We arrived in Prague late in the evening on a Wednesday. I was curious about the Charles Bridge and heard it was very romantic so we headed in that direction as soon as we checked into our hotel and dropped our luggage. Well, so did everyone else. All the photos of the bridge that I always see online are a mirage! The Charles Bridge is PACKED every day and every night, you can hardly walk on the bridge. We headed back to the center of town and admired the gothic spires that are abundant in town. They don't call Prague The City of a Thousand Spires for nothing! The next day, we woke up and headed back to the square for a
Free Walking Tour and got some history on this gorgeous city. The tour is completely free, but you get so much detail (it's a three hour tour) and see all the places you want to see and even places you didn't know you had to see. At the end of the tour, you tip your tour guide. Maybe it's an American thing, but we tipped him the equivalent of $20 each and we were shocked when some people only tipped a few coins and one guy tipped him what would be $5 for a family of 6! If anyone has insight, we would love to hear it because we were afraid the free tours will stop if the tour guides aren't making money and really $20/person is way cheaper than some of the tours we found online! We also booked a paid tour of the Prague Castle for the following day with the same tour company.
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| Glitter Flats: Old Navy (old) (current); Footliners: Hue; Handbag: Sam Edelman (old) |
One thing that struck us immediately is how well preserved the city of Prague is and it turns out that Prague was to be the hometown of Hitler after the war, therefore it was never bombed during any of the World War II raids. The other interesting and disappointing tidbit is that all the statues on the Charles Bridge are fake! The originals were restored and are being preserved around the city in museums, universities, and other safe locations and all the statues on the bridge are just excellent replicas to guard against further damage to them from birds, humans, and the elements. I am going to do a post later this month just on the sights in Prague because there were just too many to reduce to one post!
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| Mr. Fantastic and I loved the tour & our guide who showed us this great place for photos of the Charles Bridge! |
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| My favorite photo of the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, and the Charles Bridge. |
This was my most favorite photo from the trip and I am not ashamed to admit that it took us almost 30 shots to get this one. We had to set the exposure really long to get both the castle and the bridge lit up and in focus, but we kept getting black burrs in the sky. Those were birds that were flying through the frame and of course, it just looked like a black blob because the exposure was set so long. But every time I see this photo, it always makes me smile.
What are tipping customs in Europe?
Happy to see you blogging again. Your trip looks amazing. One day I plan to go every where you went too!! LOL :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I have to admit that I miss it when I take a "break," but I can't bring myself to write when I have nothing to say! I was thinking that we need to start saving for a "blogger vacation." Not a conference, no goal, no learning, just sitting by the beach or the pool drinking frozen alcoholic beverages!
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