Prague 2023

2023 was the year we decided to go to Prague. We booked a nice hotel in the city center and flew to Prague in the afternoon. After settling in at the hotel, we walked into the city center. Prague is always bustling with people, people from all over the world. So we woke up super early every day, went out and took pictures, checked out the tourist attractions before they filled up with people, and then went back to the hotel for a good breakfast and coffee.

The good old Sveikj was from the Czech Republic and we felt him all over the city as well as Mat & Pat. We went to the Charles Bridge which is full of statues of both kings and saints. On the other side of the bridge from our hotel is Prague Castle, originally built in the 9th century. It is by far the largest medieval castle in the world today. We went to it and explored it and the cathedral which is located inside the castle garden.

Prague is also full of all kinds of museums which we visited one after the other, a film museum, a museum about communism in Europe, a museum about beer making and much, much more.

But we also did few day trips out of Prague. The first trip we took was to Český Krumlov, it’s a small town about 180 km from Prague. One of those beautiful old medieval towns that Europe is full of, each more beautiful than the other. In Český Krumlov there is an old castle from the 12th century, but around it is an old riverbed that has actually dried up. Since the 16th century, there has been a “moat” where a family of brown bears live and guard the castle. The town itself and the castle were incredibly beautiful and fun to visit and we enjoyed it very much.

Next day trip was to Saxon Switcherland, which is on the border of the Czech Republic and Germany. Numerous rock formations in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in both Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland, are known locally in this region as Steine (“rocks”). Magnificent sandstones and tall stone pillars in the landscape, ancient castle ruins in the surroundings, stone bridges and more, create an incredibly beautiful landscape there. But on the way there we drove through deep valleys and forests, all of which were very badly burned after forest fires in the year 2022.

Our third day trip was a train ride on an old fancy train from Prague to Dresden in Germany. Dresden is one of the oldest cities in Europe, but on February 13-15, 1945, both the British and the Americans carried out heavy air raids on this ancient city. Huge fires broke out so a large part of this old beautiful city was destroyed by both bombs and fire. The city was severely damaged, and has since been partially rebuilt over the years. We spent a good day exploring Dresden.

Overall we enjoyed our visit to Prague and will definitely be back. The Czech Republic is beautiful, the people are friendly and welcoming and there is so much to see, eat and do. Many things stand out but one of the highlights is the concert in the Mirror Chapel in Prague. We sat there with about 150 other guests and listened to Vivaldi, Bach and Beethoven in such a fitting setting.