Honeymoon: Prague

charles bridge with prague castle in the distance

finally i'm posting about our honeymoon!  before planning our trip we thought of all of the places we wanted to go and we treated this vacation as a sort of trip of a lifetime.  i always choose italy, but i also thought it would be nice to go somewhere together where we both have never been.  enter Prague.

i am so happy we chose to start our journey here.  it was a long travel day for us.  we took off from NYC and had a layover in Amsterdam so we were beat by the time we got there, but after seeing the city from the cab ride we felt energized.  it is really such a beautiful and very, very cool city.

we got to our hotel and unpacked a bit and being that my stomach is pretty much in charge of my life, i decided we had to eat right away.  we went down to the hotel restaurant and got some potato dumplings, salad and beer.  that heavy lunch did us right and sent us back to our room for a nice nap. i love that vacations give you the clearance for any kind of behavior.  naps everyday?  sure, why not? wine at 11am?  go for it!

museum at night

we awoke to the hotel ringing us with a bottle of champagne to congratulate us.  so sweet!  so, after showering and feeling like humans again we decided to take in the city by walking around a bit.  at this point it was a little late, but we walked around Wenceslas Square and past the beautiful museum. we got a bit lost and after roaming decided to head back to the hotel for nightcap and some UNO.

my favorite statue in Old Town

the next day we ate breakfast at the hotel and took in the city and walked and walked and walked.  we were so lucky that the weather was gorgeous.  we saw Old Town and walked the beautiful square and saw the famous clock.  so many people watching that thing!  from there we walked to the Charles Bridge and the river and just enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.  we walked over the bridge and stopped along the way to admire the statues and art.  crossing the bridge was one of my favorite moments.  you see Prague Castle in the distance and the most beautiful architecture you can imagine. it didn't even look real.  it looked like something out of a movie.

dorks in Prague

at that point my stomach begged for lunch.  we found a terrific place from our Time Out Prague book.  Cukrkavalimonada was a find.  i was craving a delicious salad and they had plenty.  gorgeous salads, terrific wine by the glass and tasty desserts.  heaven.  all of that did the trick and got me ready to explore the castle.

cathedral at Prague Castle

the castle is enormous (and also a rigorous walk up a hill) and there is so much we weren't able to explore.  but it is stunning.  the cathedral took my breath away.

inside the cathedral

that evening we had dinner at an American steak house.  it sounds weird to visit a place like this while in another country, but we had heard such great things about it and it was worth the trip.  they also had Weller 12 which made J very, very happy.

inside the music room.  i'd like to think i'd dress like this woman back in the day.

the next day we headed back to Prague Castle to listen to some beautiful music.  we sat in a gorgeous room and listened to a pianist, flautist, and violinist.  it was a wonderful hour and i highly recommend doing this if in Prague.

we ended our last night at a traditional Czech restaurant called Bredovsky Dvur (don't ask me to pronounce that) and had goulash and nice, cold beer.  the perfect last meal to our time here.

goulash

pilsner

another great thing about the city is that we found it very affordable, at least compared to NYC and other places we have travelled.  i suggest learning a few words (please, thank you, hello) just to show a bit of an effort.  it seemed to go a long way.

lennon wall

we really did love it here and it is a great place to go for a romantic getaway, but i can also see this city as a great place to visit with some friends.  we will definitely be back! 

a few things about the hotel: it is very near sights, but on a quiet street which we appreciated.  the breakfast here is fantastic!  there is a bar, but it does close early on some nights.