A day in Prague

I took a USO tour to Prague in the Czech Republic. We left very early Saturday morning but had 9 hours to explore Prague or Praha. I did some research before so I had an idea of things I wanted to see. The weather was nice and sunny with a nice breeze. I learned that Prague uses the currency of Czech koruna but still accepted euros.  So $1 US is about 24.38 koruna. For example if something is 990CZK it would be $40 US. Koruna means crown. Czech Republic was gonna adopt the euro in 2012 but has been delayed to a future time.  The bus dropped us off at the train station so we made our way toward the old town square. First we came across Wenceslas square, from there we followed the main road and came to the Astronomical clock (600 year old mechanical clock face which is located in Old Town Square. I walked to the Jewish commentary but found it closed, but took a quick peek in a crack in the wall.  On the way to the Prague Castle I came to Mala Strana which  is a section of the city known as the Lesser or Little Quarter which houses St. Nicholas. This baroque church was built between 1704-1755. I paid the 70 koruna or CZK which is about $2.80 US to go inside and it was well worth it. The inside of the church was amazing, my pictures doesn’t do it justice. You can even climb up to the upper balcony and get a birds eye view of the church below. After getting a little turned around I made it to the top of the hill which houses the Prague Castle and had a wonderful view of the city of Prague. What looks like the Eiffel Tower is really the Petrin Lookout Tower in a near by park. The line was long to get into the Prague castle complex so I  explored the courtyard instead. On the way back down the hill I took advance of a trdelnik (trdlo) which is a traditional cake and sweet pastry. It is made from rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar. I chose to have my filled with vanilla ice cream. This past winter I had one at a Christmas market and was eager to have another one. On the way back to the  bus I explored a few shops and the market tents where I got wooden clock which shows famous sites of Prague, wooden bookmarks,christmas ornaments and a necklace. After a 6 1/2 bus ride I was back home. Our bus driver knew a short cut so we missed a major stau or traffic jam.

Prague marks my 4th new country I have explored since arriving. Next week I will add another one!  So far I have been to 8 countries - England, France, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and Switzerland! I love the opportunity to travel! I hope you are enjoying the ride!!