We stayed at the MAGNIFICENT Hotel Leon d'Oro, right in the heart of the Old Town. Sharon and David loved having a separate master suite opening up onto a balcony. We highly recommend.
Our first afternoon in Prague we took a Hop On/Hop Off Tour, and some historic highlights were Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge. Great way to maximize a day while recovering from jet lag.
A modern highlight of the tour was the Dancing House, designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. Every major, modern city in the world should have at least one building designed by the phenomenal Frank Gehry.
The next day we awoke early for a day of tourism. We started at the beautiful astronomical clock, adorned with celestial bodies. Every hour, the clock bells chime and sing a song while various saints appear in a window that opens at the top as they circle around. Concurrently, a skeleton rings a bell shaking his head yes as the man next to him shakes his head no, trying to deny his inevitable fate.
We climbed to the top of the clock tower and got a gorgeous view of Prague Town Square.
Next we went on a family bike tour with our phenomenal tour guide and Prague native Adam. It was a Sunday morning so the streets were deserted; perfect for biking! Mateo rode in a child seat in the back of David's bike, and Alexi expertly handled his own bike through the streets of Prague.
The public art in Prague absolutely rivals that in New York City. Our family favorites were the Kafka statues. Pictured at left is the kinetic sculpture consisting of 42 independent layers of stainless steel that spin around, representing Kafka's tortured personality, created by David Cerny. Pictured at right is Description of a Struggle by Jaroslav Rona, a Kafka statue named after one of his short stories.
We saw more great public art on our bike tour. The left picture shows Alexi hanging on to a giant baby sculpture by David Cerny with a bar code replacing its facial features. The right picture shows a trotting horse, a temporary art installation by the National Theater.
Upon the recommendation of Adam, we headed to Beas Vegetarian for a delicious self-catering Indian lunch.
The Indian vegetarian food at Beas was delicious, with an extensive selection of amazing food.
After lunch we came across the Hunger Wall, an incredibly moving memorial to the victims of communism.
After riding the funicular uphill, Alexi and Sharon climbed many, many stairs to get to the top of the Petrin Lookout Tower. This is the mini Eiffel Tower in Prague that gives an incredible view of the city.
Alexi & Sharon got an amazing view of Prague&saw why it is called the "City of a Hundred Spires".
After Alexi and Mami's descent, it was off to the Mirror Maze; so fun for kids and adults alike!
We spent the late afternoon touring and walking through Prague Castle, which we saw from a distance all day.
The Prague Castle Guard stands focused at attention, while Alexi and Mateo just cannot stay still!
Beautiful views of both the exterior and the interior of St. Vitus Cathedral greet visitors upon arrival.
Sharon went on a tour inside the cathedral and found out the stories behind the saints buried there and the symbolism of the blood of Christ in the stars throughout the cathedral.
The stained glass windows in the cathedral are stunning and very modern; cathedrals take hundreds of years to complete, so it was fascinating to track the passage of time in the stained glass windows.
The Royal Gardens are open to the public, and contain both beautiful architecture and flora.
We ate dinner close to Prague Castle at Vegan's Prague, which has beautiful decor and delicious homemade iced teas.
We ate some fresh hummus and a delicious veggie burger on a (yes, you saw correctly) purple bun.
The most famous dessert in Prague is chimney cake! Picture ice cream inside a sugared crepe with toppings of your choice. We enjoyed these alfresco at a cafe close to our hotel.
The weather in Prague changes as often as the weather in Iceland! There were periods of drizzle, when it got cool, though it was still warm enough to enjoy delicious chimney cake after a long day of touring.
Our last day in Prague was kid-focused: Kingdom of Railways, Chocolate Museum and Paddle Boating on the Charles River. The Chocolate Museum was definitely a highlight for David and the kids...all you can eat chocolate for lunch!!!
In the afternoon we rented a paddle boat, surmising that one of the best ways to see and experience Prague is by water.
Alexi was incredibly excited to pedal with David and be in the driver's seat! He did an excellent job.
Mateo and Sharon took in the view from the back seats, injecting songs and spirit into the ride.
In the evening we attended a string quartet concert featuring classical music at St. Martin in the Wall Church.
Wow! The Havelsky Market originated in 1232 and is still operating - it was very close to our hotel.
On our last evening in Prague David picked up a pizza pie and we had dinner alfresco on our balcony! This was a highlight of the trip for the whole family.
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