It's Czech, mate: Day 2, Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and Spooky Cocktails

[CrispyA]

Day 2, Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and Spooky Cocktails

Slept mostly okay and the beds were comfy. I managed to have another coughing fit in the night but fortunately it settled down. Why can you never have coughing fits when it doesn't really matter all that much?

We are a pretty "up and out" kind of family on holiday so had arranged to call for the kids about 8.30 to go for breakfast and they were both up. Evan was a bit brighter and swearing by the medicinal properties of Boots Cold and Flu tablets which was good.

The breakfast was fantastic - really good selection of breads, cheese, ham, salads, hot options, fruit, yogurt, cakes, eggs etc. We all really enjoyed it, even if I am not convinced about coleslaw at breakfast time! There was plenty of variety and the staff were very good at keeping it all topped up.

After breakfast, we sent the kids off to get ready. And then we waited.

The two people who were ready ON TIME

Eventually they appeared and we set off, planning to walk to Prague castle. The public transport in Prague is pretty good but being as every where we wanted to go seemed to be a 20 minute walk from the hotel, we didn't need to bother with it.

The weather was lovely and sunny, due to get to 20 degrees later on. This was not a surprise as we had checked the forecast before we went thanks to the wonders of the internet. Knowing that the weather would be warm and sunny, me and the kids had packed our sunglasses. This made sense, especially as sunglasses are very light and take up very little space. No reason not to pack them you might think . . .

Unless your name is Paul and then for reasons known best to yourself, you decide that packing sunglasses is for other people and frying your eyeballs is the plan for 2022.

And then, of course, deciding on the walk to Prague Castle that going without sunglasses is intolerable and plans must be made to purchase a pair forthwith. Never mind that he has many pairs at home, for golf, for cycling, for running, for driving, for holidays . . . If only he had packed the damn things!

It is a nice walk to Prague castle through the old streets of Mala Strana. It wasn't too long before we arrived and started to enjoy the views of Prague.

We wondered into the castle grounds and looked for the ticket office. You can see quite a bit of it for free but we were fine to pay for the basic ticket which gives you access to the main sites. One of these is St Vitus Cathedral which is quite dramatic.

We did have a moment as we tried to get into the building. You scan your ticket and go through the turnstile which should not be particularly difficult. Unfortunately, Hannah seemed to be incapable of this very simple task and got stuck. We all had a jolly good laugh about it, including the man who was in charge of the turnstile, and proceeded to mock Hannah about it for the rest of of the holiday. We are such a lovely family.

It is a gorgeous example of Gothic architecture and very fancy inside, with this very subtle and understated tomb of St John of Nepomuk, containing around a tonne of silver.

Considering the cathedral is dedicated to St Vitus, there is very little about him in there and it is all about St Ludmila, the patron saint of Bohemia, and of course, St Wenceleslas, the former duke of Bohemia.

The chapel dedicated to him is quite spectacular.

There are also some gorgeous stained glass windows.

Outside the cathedral, we considered going for a wee but balked at the idea of having to pay to go, especially considering we had already paid to get in! Nobody was that desperate so we carried on.

Our tickets included the Old Royal Palace and we visited this, mainly to see the very window that was the centre of the Great Defenestration of 1618. This was when disgruntled Protestants threw two Royal governors out of a window, sparking the 30 Years War. (They both survived, btw).

Suitably impressed with the Defenestration Window, we headed for the square and the Easter Market. There were a few stalls and Hannah and I had a look at the souvenirs while the boys became increasingly fascinated with some barbecued meat.

We finally managed to entice the Bisto Kids away to visit St George's Basilica which dates from 920 AD. After that, we headed to Golden Lane which is a row of tiny preserved houses belonging to different inhabitants, including one which housed Franz Kafka.

We continued to potter around the Castle Grounds, taking in the views and planning what to do next.

Mostly, the three of us enjoyed having the correct eye wear for the weather conditions, while Paul squinted and scowled and kept muttering about packing failures.

The plan was then to head across Charles Bridge and locate a sunglasses emporium and get some lunch.

Charles Bridge was very well signposted and although it is super touristy and busy, it is also very pretty and lovely to walk across. We found this jolly statue of St Vitus and Hannah paid homage.

There are lots of statues and great views across the Vltava River. We found this one of St John of Nepomuk which seemed in keeping with his very blingy tomb.

There were lots of vendors and street artists and one guy who seemed to be playing a wok. To be fair, it sounded pretty good . . .

Paul in "Dad Mode" here.

Once across the bridge, we headed for somewhere to buy Paul some sunglasses (and stop him moaning about how bright it was because who knew that the sun would be sunny?).

Read on to find out if we managed it . . . .

[CrispyA]

Fortunately for everyone, we found a shopping centre and lo and behold, there was a pharmacy and forsooth it did sell sunglasses. We all resisted the urge to say "Those. Get those" at the first pair he tried on and kept it in until the third pair before marching him to the till because damnit we were hungry!

The lovely fellow who makes Prague videos had made on about cheap eats in the city and we had paid particular attention as we are all about the cheap eats. He had recommended the Baguetterie Boulevard and there was a branch opposite so we piled in to get baguettes all round. We pretty much inhaled them and can thoroughly recommend as a lunch time snack.

Fully revived (and having had a wee), we decided to wander back to Charles Bridge for Evan to get a Trdelnik which is a kind of donut tube that gets filled with ice cream or cream. They sell them all over and it seemed to be the snack you had to try. They were pretty hefty and something you could use to beat back potential defenstrators should you find yourself in that situation.

The rest of us had gelato and we all helped Evan with his giant donut.

We all really enjoyed just taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the views. Prague avoided the bombing of WW2 and so the gorgeous architecture is preserved.

We also spotted one of the coypu who live under the bridge. They are a bit like beavers but without the flat tails and we were fascinated to watch it swimming down the river.

We also spotted some fancy boats.

Charles Bridge is definitely worth a visit and is a very charming bridge indeed.

We walked back through Mala Strana, finding the famous John Lennon wall on the way.

Heading back to the riever, we passed these very odd statues of Babies. Each to their own, I guess.

We did fancy a beer in the sun by the river and ended up at this bar which Paul did have a good old chunter about as he didn't really want to go there. Much as it pains me to say so, he was right and it was quite overpriced and we didn't get to sit in the sun, but we did enjoy our drinks. And at least he now had some protective eyewear and could stop moaning about the skies being overly bright.

Hannah ended up with a Limoncello spritz which to me tasted like fizzy Lemsip and the rest of us had Pilsner Urquell, the local beer.

Once back at the hotel we decided to climb up Petrin Hill which was conveniently right outside. It's a lovely park with great views. We took some beers and decanted some wine into a water bottle for Hannah and enjoyed winding our way up the hill.

It was lovely just wandering around the sunshine and greenery and then we stopped to have a drink and some snacks.

Looking pretty classy. Behold the sunglasses of the man who thought he didn't need to pack any . . . Will we ever let him forget that? Not while we are still mocking Hannah for being unable to work a turnstile . . .

Having made the most of sunshine, we then got ready to go out for the evening. Much as we wanted to eat Czech food while in Prague, we also wanted Hannah to enjoy her meals so decided to go Vietnamese this time. But first of all we were going to visit the nearby Nightmare Horror Bar which the kids had found on Google Maps.

We nervously opened the door and then wound our way down a Health and Safety defying spiral staircase, all bathed in a strange red light.

Downstairs, the bar was full of figures from horror movies

with old black and white horrors being played on the TVs. The theming was great and we had lots of fun with the cocktail menu.

The themed glasses were cool, as were the little syringes and other extras.

Paul stuck to beer but the rest of us let rip with the cocktails and it was really good fun.

We stopped before we would have been unable to climb the very disorientating stairs and headed for the Vietnamese restaurant where we had a lovely meal. I had never tried Bun Cha so ordered that and was quite nonplussed when it arrived, having to quickly google how to eat it! It was very tasty though once you put everything together and dipped it in the soup!

After the food we were totally shattered and headed back to the hotel and to bed. Paul and I tried a bit of French news again and some German sports channels before completely zonking out.

[Melbatb]

I think the sunglasses will never be forgotten again (either by Paul or the ribbing by the rest of you )

Prague looks like such a beautiful city! And the horror bar 😱😱

[DisneyDaffodil]

I am loving your trip report, laughing out loud as I’m reading it. I’m so pleased Paul found suitable sunglasses, why do men never remember to pack items that are obviously necessary for holidays? My DH has, over the years, forgotten underwear, belts, sunglasses, socks, toiletries and shoes 🙄

The cathedral looks amazing, poor Hannah with the turnstile, but it’s only right that she gets teased about it, it’s your duty as loving parents 😂

The ice cream filled doughnut looks delicious, as do all the beers. The walk in the park looks lovely and relaxing with a few drinks too. Loving the Hannah poses 💞

The Nightmare Horror Bar looks such fun. Vietnamese food sounds a refreshing change from the meat and potato based dishes too. Bun cha is delicious, as is most Vietnamese dishes. If we ever book a trip to Prague I will ask you for directions to the Vietnamese restaurant 😀

[CrispyA]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

I think the sunglasses will never be forgotten again (either by Paul or the ribbing by the rest of you )

Prague looks like such a beautiful city! And the horror bar 😱😱

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I could understand it of the sunshine was unexpected but we even talked about the weather forecast and agreed we would pack sunglasses! Yet he still didn’t manage it!

The Horror bar was ridiculous but great fun

[CrispyA]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

I am loving your trip report, laughing out loud as I’m reading it. I’m so pleased Paul found suitable sunglasses, why do men never remember to pack items that are obviously necessary for holidays? My DH has, over the years, forgotten underwear, belts, sunglasses, socks, toiletries and shoes 🙄

The cathedral looks amazing, poor Hannah with the turnstile, but it’s only right that she gets teased about it, it’s your duty as loving parents 😂

The ice cream filled doughnut looks delicious, as do all the beers. The walk in the park looks lovely and relaxing with a few drinks too. Loving the Hannah poses 💞

The Nightmare Horror Bar looks such fun. Vietnamese food sounds a refreshing change from the meat and potato based dishes too. Bun cha is delicious, as is most Vietnamese dishes. If we ever book a trip to Prague I will ask you for directions to the Vietnamese restaurant 😀

See more...

My Dad used to forget his swimming trunks every time. He had so many emergency purchases!

Hannah does do the best poses and clearly bonded with St Vitus. And she kids loved the Horror bar - as did we.

Vietnamese food is great - must have been fab to be able to eat the real thing! And you should go to Prague, great city for a short break.

[ClaireNJ]

All looks very very pretty and so does that huge donut 😋😋😋

[Goldia]

What glorious weather you're having, a shame not everyone packed for it! So, funny. You're photos are great and I agree it's such a walkable city, we never bothered using the public transport either. The cocktails all look fun and it really looks like you're enjoying yourselves.

[katiebaz]

Loving the report and looks a great day. Gorgeous buildings, fab cocktails and a huge ice cream filled doughnut - what more could you want? Glad Paul got his sunglasses too

[CrispyA]

Originally Posted by ClaireNJ

All looks very very pretty and so does that huge donut 😋😋😋

See more...

It was a ridiculous donut! But had to be done