***Prague, Czech. Republic... ***

Prague earned its stars because it is just that great!..

Tuesday, July 28, 2009..

First full day in this city, and it's won mega brownie points! (It's definitely up there with Zermatt, Switzerland and parts of Germany)

We began with a light breakfast of bread, cheese and o.j. (yeah ok.. that one wasnt a point winner), then headed off to see the town!

First stop was the Narodni Museum (take pictures and move on!), then a couple churches, buildings, town square, theVltava river and a few miles and photos later, we were at stop two: the Prague castle.

View of castle from the bridge..

Korunni Building..

So due to lines and crowds, we didn't go "in," (I know, shame on us) but we toured the grounds, and goodness were they gorgeous! And the view??? Pretty close to AMAZING, like that from the Heidelberg castle. It was overcast most of the day, but even with the dark clouds looming about it was breathtaking... I took at least 20 pictures of the view alone... here's a few..

Views from the grounds...

Beauty...

After that, we headed back down the hill to hit up a restaurant recommended to us by Jason's friends: "Restaurace Stoleti." (Here's their website!.. http://www.stoleti.cz/) Classy!.. I ordered a chicken steak with spinich filet, a glass of white wine, a glass of "still" water (no free water in Europe!) and then topped it off with a hazelnut icecream, with caramel lightly drizzled on top and nuts sprinkled all around.. Such a display! Fabulous!

Well, with a content tummy and still daylight left, we made our way over to a classical concert near town square. It was in an older building (an old church I believe) with mural-painted ceilings, pillars, detailed crown molding, tiles.. pretty much everything from text books that would set you back a few hundred years :) Because the room was small (and just under 50 people), the acoustics were phenominal! Every note and chord and sound reverberated as though it were not a string quartet we were listening to, but an octet.. or much more! There were so many pieces played by so many composers (Mozart, Bizet, Bach, Dvorak, Vivaldi..) It truly was amazing.. It's something else to hear such classical pieces live.. and in such a setting. Ahh..

Let's just say it was a perfect way to tie up the evening.

Day 2 in Prague..

Up and out by check-out time (9am), and off to the city again! we looked into Old Town of Prague, checked out more of the city, hiked up to Prague's "Eiffel Tower" (pictures to come...) ate a late lunch in an old, smokey pub full of a bunch of locals, and called it a very early day. Our feet have been begging for a little time off, and Jason had a bit of fun out and about with some of our hostel roomies (from Holland) last night, so he needed his nap :)

Within hours (come 12 midnight) it'll be time once again to catch our next train out, and head for Austria! (then Romania, Turkey, Greece, and home!)

A countdown is about to begin...