I have mentioned how much I love New Brunswick, but the one place I love to visit more is the Czech Republic. I was born and grew up in Canada, but my parents were born in Czechoslovakia, so my upbringing was heavily influenced by Czech values and traditions. I love the fact that I have a diverse background. All of my extended family is over there, so I love that I have people to visit (although, it gets hard when you can only see your grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins every couple of years).
J and I went to Europe back in 2008, so some of the following pictures are from that trip. However, I find that whenever I visit, I take the same pictures of the same places, so there was no need to take up more digital memory during our honeymoon.
This time around, we flew from Venice to Prague, I got sicker with the tonsilitis and stayed a couple of days in bed. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my cousin (once removed? 2nd cousin?) Ivan, who's wife checked me out at the Polyklinik. I'm so thankful that they could help me out when I was feeling so horrible!!
But last time we were in Prague, we went right downtown and saw all the major points of interest: Prague Castle with St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge (Karluv Most), and Old Town Square (Staromestska Namesti). The first picture is the back of the Cathedral. It's gothic architecture and looks amazing.
Inside, we walked around and looked at all the stained-glass windows, statues, and the alter and I was thinking to myself: "When I was younger and came here with my parents, wasn't there a crypt?". So in my less than perfect Czech, I asked someone who worked there where the Crypt was. She said it wasn't open, but then radioed someone on her walky-talky and asked if she could take some nice Czech people from Canada into the Crypt! And they said yes! So we got a mini-private tour of the Crypt, while other tourists milled about wondering why they weren't allowed in. Suckers! She even took us into the final resting place of St. Wenceslas! Yes, that Wenceslas!
After touring Prague Castle, we made it to Hradcany, which is a square that overlooks Prague. Prague Castle is on a hill, so from Hradcany, there are stairs that lead back down into the city. But from the top of the stairs, you get some great pictures.
At the base of the hill, on the Malostrana side of the Vltava river, we went to the shoreline to take a picture of Karluv Most, my favourite bridge.
After seeing Prague so many times (I've been there at least 10 times), I try to add 1-2 day trips so that I get to know the country better. Naturally, we go to visit my mom's side of the family in Dolni Ujezd, and we used to travel to Litomerice to visit my dad's side of the family, who have now moved to Prague. In Dolni Ujezd, near Prerov, we took a little hike to see Drahotus, ruins of a castle from the 13-14th Century. Those of you that have been to our house, you may know the picture where J and I are standing on a bridge and we only found out when we enlarged the picture that my eyes were closed. Anyways, that bridge is from these ruins, but the bridge was built in the 17th century, so it's a bit 'newer'. I love the fact that you can just come across these ruins that have so much history. It blows my mind!
Near Litomerice, there is a small town called Terezin. Last time we were in the Czech Republic, we stopped in Terezin on the way to visit my dad's side of the family. In Terezin is an old concentration camp from the 1940's that is now open as a sort of museum. It's chilling to see the dormatories, the solitary confinement, the place where executions were held. It's hard to believe this all happened, but it did, and it's worth seeing. The next picture has tombstones next to more tombstones. These were victims of the diseases that spread in the abysmal conditions of the concentration camps, like cholera, not mass executions. Terezin was a mid-way point. Prisoners were then sent to Auschwitz if they didn't die of disease first.
About an hour outside of Prague is Karlstein. This was where the crown jewels used to be housed back in old times. You take a train from Prague, get off the train in Karlstein and then walk about 30 minutes up and around a hill to get there. Great photo ops while walking, and once you're up there, you can get a guided tour. It's not one of my favourite castles, but definitely a must-see.
My favourite chateau is Konopiste. It's been used to film a lot of movies, most notably The Illusionist. Other castles/chateaux I have seen with my family: Hluboka, Krivoklat, and Cesky Krumlov, to name a few. There are hundreds to be seen, though.Back in Prague, we went to the Old Square to see Orloj, the old clock that tells you the time, the date, the astrological house, and according to our friend Chris, Jaromir Jagr's total goals to date (I have yet to confirm this). Everytime I'm in Prague, I have to see it ring the hour as you get to see the 12 apostles, statues moving and ringing bells, and then the screeching rooster at the end (sounds more like a train whistle).
If you have enough time, go on over to Petrin Hill. You can go up with your transfer-metro ticket. Take the cable car up, then go up the tower that looks like a 1/60th version of the Eiffel Tower. Climb the tower and take some pictures, you won't get a better view!
This post could have been a lot longer considering I have been to the Czech Republic numerous times, but my sister has already complained that some of my posts are too long. (Seriously, if you don't have time to read it, then wait until you do. Blogs have information worth reading, Twitter doesn't. Oh Snap! Love you, V).The Czech Republic is awesome. I am a bit biased, but it really is one of the must-see places to add to your bucket-list. If you ever need help planning your trip to the Czech Republic, you know who to contact. And if I can't help you, my special Czech-info contacts can (thanks mom and dad!).
Next up? Munich!
