We began our weeklong vacation with three days in Prague, in the Czech Republic. In a complete coincidence, our friends
Don & Cathy who live in Belgium had planned a trip to Prague for the very same weekend, so we were able to connect with them and spend time together. How fun! Prague has a quaint and historic Old Town area. This was the view from our hotel room; the Old Town streets were narrow and cobbled:
And from the balcony on the back of the hotel we could look up at Prague Castle on the hill.
Prague was left untouched by bombing during WWII, so it's buildings are intact and we could see the widely varying architectural styles of the many churches, synagogues, castles and palaces across the city.
And there were interesting and quirky modern buildings too.
The Vltava River bisects Prague. There was a lot of weekend recreational boating on the river.
Prague's Town Hall has an exterior astronomical clock that dates back to the 15th Century. Perhaps it's most interesting feature is the skeleton that rings a bell on the hour.
D and I visited the small Old Jewish Cemetary of Prague, the only location in town where Jews could be buried between 1478 and 1787. There are an estimated 100,000 people buried there, but because of the lack of space they are buried 12 layers deep.
We toured Prague Castle (which is actually a large complex of buildings, including the St Vitas Cathedral) with Don & Cathy.
Cathy has a fantastic blog (check it out
here) describing their adventures in Europe, and she always has fantastic professional-quality photographs to accompany every post. I often wondered how she got such awesome shots. Alas, I learned on this trip that she simply swings her elbows and jumps in front of others to be sure to get the best photo...and I have evidence to prove it! Here is Cathy, elbowing me out of the way to get the money shot of the silver tomb at the castle.
And here is my shot of the tomb, taken as I lay bruised on the ground:
Of course, I'm just kidding. She barely grazed me with her elbow. (Ha ha!) But it
was humbling to learn that she takes photos using the same camera I use -- I had always assumed her fantastic photos came from fancier and more expensive equipment. No -- she's just really good at it!
There are guards at the palace -- just as there are at Buckingham Palace in London -- but we decided that these powder blue uniforms significantly diminish their ferociousness.
When we were hot, tired, and goofy enough to do "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" with the audio guides we'd been carrying all day, we knew that it was time for a break. We headed back down the hill and found some cold drinks and dinner.
To see more of our photos from Prague, watch below or click on the lower right corner of the mini-slideshow to open the album:
We began our weeklong vacation with three days in Prague, in the Czech Republic. In a complete coincidence, our friends Don & Cathy who live in Belgium had planned a trip to Prague for the very same weekend, so we were able to connect with them and spend time together. How fun! Prague has a quaint and historic Old Town area. This was the view from our hotel room; the Old Town streets were narrow and cobbled:
And from the balcony on the back of the hotel we could look up at Prague Castle on the hill.
Prague was left untouched by bombing during WWII, so it's buildings are intact and we could see the widely varying architectural styles of the many churches, synagogues, castles and palaces across the city.
And there were interesting and quirky modern buildings too.
The Vltava River bisects Prague. There was a lot of weekend recreational boating on the river.
Prague's Town Hall has an exterior astronomical clock that dates back to the 15th Century. Perhaps it's most interesting feature is the skeleton that rings a bell on the hour.
D and I visited the small Old Jewish Cemetary of Prague, the only location in town where Jews could be buried between 1478 and 1787. There are an estimated 100,000 people buried there, but because of the lack of space they are buried 12 layers deep.
We toured Prague Castle (which is actually a large complex of buildings, including the St Vitas Cathedral) with Don & Cathy.
Cathy has a fantastic blog (check it out here) describing their adventures in Europe, and she always has fantastic professional-quality photographs to accompany every post. I often wondered how she got such awesome shots. Alas, I learned on this trip that she simply swings her elbows and jumps in front of others to be sure to get the best photo...and I have evidence to prove it! Here is Cathy, elbowing me out of the way to get the money shot of the silver tomb at the castle.
And here is my shot of the tomb, taken as I lay bruised on the ground: 
Of course, I'm just kidding. She barely grazed me with her elbow. (Ha ha!) But it was humbling to learn that she takes photos using the same camera I use -- I had always assumed her fantastic photos came from fancier and more expensive equipment. No -- she's just really good at it! 
There are guards at the palace -- just as there are at Buckingham Palace in London -- but we decided that these powder blue uniforms significantly diminish their ferociousness.
When we were hot, tired, and goofy enough to do "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" with the audio guides we'd been carrying all day, we knew that it was time for a break. We headed back down the hill and found some cold drinks and dinner.
To see more of our photos from Prague, watch below or click on the lower right corner of the mini-slideshow to open the album:
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