle is said to be the largest in Europe....with huge squares and ceremonial halls. At the center is St. Vitus Church (warning, long lines...go early) Views of the city are incredible |
| St. Vitus Cathedral |
| Castle Square Hradcanske Namesti |
| The Golden Lane is filled with tourist shops |
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| One of our favorite memories will always be... meeting a young lady--a Roma gypsy-- selling her jewelry on the bridge. WE LOVE HER AND HER JEWELRY. We ended up buying several pieces |
| Charles Bridge Connecting Little Quarter with Old Town is a fabulous old bridge from 1357 offering lots of statutes, wonderful views, fun vendor shopping and the best people watching easy stroll in Prague.. |
| We start Day One with taking the metro to Mustek at Wencelas Square and walking the Melantrichova St Then we stop at Havelska Market -- a skinny tourist clogged street with an open air market with farmers and crafts |
| Little Quarter -- Mala Strana As you walk down from the castle (or we took the tram down a few stops) is the cute neighborhood of Little Quarter Visit St. Nicholas Church and climb the tower for some great views. We found a Spice Shop and had a great time buying spices and talking with the owner. |
| U Provaznice Provanznicka 3, Praha1 Tel: 224 232 528 www.uprovaznice.cz We ordered Smazene Veporve Rizk Zebirka k Obirani Brambory Restovane Koleno Pecene and more We got Pig Knuckle served in a Pan Chicken Skewere Turkey Skewers Ribs |
| KOLKOVNA Celnici 4, Near Namesti Republiky The hotel recommended this little pub a block from the hotel. We ate here twice. This brewing pub offers it all great traditional Czech food and awesome beer selection Svickkova na smetane s knedlikem – beef in cream with dumplings Mad arksy gulas s knedlikem (CZ version of goulash) & a sausage plate (Wurst of the Smokehouse) |
| Prague is beautiful Every building will delight you. |
| Don't forget the beer! |