Praha, Praga, Prague

Oh, how I miss the land of hot wine, turtlenecks, sauerkraut and sausage already. For the holidays Cor and I skipped town and journeyed east to the Czech Republic. Through the great network of friends we were able to score a place overlooking the beautiful city of Prague. A quick shout to Keely - Yeah Keely! It was ridiculous how hooked up we were this apartment and it truly made our visit to Praha the amazing trip that it was, especially with it being just Cor and I for the holidays.

The trip began with a $0.01 flight on Ryanair from Madrid to Frankfurters, Germany. Yea, that's right $0.01 fare! We didn't have a plan to get to Prague, so after a quick kielbasa, we checked on bus and train tickets. It was the 21st and due to our lack of planning (dang language barrier) we had to shell out what we would have paid for a direct flight to Prague from Madrid in Train coal. Cor and I discussed the illusion we had about "all these cheap trains we could use to get around Europe" when really its pretty expensive. But, none the less, we made it to Prague safe and sound after an 8 hour overnight train ride with some swollen eyes and furry teeth. We drank some tea and tried honey cake, got some Czech Crowns, and started the search for our friends place. We were happy to see at our first stop the holiday spirit in Old Town Centre. A gigantic, real Christmas tree, an outdoor Christmas market, hot wine, and of course the amazing backdrop of ancient baroque architecture seen in churches and other buildings. Týn Church was a real treat to see everytime we saw it. We roamed the streets for a while to get our bearings and later cozied up in the great apartment we were staying at. A great first day!

I forgot to mention that traveling east in Europe gets colder by the mile, a huge difference from the temperate weather we've been experiencing in Madrid. It was stinking cold in Prague and we were glad to have our down with us.

Some highlights of our time in Prague:

• Tim turning 28 - breakfast in bed, Chili, casual stroll around town, and Vienetta (some of you may remember these treats from the 80s. Awesome.)
• Toughest Chicks in the World - carp killers (see pic)
  
• Keely's Apartment - amazing view of the city, cozy, LOTS of time spent just hanging out catching up on some good reading and watching videos on youTube.
  
• Prazsky Hrad or Prague Castle - fortified city on a hill, iconic Gothic church, surrounded by charming, pastel-colored buildings
• Old Town Centre - Christmas tree, Christmas market, Svařené víno (hot wine), trdelník (turtlenecks as we said it - dry sweetbread covered with cinnamon, nuts and sugar in the shape of a bracelet)
• Our own adorned Christmas Tree (lemon, orange peel, cut plastic bag, cory's necklaces)
  
• New Years Eve, New Years Day (Czech people are crazy about fireworks)
• Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) - great view of the Vltava River and City, great fireworks display
• Czech language - we knew absolutely nothing when we arrived and left with only three phrases: Do you speak English, thank you, and hello/good day. Czech has 10 vowels and there are a lot of "Ch" sounds. It was interesting to listen to.
  
• Sausage and kraut
• Really good BEER - pilsner urquell or Plzeňský prazdroj

See pics (here)

timANDcor