It was an early arrival so we were up at 6AM. We both slept pretty well. The train conductor responsible for our train cart gave us our tickets back in the morning (they keep them as we travel). We arrived in Prague at 6:35AM.
We had to find the Airbnb which was pretty easy and only 15 min away or so. We met the owners and they welcomed us in even thought it was so early! We needed breakfast still so we went to their kitchen and made some of our oatmeal. It was a couple that lived there and they were getting ready for work, the man left first and then the woman, both very nice. They showed us bedroom which was huge and like half the house. It had a living room in it and the bed was upstairs. We got settled a bit and then were out on the town.
This city was very easy to navigate. This city was very large and people here actually looked like they were going to work. In the other countries, no one seemed to be going to work, no rush, no schedule, they were just living it seemed. We walked down a really large main street that looked a lot like NY streets-not as many people, but some rushing people moving about their day. There were expensive stores and large storefronts. Then we reached the Old Town.-more crammed streets- very Italian-like streets, buildings had huge pointed tops-very medieval feeling. It looked liked we were in the How to Train Your Dragon movie.
We also saw the famous Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, and Old Town Square.
On our way down from the castle, we kept seeing these dough cones. They seemed to be a cultural must have so we got one. Oh gosh it was delicious and it was called a trdelnik! It is a cake and sweet pastry that is rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with cinnamon sugar and/or almonds and they will fill it with ice cream, nutella, or whip cream and strawberries. We got one with almonds and it was to die for!! You peel it down the cone (check out my fb books and try not to drool). What a fantasic treat---it tastes like a sweet hot preztel almost but much better!
We walked more around the old town square and then had lunch at a sandwich shop called Bageteria Blvd. We kinda just picked because we walked past and after we did it seemed a lot of local ate here. We shared a chicken Caesar sandwich which was good. These sandwiches are made to eat on the go but we decided to grab a table outside for an hour and people watch a bit. People here had bigger builds like Poland, but they were more muscular. Girls and guys were more attractive here as well. Lots of English spoken everywhere. Once we left we were just walking around and these girls from a cookie store asked if wanted to try some samples and heck yes we did! Alex never turns down free samples. They gave us 5 different cookie types to get us to buy them. They girl guiding and selling to us was very nice and knew English of course. Once we said we had to go get local currency and we would be back (which we were not really going to come back), she said they would take Euros or credit cards, but we just kept saying we would come back and then she gave us a nasty look.
We then decided to go back to the apartment to relax for a bit
It really pisses me off that they charge to use the restrooms. We have learned that Starbucks and KFC's have free bathroom because they are American chains so we tend to find and use those. But we go back to our apartments sometimes to go too.
The Airbnb owner had left a local, neighborhood map so after resting for a bit we took that and followed it to a local beautiful park which has this amazing overlook of the city. We sat and reminisced about our trip thus far and cuddled a bit as other couples were doing as well. It was a very nice neighborhood this airbnb place was in and it was a large large house in which we stayed so this woman who owned it had to have had a lot of money and she looked about my age or maybe younger. We wanted another trdelnik so badly so we went to exchange a little more money (a lot of the exchanges are 0% commission which is awesome). This time we got one with ice cream and nutella in it. Wow!!! I crave one now almost everyday because it was that good!! After this before dinner treat, it was off to dinner. The airbnb owner told us about a local Czech cuisine place so we went there and it was only 2-3 blocks from where she lived. It was called Hajshovka. We ordered stuffed chicken with mushrooms that came with a potato stack, and we also ordered dumplings ( I had to get some-they are much denser and drier then what we have in the States but delicious!), and chicken noodle soup. The food was very good. The waitors/resses spoke a little English to at least order. After dinner we left all the Czech money we had (of course we tipped) and walked back to the apartment. We showered and went to bed exhausted!
First impressions:
-Very clean, easy to navigate, still smoking but less, people going places in hurry, very medieval feel in buildings, lots of English, most places will take Euros, this was the closest to feel like being inside a U.S. city.
-I didn't know Czech was called new Bohemia so I guess I am somewhat Czech because I am Bohemian.