I'm absolutely in love with this place. End of story. Well, I guess I'll go on and give a bit of details. Plus, these pictures deserve a bit of explanation.
There's something about it I can't quite explain, but I loved it from the beginning. Spain, yes it was incredible and I'll always cherish it, but it took some getting used to. Here, I didn't have to convince myself it was amazing. I just knew. I was walking alone one day after completing an interview and it just hit me how magical the place is. The thing is, there's not a whole lot of sights to see here, it's the entire city really have to see, or experience more so. I felt so lucky to be here and part of this city as I walked on the cobblestone streets filled with such history and location of treacherous it breaks your heart. These streets have been the grounds of opposition, conformity and some of histories worse actions, the Holocaust, which still haunt the streets.
The first night we were in Prague (Praha) we met up with a local who took us on an enchanting walking tour of the city. The weather was absolutely horrific, but there was the beauty of Prague at night to distract me from the numbness quickly overcoming my body. Prague is magnificent it's has been referred to as "mother of all cities," "city of a hundred spires" and "the golden city." I agree with all those names, and the picture above can attest to the golden city. This was a top the castle, which did I mention is the world's largest castle?
If this doesn't prove how cold it is here....I don't know what else could! I could explain the routine of putting on a pair of socks, then leggings, then snowboarding socks, then jeans, then under armor, then long sleeved...OK I think you get the point. Let's just say, we have to plan ahead an extra 5 mins just to get all the layers on! Here, scarves are a necessity...not a fashion statement. I'd love to see some of the girls from Orange County here, trying to make this weather in their flip-flops, jeans, t-shirts and ever so fashionable scarves in 75 degree weather. hahaAnyways, I learned very quickly to just hold my breath when I was taking pictures so it wouldn't show up in the picture! haha It baffled me at first, but then I figured it out when I glanced at my friends standing in a circle and could see white puffs exiting their mouths as if the night was sucking away their spirit!
How could you not love a place where they have very large, decorated Christmas trees everywhere?
This is the largest castle in the world. The castle is the part that's higher up in the picture. The thing in the front is the parliament building. The castle sits right behind the River Vltava and can be seen from all over the city. The interesting thing about this castle is it's all open corridors. So, you can walk around the center of it, just like it's a patio or something. The castle's been turned into the Czech Republic government offices and is basically just long corridors and hallways of offices. Kind of a shame for a castle to be so professional, but really interesting that their leaders actually work in a castle. Part of the city is on the other end of the castle so people just walk through it to get to the other side. Like it's no big deal to be walking through the world's largest castle to get to school everyday. Then, there's a magnificent cathedral in the center of it. It's really hard to explain the layout of this place. Just keep in mind, huge and seen from all over the city. I love the lights the lights on the buildings at night. It'd be a shame to miss this place at night. We actually walked up to the castle around 10 at night and there was no special entrance or anything. We ended in the center of it, right in front of the cathedral and facing a open patio area.
How could you not love a place where they have very large, decorated Christmas trees everywhere? 
This is the largest castle in the world. The castle is the part that's higher up in the picture. The thing in the front is the parliament building. The castle sits right behind the River Vltava and can be seen from all over the city. The interesting thing about this castle is it's all open corridors. So, you can walk around the center of it, just like it's a patio or something. The castle's been turned into the Czech Republic government offices and is basically just long corridors and hallways of offices. Kind of a shame for a castle to be so professional, but really interesting that their leaders actually work in a castle. Part of the city is on the other end of the castle so people just walk through it to get to the other side. Like it's no big deal to be walking through the world's largest castle to get to school everyday. Then, there's a magnificent cathedral in the center of it. It's really hard to explain the layout of this place. Just keep in mind, huge and seen from all over the city. I love the lights the lights on the buildings at night. It'd be a shame to miss this place at night. We actually walked up to the castle around 10 at night and there was no special entrance or anything. We ended in the center of it, right in front of the cathedral and facing a open patio area. An interesting story, and I hate the main character of it, but it still proves the charm of this place. One day after Hitler had entered Prague to take over he was walking down one of the slight hills exiting the castle into one of the town squares when he stopped and proclaimed where he was standing at that moment is his favorite place in all of Europe. He believed it was the most beautiful place and I'm sure he wanted to put a statue of himself there and probably live in the castle, etc. but Hitler didn't last too long in this country. Oh, that's another thing I haven't mentioned. This place has a rich history, it's fascinating. Once you start learning about it, you just can't stop and then you learn more and more and you can't keep it all straight and then you get confused on who has taken over this place and when and it's a mess. The best part is, the Czech Republic has gone through all of that and is now a member of the Eastern Union, which is really important in Europe, and is now residing over the EU this year for the first time. They just started on Jan. 1 and it's been really exciting to be here during that time.
Call me lame, but I just can't remember the story of this church! It was late at night, I was freezing and jet-lagged and it just didn't capture my attention. I'll make sure to get it before I go though! Nevertheless, beautiful place that is very popular for weddings! I managed to get that part out of the story!
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