Today we woke early and our first glimpse outside revealed a light snow shower. Amy was very excited as she has never seen snow falling from the sky before. She also made friends with the large ducks, or they’re probably geese, no Amy has just informed me they are swans, who greeted us at our window.

Our breakfast was served on the restaurant boat beside us and it was sensational, one of the best we’ve had on our trip and they made a real coffee which Amy was happy to enjoy and I had an omelette that was the best I’ve had in ages, might have to have another one tomorrow.

So we were off early today to check out the sights. First stop was the Charles Bridge and we thought it was busy but it wasn’t actually, more about that later. We took the long walk up the hill to the Prague Castle and it was well worth it, the views back to the city from the castle are awesome.

We wandered through the Prague Castle which is now used for formal gatherings for the prime minister and government officials, I was taken at how many waiting rooms there were for their guests. The decor was very grand but not over the top like Versailles and it was filled with Christmas decorations and trees, I think Amy has taken a photo of nearly every Christmas tree we have come across this trip, Ha!

We noticed the crowds were growing as we continued to explore the Prague Castle district. Our next step was the Golden Lane which  is a old street situated in Prague Castle. It was originally built in the 16th century and takes its name from the goldsmiths that lived there in the 17th century. It was interesting to look through some of the houses and get an appreciation for how the people lived back then. After the Golden Lane we then walked through the Basilica of St George, the oldest surviving church building within the Prague Castle built in the 10th century.

The crowds continued to grow as we wandered through the Old Royal Palace which dates back to the 12th century. After that, it was then the first time we had to line up to get anywhere, which was to enter the St Vitus Cathedral. By this time of the day there were tour groups everywhere. The line up wasn’t long and was worth the wait as it’s a beautiful building inside but we were most impressed with the stain glass windows which were lit up by the sun which was now out.

We enjoyed the Prague castle and we timed our run well as it was starting to get very crowded as we left. We then found our way to the Old Town Square. On the way we found the statue of Sigmund Freud hanging in the air. We arrived in the square just before 12 noon so we joined the massive crowd out front of the astronomical clock to see it do its thing. I found it extremely underwhelming to be honest but all to their own. Once the clock did it’s thing the crowd dispersed and we wandered through the Christmas Markets, found a hot wine and a seat near the stage where carollers were singing Christmas carols. Not that I realised it at the time but we were sitting right alongside a monument for Jan Hus, a philosopher and theologian who was martyred and burned at the stake in 1415. I have written a separate blog about Hus as I find his story inspiring which I will post tomorrow once we get a good photo of the monument.

We then wandered over to check out an old Jewish Cemetery and synagogue but forgot that Saturday is Sabbat so it wasn’t open, we will go back tomorrow. We did find another market by the river which was much less crowded and full of locals with live music. This was near the Manes Bridge which provided a good view back to Charles Bridge, which looked packed, maybe it wasn’t busy this morning after all. This was confirmed as we went past the Charles Bridge later on a tram and it was shoulder to shoulder on there, glad we got going early.

We were a bit over the crowds, but loved where we had been, so decided to get off the tourist trail and just explored the streets from around where we are staying. Along the way we found a restaurant to enjoy  some soup and mulled wine. Amy had the goulash soup and I had the garlic soup (cesnecka) which was on my ‘to try’ list. It was quite nice and very garlicky and I’ve been tasting it ever since, it should ward off any bugs for days! Ha!

We enjoyed just wandering around looking at the different art works and sculptures that are dotted all across this beautiful city. We also came across a cat cafe that is just 2 minutes from our botel and we will drop in there tomorrow to hang out with their 15 cats. We would have stayed today but we were on our way to the Glass Bar at the Dancing House on the recommendation from Maggie who said it is a good place to have a drink as the sun sets. We spent about an hour up there and enjoyed watching the city transform from daylight to night, thanks for the recommendation Mags, we may do this again tomorrow. We felt really grateful and privileged to be able to be in this wonderful city while taking in the views, a similar feeling we had in Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam earlier on the trip. We are just loving Prague and its energy.

We did get some light hail while we were up there and just as we adjourned for home to get ready for dinner it started to hail and then it rained so our timing was impeccable to get out of the weather for a while.

For dinner tonight we dined at the Potrefena Husa, which translates to Goose Tavern, on the recommendation of Taryn whose grandma is from the Czech Republic, so as close to a local we know.

The food was excellent, we tried the fried cheese for an entree and then Amy had the Tagliatelle Pasta with mushrooms, spinach and duck and I had the Svickova. The Svickova last night was excellent but tonight’s was better, probably due to the dumplings and the sauce was less sweet. But all in all a great meal. I also sampled the staropramen beer which is Taryns favourite Czech beer and I must say it was very nice.

Tonight we wandered back into the Old Town Square to watch the lighting up of the Christmas tree, tonight is the first night it lights up for the Christmas season and it was very impressive. The square was full of people and the atmosphere was excellent. It was a great way end an awesome day in one of our now favourite cities.