I arrived in Prague on Monday, staying at a hostel kind of out of the way from all the others, across the Charles Bridge near the castle. I didn’t do much the first couple days except for some casual sightseeing. I’d get up in the morning and wander around, look at the old stuff, and then go back to the hostel to work for a while.

Here’s the view from near the castle, about a 5 minute walk from where I was staying:

I won’t bore you with all the historical things there that people have been nice enough not to bomb over the years, but here’s a couple of the highlights:

The Prague Astronomical Clock has lots of stuff on it, it’s very complicated, and I was told what it meant but don’t really remember.

Old town square is nice, as is the cathedral. I took a picture of Prague Castle too.

On Tuesday I went out and had a few beers with my new friend Pumandu (sp?). I drank some Czech beers and had a little Absinthe, which is enough Absinthe. Wasn’t really impressed with anywhere we went, but it was nice to get out a bit.

The next morning I was up for the sunrise on Charles Bridge. Which I crossed about 50 times during the week. Unfortunately it was raining a little so I think the people lined up with their fancy cameras may have been a little underwhelmed. I still thought it looked cool though.

Mostly work the next day, but I met a couple people at the hostel and we wandered out for some hot wine and a beer. That worked out nicely because I was back in bed by 11.

I took a day trip out of Prague to Kutna Hora on Thursday. Went with someone from the hostel, and we met a girl from Australia that hung out with us most of the day.

Before I left, I took a picture of this cool looking office building:

The tour advertised: The Sedlec Ossuary (Bone Chapel), Saint Barbara’s Church, Hrádek Castle, The Hussite Wars, The Plague Column, Bohemia’s oldest Cistercian Monastery, Saint James’ Church, The Italian Court – Royal Mint, The Archdeanery, Medieval Ruthardska Street, The Jesuit College, Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist.

We had a nice guide and it was a nice little town, but I would describe it as largely forgettable. I took a couple pictures of the bone chapel, which was a little creepy I suppose, but with the constant commotion and cameras flashing, it kind of turned it into more of a tourist event than it did an eerie bone basement.

I also got a couple pictures of Saint Barbara’s Church:

And an overlook from there:

I skipped lunch with the group and wandered the town a bit, which was very small and didn’t speak much English outside the tourist areas. I found some cheap food in a grocery store, bought some basic toiletries, and stocked up on candy bars.

That evening the three of us continued to walk around, with the Lennon Wall #1 on the list. So we wandered down there, and there were some guys playing Beatles covers. There were “happy birthday” signs which we figured were just a joke of some kind, but then we looked it up and it was actually John Lennon’s 74th birthday. Good day to visit I guess.

We wandered around town a bit more, the highlight being a chocolate shop where we got chocolate waffles.

Friday was mostly a work day, although I did step out in the morning to go to a gallery in the old town square. It had three floors, each featuring the artwork of one of Dali, Mucha, and Warhol.

I actually quite liked Prague.  It has more of that smaller city feel that I like, but staying right in the tourist center is something I’d probably avoid last time.  Sometimes the locations more towards the business or shopping districts are a bit better, especially if you’re staying for several days.

After that it was a 5 hour bus ride from Prague to Vienna. I sat next to Natalie from Brno to Vienna, and we talked for a few hours, which is unusual for mass transit around here… but the WiFi went down so what else is there to do.