Prague: Day 1

Hello!

I really enjoy this quote, I feel like it is a very accurate description of my current situation! :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I know I sure did!

Let's get to it!

Blake and I made a list of all the places we wanted to go while living in Germany. A few of the places on my list, Blake has already been to (when he lived abroad in Spain). But one place fairly high on both of our lists that neither of us have been to was Prague!

Prague was dreamy to me. Such an old town, rich in history and a castle. I'm in. So we knew that Prague would be first on our list. It is (supposed to be) only a little over a 4 hour drive from Braunschweig to Prague. We loaded the car up with our one suitcase and off we went!

The drive started off great. It was beautiful, we were going way too fast, and the sun was shining.

Then all of a sudden, it wasn't so great! We hit a major traffic jam! We barely moved for an hour. The GPS directed us to get off because the highway was closed ahead...Okay, you're kidding right? I don't know if she was kidding or not, but we got off. Along with hundreds of other people. We drove, very slowly, through back roads and small German towns. It was lovely, but it just wasn't moving! So I had this brilliant idea to ask Siri for help. The iPhone directions were definitely different than our GPS, so we took a chance. Which lead us to even smaller German towns and narrow roads, but hey at least we were moving.

Beautiful scenery and greenery. Oh look, I can rhyme.

Excuse the bug plastered window. But, yes, that was the TWO-WAY road we were driving down! If another car came, someone would pull off to the side. T'was scary!

Finally, we found ourselves back to the freeway after our little detour. Our journey continued. 

Before we left, we had read online that in order to drive in the Czech Republic you need a Vignette (sticker on the window). You can buy them at the last rest stop before entering Czech or you can wait until the first rest stop/gas station in Czech. This is similar to driving on a toll road, but instead of paying as you drive they want you to have a pass. They are sold in annual, month, or 10-day options. We purchased the 10-day option for 12 EUR. We stopped at the last stop before the border. It was labeled with a sign that said "Vignette sold here". I write that because truly it was unclear before we left if we would know where to buy this thing or not. Well, it was clear. Very clear.

The sticker that goes in the passenger side of the window. You must write your license plate number in pen on the sticker, and keep the bottom half for your records. If you are caught driving on a toll road without the sticker you could be fined up to 5000 CZK, and you have to pay on the spot or they can take you to jail. (5000 CZK is roughly $210 USD.)

Everything was going well, until is wasn't. The road all of a sudden ended again. We followed it along and exited the freeway, then got back on what seemed to be towards the right direction, until the GPS got mad and started telling us to do something different, so we did. It seemed as though we just kept going in circles. Get off the freeway, get back on go the wrong way, get back on go the right way only to have it end again and we get back off and go the wrong way. In all honesty, there probably was a detour sign but we can't read Czech, so I don't know what good that would've done us. Finally, our GPS got sick of recalculating and found another route. (Mind you, we're WELL past the 4 hours at this point.)

We exited, drove through a small town and then head up a mountain. Again, small narrow roads that don't even have street names. I was thankful we had enough gas!

At least it was pretty!

GPS taking us down road 25834. I was just thinking, what in the world. 

At times, it felt like we were in the jungle, and on some roads that maybe we shouldn't have been?

Well at last, we found our hotel. 7. Freaking. Hours. Later.

We were tired, and sore, and ready to get up and move around! First, we had to check in and park the car.

Well, here, at this point, amidst all the driving fiascos, I am thinking we're in PRAGUE, what else could go wrong. We made it! We didn't crash, we didn't get pulled over, we didn't run out of gas, we. made. it. Yay! Then... I gave the lady my passport, she finds our reservation and she says "I have bad news," (I stopped listening, really) but then I guess she also said she had good news too? 

She tells us there has been a terrible mistake and the hotel has been overbooked! There wasn't a room left for us. HAH! I am just like okay, well I am gonna go sit on this fancy leather sofa over here while you figure this out. 

She then tells us the good news. They changed our reservation to their sister hotel, a few blocks away. They were upgrading us to a suite on the top floor, they were giving us free drinks, and they were giving us complimentary parking. Okay. That all is great news! Blake parked the car, in the last spot, and we went walking the few blocks with our luggage. *The sister hotel didn't have any parking, our original hotel did-why we picked it in the first place, so we had to leave the car at the original hotel. It was in a gated underground garage so it was nice and safe!*

   

Hotel views! And the suite life wasn't so bad. ;)

Even the sidewalks were pretty!

My shoes may be dorky, but they put in a SOLID 20 miles this weekend. I know you all want to get yourselves a pair, so you can find them here. Truthfully, I could wear something more fashionable, but why? These are so comfy.

Along our walk to the Old Town Square we passed my favorite store (a kitchen aid concept store!) and a Hooters! I had NO idea that Hooters existed any where but America. Well, Prague has TWO my friends. TWO.

The main square. The street is filled with shops and restaurants, and is on the way to Old Town.

And bubble blowers. Cause bubbles make people happy.

The streets are narrow, there were tons of people, and cars just kind of drove over your feet... Not really, but they might as well have.

Oh look, Riley found a Starbucks!

The Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Square. 

If you are interested in reading about this, here is some good info.

It was windy, and our selfie skills are sub par. 

Nailed it. :)

Old Town Square

River views!

Czech cookies. Smelled like Christmas, tasted like Christmas.

The beginning of The Charles Bridge.

Ignore my hair. And face. Enjoy the scenery!

After this we just kept walking. Eating macaroons and loving life! We stopped for dinner somewhere that had an open table and a menu with something Blake would eat. We didn't plan a thing and it was lovely! We both ate really great steak. I contemplated heavily on ordering some Czech goulash or something more traditional. But after eating so much pork, I really was just craving a juicy steak. So that's what I got. And I sure am happy I did. Our meal was incredibly cheap by our standards. Two steak dinners, and 4 beers. 900 CZK. The rates change, but roughly that is 35 USD. Not bad!

After dinner, we went to a brewery called U Fleku. It has 8 dining halls and a garden. The place was HUGE. They only offer one beer though. The U Fleku dark lager. It was smooth, creamy, and delicious.  

Blake has been searching long and hard for an IPA sine we've moved to Europe. We can buy it in bottles at one store here in Braunschweig, but we don't have a fridge, so we haven't been able to get it yet. Riley did a little research before we left and I found a bar called Nota Bene. Nota Bene seemed like it was out of the way... but it wasn't too bad. And it was worth it if you want good beer! We took one of the last tables and enjoyed some great beers! Many many many people rave about the food there as well, but since we had already ate dinner, I am not able to speak about that. 

As we were walking back to the hotel, I told Blake we should go to the Hooters and see if the have cheese sticks. Well we went, and they did. And they were delicious. #noshame

That about wraps up day one! Come back tomorrow to read all about day two and three!