Prague, Czech Republic
/We arrived in Prague after a four-hour bus ride, since we weren't allowed to take our trusty rental car into the Czech Republic. Even though it was overcast and gray when we arrived, the "City of a Hundred Spires" immediately charmed us with window displays of its famous crystal and creepy marionettes. The sugary scent of trdelník--a spiral-shaped pastry stuffed with cream and fruit or chocolate--floated on the air, and bars with cheap, delicious beer seemed to beckon to us.
Our first full day in the city was spent doing yet another Rick Steves tour around the city. As always, the tour was a great overview of the city and talked us through the major tourist highlights. It also reminded us that we're getting a bit travel fatigued as we struggled to make it through the hoards across the famous St. Charles Bridge without getting too cranky. We didn't spend much time in the tourist hub after that initial walk, but we did double back for a quick stop at the Museum of Torture.
We were pretty exhausted by the end of the day, since we hiked up to Petrin Tower for gorgeous city views. Our AirBNB was directly adjacent to the park containing the tower, which was a perfect location for staying close to the action while remaining outside the most touristy parts. We ate at a Mexican restaurant that night, which was amazing since we are both missing variety in our diets. Fajitas and mole!! Yum!!
Our second day in Prague was spent hiking through some of the gardens on the west side of the Vltava River. We rested up in the afternoon and then went to dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant near our apartment and decided to make a reservation for an escape room the following day! More on that in a moment.
The third day we visited the Prague Castle complex, which is the largest ancient castle in the world. To me, it felt like a little walled city, since it included a lot of buildings inside the actual complex itself. The rain that had threatened us the past few days finally let loose, but luckily we ended up being inside the cathedral for most of it.
Next, we had an appointment for our escape room! For those that aren't familiar with escape rooms, they are basically a themed room that you're locked in for one hour. There are clues and puzzles to solve in order to unlock the door and get out. The theme of our escape room was The Alchemist. We had an absolutely fantastic time solving the clues together, and made it out in 1 hour and 2 minutes. I can't wait to try it again with family and friends!
After the escape room, we went to dinner at a restaurant in the Dancing House building in Prague, which is a building with very cool modern architecture. You'll see a night photograph of the building below. We decided to remind ourselves what we've done each day in the four months since our trip has started. It took us two full hours to go through each day! What a fun dinner.
