Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union. It is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.4 million people. The official language of the Czech Republic is Czech
Czech Republic Flag
We had no expectations about Prague so we were pleasantly surprised. The city is very interesting architecturally, the skyline is full of spires and towers. The old town square is just beautiful, the Tyn Church is like something out of a fairy tale thanks to its many spires. There are plenty of ancient chapels, unexpected gardens, cute cafes and old-fashioned bars, it was lovely to walk across the famous Charles bridge and to see a number of interesting statues. It was great to see my sister Sinead and husband Sean they came to meet us for a long weekend we had such a good laugh with them.
Tyn-Church in the main city square
The third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating
Dancing-Buildings
The Matrix Kafka´s head metal moving statue in Prague by Alena Harnová
The car we used to do a city Tour.
One of the arches of Charles Bridge, I did not like it as it was not symmetrical.
The Vltava river that runs through Prague
We spent a lovely day at Petrin Hill & Observation Tower it was built as a mini version of Paris’s Eiffel Tower, the Petrin Observation Tower was built in 1891 for the Jubilee Exhibition. The tower is 60m tall, which doesn’t seem particularly high until you add in the fact that it sits at the summit of Petrin Hill, which is 318m (1043 feet) high.The Petrin Observation Tower is set in landscaped gardens, which include a sizeable rose garden which is beautiful, and make for a pleasant stroll. Other attractions include an observatory, which contains a museum and a large telescope open to the public, a hall of mirrors, a church and cafes.
Petřín Lookout Tower which strongly resembles the Eiffel Tower
The Gardens at Petřín Hill
The view of the church from Petřín Tower
One of the evening we did a Ghost tour, the guide was very good, he had lots of knowledge about the city centre and some very interesting ghost stores, some quite gruesome, lots of fun.
Located in the city center of Prague on the famed Narodni Street is a treat for both fun loving adults and children alike, the Lego Museum. My sister Sinead is a big Lego fan and has collected Lego for years. The Prague Lego Museum is the not only the largest private museum of its kind in the Czech Republic but also in all of Europe as well. The exhibits include pirates, Star Wars, locomotives, Harry Potter, Indian Jones, historical monuments, the kinetic exhibition of Lego trains and much more. A very enjoyable morning had by us all.
The food is quite homely in Prague and very tasty. One of my husbands favourites are Trdelnik pastries they are fluffy, hot, sugar-sprinkled pastries that are baked before your eyes and sold fresh all over Prague. Look for the sign that depicts a trdelnik pastry — you’ll find them in Old Town, and elsewhere in Prague. This street food is perfect if you have a sweet tooth.
The boys enjoying their Trdelnik pastries
In each country, we enjoy getting out to the country side as it gives us an additional perspective of the country. In Prague, we went to visit Karlstejn Castle we had a wonderful day here, it has a beautiful small town with lots of cute souvenir shops, restaurants and bars.
Karlstejn Castle
Things to note: most of the shops close on a Sunday, Irish pubs are very expensive to drink in, clothes are expensive in Prague. Ask how much the taxi ride will cost before you get into the cab. There are lots of places in the city Centre that you can exchange money with no commission costs, do not get stung for a fee of up to 28%.
Martin was delighted he found his own Irish Pub.
We really enjoyed Prague and would definitely recommend a visit.
Poland
Covers an area of 312,679 square kilometres with a mostly temperate climate. With a population of over 38.5 million people. Poland’s capital and largest city is Warsaw. We were told that Krakow was a more interesting city than Warsaw so we went to Karkow.
Flag of Poland
Krakow a city in southern Poland near the border of the Czech Republic, is known for its medieval core and Jewish quarter. The old town is ringed by Planty Park. The plaza or town square is the site of the Cloth Hall a trading outpost and St Mary’s Basilica a 14th century Gothic church. Krakow was a city that surprised us, first I was not expected 25 degrees and secondly, I was very impressed with all the green space they have around the city centre. The Vistula river that runs through Krakow can be a hive of activity, with canoeing, river cruises etc, there are also some great bars along it. The town square has a lovely community feel to it. The people are very friendly and helpful but can be a bit cautious of strangers at first.
The plaza or town square
Vistula river
Kosciuszko Mound
We have had two interesting but sad days in Poland Krakow, a visit to Oskar Schindler factory, if you remember the movie Oskar saved 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. The factory and stories from real survivors are heart wrenching. Each survivor said “for sure only for Schindler they would be dead”. What a very courageous man, shame we did not have more like him. We also visited the Jewish ghetto area which was the first step in getting rid of the Jews from Poland.
On another day we went to visit 2 concentration camps Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau. It is hard to believe that between these 2 camps over 1,100,000.00 people were killed, men, women and children most of them were Jews. It felt surreal to be standing in the gas chambers and to see the furnace that burned the remains of all those innocent people. To see thousands of pairs of shoes, hundreds of hair brushes and combs, a huge room full of human hair, and more was very upsetting. As humans, how can we be so cruel to each other, I will never understand this. Out of 11 million, 7 million Jews were killed in World War 2 and mostly in concentration camps. The Polish community want people to visit as a reminder that this should never happen again. One would very much hope that it would never happen again, but with what is going on in the world today who knows!!!! It is very confronting but something we should all visit if you ever get the chance.
Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau
Personal items from the prisoners
Seven people would sleep on each of these shelves, top middle and bottom (the bottom was often full of muck and water)
Furnace
Gas chamber
For our trip to the country side we did an 18-kilometre hike to Pieskowa Skala Castle (polish for Little Dog’s Rock)in Ojcow National Park, it is built on limestone cliff and is very beautiful, the gardens are very well maintained, it was first mentioned in Latin documents before 1315.
On the hike we passed a beautiful small wooden chapel it is called Chapel on the water, back in the day it was prohibited to build a sacred object on earth, the chapel is situated over a pipe on concrete supports, this is how they got around this law, hence the name Chapel on water. We also passed a beautiful cross in the middle of the woods, we can only assume it was a memorial for someone.
Skala Castle
Chapel on the water
Cross we passed in the woods
Krakow is a very interesting City with so much history, we are so glad we stopped here.
