It was really hard to leave Budapest and our Carpe family but Prague was probably the best place to go to after having such an amazing experience in a prior city. My wonderfully generous mother booked us the cutest and quaintest hotel in Prague for my birthday to give us a luxurious break from the hostel lifestyle. I had two packages waiting for me from my mom and grandma which made me feel a little better about missing all of my friends and family on my birthday.
I was lucky to have a Prague nightlife guide sent to me from my dear friend David who had studied abroad in Prague. So we knew right away that the place to be on Friday nights is Lucerna that has an 80s/90s music themed night. We danced away the night to some of our middle school favorites and celebrated at midnight with (of course) Jager shots.
On our first day in Prague we decided to try out one of the infamous beer gardens that is up on a hill and overlooks the city. We picked up our kiwi friend, Marc, who we met in Ios who happened to be in Prague for the weekend. We made the trek to the beer garden that turned out to be closed and under renovation for the winter season. We made the best of it and had a couple of beers and enjoyed the gorgeous view of Prague. That night we had the most delicious dinner at a Bar, lounge, and club that was so perfectly decorated and had the best environment we could have sat there all night. And of course we celebrated my birthday with at least 3 bottles of champagne that night at the 5 story club each floor having a different genre of music.
Prague was the perfect city to explore by just wandering around. It is a manageable size and therefore we were able to see several of the famous sites by just walking around for a day. It is a bustling city with tons of travelers and tourists who all want to see the beauty of Prague. The Lennon wall was one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. I love how a cluster of art on top of each other can still look so beautiful and how each part of it can be so impactful. This was one of my favorite parts of the wall that I saw. "Ideas are inspiring but inflexible. Fight for people, people change the world." It is a discrete and small portion of the wall but I think the message is memorable and important.
Our hotel was right at one of the ends of the Charles Bridge and I was so happy about this because while the bridge is such a site to see during the day walking amongst a sea of people and seeing all of the vendors and performers it is even more beautiful late at night walking over it when there is not another person in site. Another stunning view of the city was from the castle. It was amazing walking around the castle grounds just imagining what it was like back in the day with royalty wandering around their home. We also spent a full day walking around the Jewish quarter of Prague which was very dense walking into synagogue after synagogue learning about the Jewish heritage and the oppression that the Jews have overcome. The cemetary was unbelievable with thousands of deceased buried one on top of another and tombstones in every direction that you look bent in every which direction. Leading up to the cemetary was a building with walls filled with all of the names of those buried in the cemetary. It was truly one of the most impactful things that I have seen while traveling.
My favorite thing that we did in Prague was our microbrewery tour. We found a list of four of the most highly recommended breweries to visit in Prague, marked them on our map and went from one to the other trying their signature beers and having goulash and sausage to accompagny. I tried plum, chocolate, and banana flavored beers. The banana flavored beer was my favorite and I could have drank it all day. All of these breweries were packed with people from the time of 3pm onward with locals and tourists. It was a blast experiencing this unique aspect of Prague.
I could have spent much more time in Prague and hope to get the chance to visit there again!
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