First Day in Prague

  My exploration of Prague has begun, and can I just tell you that in a day and a half I have fallen in love with this city. Everything about it is perfection. Blue skies, incredible architecture, lots of trees, great atmosphere, just the right amount of people wandering the streets- I could go on and on. If you are ever in this neck of the wood you must stop here.

view from vineyard at Prague Castle

The girls are in school until the end of June, which means I have everyday from 8 am - 2 pm open with 2 days off in the middle of the week. Pretty sweet gig, I know. So yesterday I ventured out into the city for the first time. I was a little worried about navigating the public transportation, but to my surprise the family had me dropped off in the city and then picked up at the end of the day. Pretty awesome. Yesterday all of my time was spent at Prague Castle. The grounds are huge- apparently the largest in the world. I spent the majority of the time meandering through all the different squares and admiring St Vitus Cathedral. I have not seen much of Prague yet but this is my favorite place so far. I got there early enough in the morning that the courtyards were empty (so not the case later in the day), and I think I spent a good 45 minutes sitting on a bench just taking it all in. St Vitus is beautiful, as are the surrounding buildings, and the atmosphere was just so peaceful. It was the perfect introduction to the city.

   
  

              

I thought the outside of the Cathedral was much more impressive than the inside,  but the inside was still beautiful. It was much more ornate with gold and silver gilded figurines, intricate stained glass windows and detailed wood carvings.

There are lots of other really cool buildings to look at on the Castle grounds too. One of my favorite things not only about the grounds, but Prague in general, is that there are so many different textures, colors and styles of buildings and I love looking at the contrast of the buildings as they overlap in the skyline. 

        
        

Some of the coolest things at the Castle were in the building titled "The Story of Prague Castle", unfortunately photography was not allowed here or in the actual Castle, but they had incredible artifacts. Textiles from pillows and robes, jewelry from over 3000 years ago, ancient books, weapons, skeletons kept in the same positions as they were thrown into their graves, and so much more. I spent over 2 hours just in that one building, I was in heaven. I went there this morning and it was the first thing I did, so I had the place to myself for the first hour and then all the tour groups started showing up. At the castle I also got to see the changing of the guards, Franz Kafka's (famous Czech author) house, devices of imprisonment, and gorgeous views of the city the entire time I walked up the monstrous stairs to the Castle.

Prague Castle was amazing, I mean I spent about 7 hours on the grounds and didn't even tour the gardens. There is so much more detail I could give but I don't want to bore everyone, so enough for now.