Prague Day 1
I get a little wary of speaking glowingly about every place I’ve visited, as I don’t want to risk coming of as less than genuine, however, it truly feels like each place I’ve had the pleasure to visit so far has tried its best to out do the city that preceded it. Prague is absolutely incredible, and I can’t wait to go back. The whole city maintains a picturesque style of old European stylings and cobblestones that both lend a consistent style guide and a lively uniqueness that makes every corner a sight to behold.
My hotel in Prague was located in Prague District 1, which is one of the oldest parts of town, and sits up on a hill overlooking the rest of the city, and is on the other side of the river from the larger centers of modern day Prague. The hotel itself was pretty interesting, and is a historical heritage site dating back to 1620 with the room giving off cosy Eastern European farmhouse vibes. I got in pretty late the night before from Vienna, so I woke up to church bells in the morning with absolutely no idea what was surrounding me, and excited to explore. I knew that my hotel was situated very close to a monastery (hence the church bells) so I started walking up the hill along a wall that looked fairly medieval just to see what I could find. I haven’t seen a ton of nature/open spaces so far in my trip, so when my path turned into a little more of a hike than I was expecting, I was pretty pleasantly surprised. I found myself in a clearing with a few buildings, and an observation tower built in 1891 that overlooked the city and the monastery. Although cold, the nature park around the monastery was incredibly quiet and serine, and I found myself spending a lot of time here in my few days in Prague.
The monastery itself is very cool, and people come from from all over the city just to have a monastery beer or two at the restaurants in and around the monastery. I was heartbrokenly turned away from a restaurant that was in an old monks wine cellar as they were too busy for lunch, but got to walk around for a few minutes anyways. The scenery from up here is incredible, and just steps from my hotel I have panoramic views of the whole city.
I spent the rest of the day just wandering around the city with no real aim. There are so many cool things to see here, and so many beautiful sights that I just kept wanting to see more. Some of my favorites were the Charles Bridge, which is a walking bridge from the 15th century which has really neat statues lining the way, and as it has become a tourist hot spot, a very cool mix of street performers and artists as well. After stomping around all of downtown Prague, the hike back up the hill at the end of the day was enough to ensure a good nights sleep, that is for sure.
