Well I won't go on about the cold in Prague except to say it was -5C every day and that we were frozen and that we had to go into shops and pubs every few metres or so for to warm our cockles and our toes and our hearts and our legs and our feet. But what did we expect? We went in winter!
New Years in Prague was fabulous. Prague is beautiful with tram rides along the river, a gorgeous view from Prague Castle on the hill, an interesting river cruise and an excellent hive of people traversing back and forth over the Charles Bridge. The astronomical clock was indeed astronomical and the Old Town Square had its Christmas market continuing which was fun.
While in the Czech Republic we warmed our souls with hearty Czech specialities and devoured beef goulash with dumplings and a pork knuckle with dumplings and a Czech sausage ensemble in a bread bowl! Si also enjoyed the large Czech beers for just over a pound and the buffet breakfasts in the hotel.
For New Year's Eve we settled in for the night in our hotel for our pre-booked Mexican fiesta. It was a relief not to have to go out and after five courses and numerous beverages the mexican band were sounding good. Si won us a bottle of champers in the raffle and I a single drink and just before midnight we adjourned to the rooftop bar which had great views over the firework displays around the city. Sad to head back to work but we are looking forward to our next trip away to Dublin in a couple of weeks.
A uniquely gothic atmosphere, quaintly cobbled streets, and great food make Prague a city well worth visiting, despite the sub-zero temperatures.
The food was great. I think I drank so much beer and ate so many dumplings that I’m actually starting to look a bit like a dumpling. I have had dumplings lots of times before, but it was a new experience for Nicola, who was not brave enough to order her own but did try one of mine.
Compact and relatively easy to get around, three days was the perfect amount of time to see all the sights that interested us, and cross the famous Charles Bridge a few times. Like something out of a dark fairy tale, the cobbled Charles Bridge is adorned by extremely gothic-looking statues on either side, and after sunset it would be extremely freaky if not for all the tourists.
We had a great time at the Mexican fiesta at our hotel on New Years’ Eve, and the Mexican food was refreshing after all the hearty Czech dishes we had been eating. However, five large courses was far, far too much. I didn’t even attempt the dessert. We were very pleased to win the bottle of champagne with just an hour to go until midnight.
Interestingly, Prague is supposedly Europe’s sixth most popular city for tourists (behind London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, and Berlin). I thought maybe Venice would be a more popular tourist destination, but there you go.
For more Prague pics click here....
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