Sam and Misty: Prague, Czech Republic

Sam and I had been wanting to take a trip to Prague, so it worked out for us to go while his Mom was visiting in September. We debated between taking a plane, train or automobile because it's quite a distance with a baby who doesn't like to sit in her carseat for longer than an hour or two. Driving finally won out though because it was just too expensive to fly and the train still would have been a long trip. It took about 5 hours to drive, se we headed out very early in the morning with the hopes that Elly would go back to sleep and miss about half of the trip. That didn't quite work out, but she did pretty good anyhow.

As we got closer to Prague Sam's mom mentioned this castle that was nearby. We saw signs for it and decided to check it out. We were so glad we did because it was a beautiful little castle and a really cute town at the bottom of the hill. On top of that, it was a nice break from the trip.

We couldn't even see the castle from the parking area. It was nestled way back in the hills so we decided to take a horse carriage to the castle. It was kind of chilly that day and we didn't know how long of a walk it was. Sam and Elly sat across from me and she really enjoyed the ride.

Elly loved watching the horses. The driver would flip the switch which would make the horses flip their tails. Everytime she did that Elly would giggle. She thought it was the funniest thing.

We had to get a picture with the horses that Elly liked so much.

After the carriage dropped us off, we walked the rest of the way to the castle.

Karlstejn Castle was built in the 14th century by the King of Bohemia and (according to Wikipedia) was used to house the royal jewels and treasures. That makes alot of sense to me since it's not even visible until you get close. It's very well hidden.

On our way back from the castle we walked through the little town at the bottom of the hill. It was a very quaint little town.

Karlstejn Castle overlooking the town.

Mom Thompson, Elly and I

One of the little allyways heading toward the old servant's quarters ~ where we stayed in Prague.

Before leaving Stuttgart we were trying to get reservations at hotels in Prague, but they were all booked...thanks to us waiting until the last minute. Anyhow, Sam found this website that offered apartments for rent at a very resonable price. We half wondered if it wasn't a hoax of some sort, but sure enough it existed. We had a hard time finding the address due to constuction in the area. When we did eventually find the apartment, the lady had just offered it to someone else since we didn't show up when we said we would. Thankfully, she was able to call the other people back and cancel with them. We didn't find out until later that we were staying in the old servant's quarters of the Prague Castle.

Loreta church in the Castle district

Cannon balls are embedded in this building from when the Prussian armies attacked - I assume in WW2.

One of the tiny little streets in the Castle District where we stayed.

The entrance to Prague Castle is to the left which overlooks Old Town Prague in the distance.

Elly and Oma

Stairs leading down to Old Town

Us overlooking Old Town Prague

I think this building is still an active monastary

St. Vitus Cathedral ~ Located within the Prague Castle, this cathedral contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors. According to Wikipedia, it is the biggest and most important church in the country.

Changing of the Guard at the Prague Castle

Wearing Daddy's sunglasses

Behind us is Charles Bridge which crosses over the Vltava River. Charles Bridge was built in the 14th century and is decorated with 30 statues.

Oma and Elly with Charles Bridge in the background

Crossing over the Charles Bridge. There were lots of vendors selling things on the bridge and we saw several pick-pockets at work. We held on to our bags very carefully.

According to our tour guide, this building with an American flag flying over it is just a facade for the U.S. Embassy. He said the actual embassy is in a secret, secure location because of threats that have been made against the U.S.

I really love how buildings are constructed in alot of the European cities. Often they seem to be attached for whole blocks. This is looking down from the top of the Astronomical Clock building.

At the top of the Astronomical Clock building. Behind us is the double towers from the Church of Our Lady before Tyn in the Old Town square.

Mom Thompson

Before leaving the Czech Republic we drove to Kunta Hora to visit the Sedlec Ossuary, more commonly known as the Bone Church. The bones of an estimated 40,000-70,000 skeletons have been used to "decorate" this church. It was rather disturbing and I still don't really understand why someone would use bones to decorate, but from what I understand it was after the Black Plague and the Hussite Wars when so many people died and were buried in the church cemetary. At some point they were dug up and stored in the church to make room for more burials and some monk decided to use them as decoration. I may not have all that exactly right, but that's what I understand.