Arrival in Prague

After our last morning in Munich, we were on to Prague, Czech Republic. We took an overland bus that was extravagantly cheap and extravagantly comfortable. The bus got us to Prague in the evening, and we had a bit of a walk from the bus station to our hostel. No problem, we were prepared and we had the advantage of Sara's Prague memory. She visited Prague on a group trip several years ago.

After walking through the inevitable gritty city around the bus station, we arrived at Wenceslas Square, with the man himself looking down the hill to the old city. The English sing about this Czech hero every year at Christmastime. 

Good King Wenceslas went down

On the feast of Stephen

When the snow lay round about

Deep and crisp and even

...Whatever that means. The song also features some uncomfortable note slurring on a single vowel sound.

Gath'ring winter's feuuu-uuu-elll

C'mon nineteenth-century English folk song writers!

St. Wenceslas Statue

Our hostel was just on the other side of the famous Charles Bridge. More on that in another post with daytime photos. The bridge (and all the other glorious buildings) are beautifully lit at night, and we took advantage with some photos even though we were bogged down with our bags.

Charles Bridge at Night

Also artfully lit at night is the hilltop Prague Castle. Again, we will return to this huge fortress complex in another post. The castle is perched atop a steep climb from the river level, making it easily defensible from invaders and making for a nice view of the castle from the city and the city from the castle.

Prague Castle at Night

Across the bridge and settled into our hostel, we had time to go out for a late dinner and drinks. The three of us made our way back across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town Square. We snapped some photos of the famous Old Town Hall (with its Astronomical Clock) and Tyn Church before having dinner out on the square.

The food? Tasty and reasonably cheap- Prague is a great place for the tightwad traveler. The beer? Staropramen, one of the lineup of fabulous Czech lagers we tried, and the favorite of our friend Emily.

Charles Bridge Gate

Old Town Hall (Left) and Tyn Church (Right)

Staropramen Czech Lager

What did we do after dinner, sightseeing, and beers? We found a basement pub in our hostel neighborhood and had more beers, of course!

Finishing the First Night

The Czech Republic has not yet enacted indoor smoking bans, so bars and restaurants around Prague are smoky, but the inexpensive and delicious beers were almost worth the irreversible lung damage from the secondhand smoke.

We finally had to head to bed. We had a big day of sightseeing and good times in Prague to come.