When I first told Allison that we were moving to Germany, she told me she already had a weekend in Prague planned to visit the Christmas Markets.
Once Cody and I made it here and got *mostly* settled in, I booked my ticket for my first weekend trip abroad!
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I booked a round trip bus ticket from Regensburg to Prague. On Friday morning I woke up early, took a pit stop at Cafe Opera (the delicious cafe across from our flat) and made my way to the bus stop.
I didn’t really realize how bus situations worked here. So I treated it as if I was flying. I showed up to the bus stop a good thirty minutes before it was set to leave. I didn’t realize that the bus was coming from somewhere else so would literally only arrive moments before departure time.
So I stood, waited, and nearly froze my fingers off. Luckily for me I was able to snag a row of seats to myself so I spread out with my croissant, Harry Potter, and all my winter gear.
Our Weekend in Prague
Our trip started on a Friday afternoon when I was dropped off at the bus stop. Allison met me there and we walked slash took public transit (these super cool tram type things) to our hotel.
We spent the afternoon walking around the Jewish Quarter and experiencing some of the things there. To be honest, I am not a huge history person so museums and history kind of bore me. Which, I don’t know, this is quite possibly like the worst thing I could say…I was bored by observing all of the pain and horror Jews went through during the Holocaust. It’s not really that- I definitely felt a sense of mourning observing and reading about this tragic time. But, ya know…it’s history- so I’m glad we did that first and got it out of the way.
Actually, what hit me most in our visit to the Jewish Quarter was an art gallery of artwork created by kids in concentration camps. That hit me hard. I was in awe of the fact the sweet little childlike pictures I was staring at looked just like the developmental process of my students back home in Texas. These kids were real kids.
We did some more walking around before winding up in the Christmas Markets.
We returned to our hotel Friday evening and I think Allison was completely zonked out by 6:30 PM. She was dealing with jet lag and I wasn’t. Even though she was asleep before seven pm, I made the most of it.
I took a shower, got in my pj’s, and curled up in bed with Harry Potter!
Seriously, this excited me more than you know. I am past the phase in my life where I need to be doing something cool at all times and I was super stoked to be in bed and reading. I think I was asleep by 9:00…so I call that a WIN!
Christmas Markets in Prague
We spent a lot of time meandering through the Christmas Markets. When I announced we were moving abroad all anyone (50 years or older) told me was “the Christmas Markets are beautiful!”
The first market we wandered around was the one in Old Town Square near the Astronomical Clock. This one was HUGE and crowded with so many people.
Allison also tried the famous “Chimney Cake.” Although we found out they aren’t really even a Czech tradition. LAME!
The Christmas Markets in Prague were really fun to walk around but they were all very much the same. And everything seemed to be from an “Oriental Trading” type company. Like, every single market had the same vendor stands selling the same things.
I think we were both a little disappointed in that. But we did make a fun time out of it by trying to find all the Christmas Markets in Prague and see what was different at each of them.
My favorite Christmas Market was this one right here. I couldn’t tell you where it was. But it was much less crowded and seemed to have a bit more originality in their vendors.
Day 1 in Prague
Allison, being a daughter of Ron Buchtien, had a completely outlined itinerary complete with a google map with all of the sights marked on it. This made me so incredibly happy.
But then I ruined her plan. Seeing as I had been in Prague about a month before and tried walking across the Charles Bridge with 14,387 people who were also walking across the bridge, I suggested we go visit the bridge first thing.
We woke up really early and decided to take advantage of being the first ones out and about. I am glad we did! We actually got to enjoy the bridge!
The walk across the bridge was calm and enjoyable. Plus, Allison was hoping for snow and IT SNOWED!
I had never really experienced snow before this move and this day was the first time I really saw snow and saw that there are in fact little snowflakes!
We walked around Prague before returning to the hotel so I could put on another layer of pants. Then it was time for our food tour!
Food Tour in Prague
Saturday afternoon was spent doing a walking food tour. This was by far the highlight of the trip! Food is my love language. And we basically got a behind the scenes type tour of Prague while trying out some local cuisine.
After our food tour wrapped up we found ourselves at Wenceslas Square and got to see some live Christmas music. It gave me all the feels!
We made our way back to the hotel and crashed again. Only this time we were tired because of the 25,000+ steps we took.
Day 2 in Prague
Sunday morning we decided to venture up the hill to the famous Prague Castle. Luckily we took the tram.
When Cody and I went to Prague the month before, we walked up there and OMG that was like the worst walk ever. So.Many.Stairs.
The Prague Castle was beautiful. But to be honest, it’s beauty was hindered a bit because it was so bitterly cold. I wore two pairs of gloves and my fingers still felt like they were about to fall off.
We did get a chance to watch the changing of the guards which is always a cool thing to do. My heart went out to the men standing guard in the bitter cold.
So I was immediately grateful when we found a cute pizzeria to pop into for some warmth and food. i
Touring Prague
The rest of Sunday evening was spent doing more walking around Prague. We found a few more Christmas Markets, stopped in a couple of churches, and wound up at Narodni Museum which was honestly a huge let down.
The museum was renovated so they were letting all visitors in for free. And I am glad we didn’t pay for it. That’s all I have to say about that.
Sunday night we ate at a restaurant near our hotel before tucking in for the night.
Day 3 in Prague
By Monday morning we had hit all of our points on the itinerary, even if we didn’t stick to the schedule. So we decided to just walk around and see where the wind took us.
We wound up getting to see the awesome book tower in the Municipal Library of Prague. And we stopped off for some coffee and tea.
After lunch we returned to the hotel so I could pack up and return to Regensburg.
This is now my second time visiting Prague. I have a feeling I’ll be back, but I honestly think I am “Pragued out” ;)!
I am really grateful for my weekend with Allison, especially since it was our first holiday abroad. It felt good to have someone from my family to celebrate the holiday with!
Until next time,
