Since we arrived in Europe we have been traveling on trains with our Europass. The ride to Prague required us to change from the train to a bus, it was still covered with the Europass. We rode a double decker bus from Germany to Prague. We were lucky to reserve early and get the front row on the top! The top front row offered a great view and it was roomy! Arriving in Prague we had another walk over a kilometer, but with everyone a bit more rested it was much better. Plus, we kept encouraging the girls because we picked our accommodations because it was so kid friendly. It had a pool, free putt-putt, free bowling, bike riding, shuttle bus, and included free tickets to the zoo. It was a package deal.
After getting settled into our accommodations we made plans to tour the city the next day. In the morning, our first venture was to see the Astronomical Clock. It was built in the 15th century and still in use. We arrived just in time to join the crowd to see the clock go off on the hour. The clock goes through a series of chimes and movements. After the clock, we wondered around the city for a bit before heading back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we had dinner followed by our free bowling. We had no idea where the bowling was, so we asked in the restaurant. The waiter point to door in the restaurant! At first, we thought maybe he misunderstood what we were asking, but we still figured we would check it out. So, we peaked through the door to find two bowling alleys. Then next several days we laughed about the alley hidden behind the door. The first couple of balls we (no names) threw were gutters, when we finally hit pins, surprise! We were surprised, because the pins appeared to magically just setup. It took a few throws to see strings connected to each pin! We had never seen a bowling alley like this one, it was a sight to see. I won all the games, of course J.
When we were bowling we were asked if another family could use the other lane. We had no problems and quickly recognize it was a family whose little boy approached the girls to introduce himself earlier at dinner. The family was from Magdeburg, Germany. While we bowled we had a conversation and really enjoyed meeting the family.
The next day, after determining the rain was going to hold off, we decided to use our free tickets to the zoo. The Prague Zoo is really cool, it is a large zoo with many different animals from around the world. We were pleasantly surprised more than we were expecting. Plus, many of the animals we had never seen in a zoo before. It was close call between the swimming polar bear or the cheetah cubs, on which one was everyone’s favorite animal. The polar bear was in the water swimming laps back and forth, right to the glass where we watched. However, the cubs were so cute! While exploring the zoo, we ran into the family we had bowled with the previous night. The kids seemed to get along and we enjoyed chatting, so we arranged to take the kids to the pool later in the evening.
We finished the zoo, ate dinner, and headed to the pool. The girls were wound up, I think the pool was their release and they loved it. They swam, we chatted with the family we met and learned more about the German spa! One of the nice things about meeting people and spending time with them is it takes you out of the tourist mode. It makes you forget you are thousands of miles away from friends and family. Meeting people and spending more than just a conversation with them is one of my favorite parts of this trip. It is not only we make new friends around the world, but the short time spent makes you feel like you belong. As swimming came to an end we discussed our future trip and determined our later stop in Berlin was only an hour train ride from their residents, so we made plans to stop by!
In Elizabeth’s research of thing to do in Prague she came across a park the girls would like. It had a large rose garden, over 200 fruit trees, a mirror maze, and a mini Eiffel Tower. Obviously, with Brooklyn’s fascination with the Eiffel tower we headed that way the following day. The trip started with a bus shuttle to the tram at the bottom of the park, a walk to the cable drawn tram, and then the cable drawn tram ride up. Yup, it was just a normal day traveling! We finally made it to the park, it was a windy, and the stairs was the only way up the mini-Eiffel Tower. Elizabeth and Kaleigh had a hard time on the way up. Not only could you feel the wind pushing you, but you could feel it making the tower sway a bit. Kaleigh and Elizabeth decided to take a break on the stairs and sit on a seat in the stairwell, bad decision. The seat was formed out over the edge of the stairwell, so when you sat down you were basically hanging out the stairwell, enclosed of course, but they didn’t like it. They decided it was best to just keep moving quickly up the stairs on the inside. When we finally reached the summit, Elizabeth really started to feel the sway, she turned slight white and quickly announced it was time to go! We think she had a small episode of vertigo. She headed directly to the stairs to walk down. Kaleigh followed, but Brooklyn and I enjoyed the view.
Though Kaleigh and Elizabeth left a bit before us, we caught up to them on the way down. Kaleigh wanted to clench onto the railing slowly making her way down, while Elizabeth was trying to run down! Though I think Elizabeth thought it would never end, we eventually made it down. After all the drama of the tower, we stopped for everyone to calm down and had a small snack. It was probably a good break before heading to the small, but fun mirror maze. We had a good time laughing at the end of the maze, which had a set of distortion mirrors.
After the park, we decided to walk to and cross the historical St. Charles Bridge. It was packed. Once we made it across we debated whether to squeeze in Prague Castle or wait for the following day. The girls were excited to get back to the hotel, we still had putt-putt on our list of things to do. So, after they pleaded their case we headed back. We did play putt-putt, the girls had great time, well I think we all did. The course has a beautiful view overlooking the city. It not only had a view, but it was also fun to play. It was setup more like a real golf course with bunkers, water hazards, rough (thicker artificial turf), and dead grass, it was unique.
The following day we had one goal, Prague Castle. It was the last thing we did in the city before heading to Poland. The Castle is more of a walled city with a complex of buildings. You purchase tickets based on what buildings to tour. We purchased a ticket to enter several of the buildings. Ironically, the first building we thought was the cathedral, was not included with our ticket, so we purchased an individual ticket. We were directed to go up a spiral staircase, we thought was never going to end. Finally, reaching the top we realized it was bell tower, not the cathedral. The clock (bells) go off on the top of the hour and when we arrived at the top it was ten minutes before the top of the hour, so we stayed to watch the clock. After watching the clock, we had thought there must be something else or a path we missed into the cathedral, but that was it.
So, instead of just going to the building we decided to match our ticket and hit those attraction. Each attraction has a letter and you ticket say you can visit A, C, D… So, we just followed the letters in order. After a couple of buildings, we found our ticket did include the cathedral, the entrance was just on the other side of the clock tower. Elizabeth was relieved, because she picked that ticket based on the visiting the cathedral and thought she selected the wrong one. In the cathedral, I realize the girls were done with churches. Though each one is unique, after so many in a short period, the girls started saying same as the last one and I had to start agreeing. We still enjoyed it, along with the other exhibits at the castle we visited.
We had a good time in Prague, but it was time to move on.
