Pretty Prague

I didn’t know much about Prague until I mentioned it to a few friends that I was planning to visit my girlfriend and everyone raved saying they loved Prague and it was one of their favorite and most beautiful places they had seen. I also felt like I was one of the late ones to join the Prague party, so many friends and social media chimed in and I wanted to be like, hey why did you guys not tell me about this gem earlier? I suppose timing is everything because I went to visit Michelle who has been living there for the past two months so I had the ultimate tour guide and sweet personal photographer.

Did you now the city was considered to beautiful by Hitler that he spared its destruction during WWII?

Did you now the city was considered to beautiful by Hitler that he spared its destruction during WWII? I hate that just wrote Hitler on my blog but I had to mention that a man so evil could even find beauty – if that says anything captivating about Prague, there you go.

Here are a few highlights I waned to share and just in case you want to visit, here’s a guide of the places we went to – that I remember anyway. There were a ton of gardens we went to. I’ll let Michelle add in the comments part any places I might have forgotten.

• Prague Castle (view)
• The Wallenstein Garden
• Petrin Hill
• John Lennon wall
• Old Town Square
• Charles Bridge
• Letna Park (view)

The culture: Keep in mind that it was a former communist country with a lot of history. The declared religion is Atheist, and I wouldn’t call it overly friendly or warm. I found the men to be less intimidating to speak to and were kind, so I wanted to mention it so you don’t get your feelings hurt when you arrive. ;)

Jewish Memorials: Look for the plaques on the ground that are in front of the homes belonging to victims of the Holocaust, read more about it here.

Petrin Hill

This view – this is what you want! After 14 hours on a plane, Michelle thinks it’s a great idea to make me walk up 300 stairs, haha! It looked like an Eiffel Tower.

Tip – take the elevator pay the extra few bucks and do it. Michelle loves exercise and she bought my ticket so I didn’t have a choice, but the top was ridiculous!! We took a tram up, I would recommend that. We walked down through a park, all the stairs nearly killed me on the first day but I survived , obviously.

There was also an observatory where we saw Venus and the sun through a telescope and there was a rose garden up there.

Old Town Square

Michelle’s apartment is in Praha 1 which is pretty much off the Rodeo Drive of Prague. It’s right around the corner from Hermes and Tiffany & Co, and Old Town Square – right here. We got up early and took some pics because it is insanely busy in Prague with tourists through the night so the best time is early morning.

Prague Castle

We walked up to Prague Castle which has a large church inside (above). You can watch the changing of the guards but of course everyone has their phones up so I just decided to watch and enjoy it. It’s more casual than London but it’s still pretty cool to watch anyway.

From there we headed down to walk around the town and shop! Oh, and eat.

I saw this sign for food and it said hot dog and I was like, SOLD! A trdelnik is a hallow split cake and usually filled with ice cream or something sweet. I went for the hot dog because they win in my book, sometimes even over ice cream. I know.

I made the guy smile for my photo when he handed it to me – LOL, I can tell he just loved it.

Yes it was amazing, I could have eaten one every day. Landon insisted where I should stand so he could take a photo with his trdlnik buddy.

Here are a few souvenirs I picked up from there – nesting dolls and some cute Christmas ornaments. They look vintage I had to have them! They apparently are made from an art school for practice then sold in some stores so some are pricier than others. I also want to point out it was Avery’s idea to have her hand in there playing with it. She was like my little assistant and helped me set this up. I adore her, she’s 7 going on 17!

Later that night we went back to Prague Castle for lighting purposes. Took the bus this time, thanks Michelle.

Suede cap: H&M / Satin Parka: H&M / Leggings: Define Your Inspiration / High tops: FitFlop / Backpack: Neiman Marcus Last Call (similar)

We had also stopped by The Wallenstein Garden where they do summer concerts, someone said they had a Harry Potter instrumental night. We had just missed it but it looked amazing and the garden was gorgeous.

I tell you there’s so much to do in Prague and it’s really HUGE – you saw the opening photo. I know I just scratched the surface.

Charles Bridge

Scalloped Jacket: H&M – wearing size 6, also in black / Floral top: H&M, old / Jeans: J Brand

We woke up early to get a crowd-free photo at Charles Bridge. The locks are tradition like you lock away a secret and throw the key away in the river. Wonder how many locked up secrets there are, right?

We walked across with lots of early risers enjoying a quiet place to take a photo.

Saw this little alleyway and had to snap a photo, the light was just jaw dropping between these tall buildings. It’s one of my favorite things about Europe, cobblestone streets with narrow alleyways and the light peeping through.

The view from a park, the other side of Charles Bridge.

We made friends for a few hours with a tourist named John from Chicago/Detroit with his son and we chatted with them and he showed us where the John Lennon wall was. Isn’t it fun when other tourists share some cool places to go? I think we are so much friendlier when we travel, it’s like common souls with a love for travel that when we meet internationally we just get each other.

It also makes me reflect on how I treat other tourists. If you travel abroad often, you are much more welcoming to others and helping them find places, just a thought. What we experience we remember and want to pass along to others.

Letna Park

Satin Parka: H&M – wearing size 6 / Jeans: J Brand / High tops: FitFlop / Backpack: Neiman Marcus Last Call (similar)

150+ stairs to get to this view and a park up top for the kiddos. I left my water bottle by this spot and thankfully 5 year old Landon ran all the way back to get it for me. Thank goodness for children who have so much energy because it would have taken me like 10 minutes and it took him 2.

And that, is Prague. I had two and a half days there and felt like I did see the best parts thanks to Michelle knowing where to go. She mentioned a lot of churches were around but I just wanted to do sights and go where locals go, shop, and that made me super happy. I have to work on a personal video, sometimes it gets hard to do videos while taking photos too and all you want to do is just enjoy the moment and not spend too much taking photos. Even though I have quite a bit, I don’t nearly enough as you think I would or should – I take shots quickly and move on. I don’t need to take a photo every two steps because that’s not being present, that’s living through your camera.

But of course, when you feel compelled to take a photo – take one.

And then jump for joy because you’re on the other side of the world, Prague! Catch my video here.