Praha as it is known in Czech, is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic. It is a beautiful, vibrant, lively city filled with rich history and is situated on the Vltava River. It is also the historic capital of Bohemia. The Czech Republic has had many different influences over its existence with the last being Communisim which fell in 1989 through the Velvet Revolution. And in 1993 the Czech Republic formed after peacefully splitting with Slovakia.

We landed around 3:30pm and after buying our 3-day transit pass at the airport we made our way to our hotel. After checking in we wanted to stretch our legs and get our bearings a little. We were quite close to the Old Town Square, which was pretty packed with other tourists. We found a market on the edge of the square where we later had a very tasty grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. We tried one of Prague's most famous pastries, the Trdelnik, a rolled dough wrapped around a stick for grilling and can either be eaten coated is sugar or be filled with different fillings or ice cream. We chose the sugar option.

I continue to be amazed at the incredible architecture in Europe and Prague is no different. Prague managed to escape World War II relatively unscathed and so their buildings are in very good original condition. What surprised me about Prague was how modern, yet old it is. For some reason I pictured it would still have more remnants of Communism but that doesn't appear to be the case. The locals we encountered were very friendly and we got by with English quite well. Tourism is huge here and the city certainly caters to that, though everyone is also advertising to get a TripAdvisor review. The jet lag really set in around 6:30pm and by 7pm we were back at the hotel and in bed. We managed to sleep pretty well except for waking up in the middle of the night for a couple hours before falling back asleep.

Tuesday morning we had booked a free walking tour of Prague through Sandemans Walling tours. Our guide, Terry, was born and raised in Prague but has travelled the world. She was a great storyteller and made the 3 hour tour entertaining. We walked through the old town and learned about the history of Prague and the Czech Republic. We made our way to Wenceslas Square where several demonstrations have taken place in Prague's history attempting revolution from the normalization of the country. From there we ended up in a local pub for a short break and Z and I ordered a local Czech beer on tab. Despite not being much of a beer drinker anymore, I found it to be quite tasty and I didn't suffer from any side effects. After the break we walked through the Jewish Quarter before ending the tour at the river.

We spent the rest of the day and evening walking around and exploring the city. We spent some time walking along the river searching for the famous Charles bridge. At one point we thought we had found it and were surprised to see that it wasn't as busy as we read that it would be, only to figure out that we were one bridge too early. Ah, when you're new in a city these things happen. Walking over to the right bridge we saw right away that it was a lot busier. The Charles bridge was started in 1357 by King Charles IV and was finished in the 15th century. It spans 2037 feet across the Vltava River and is 33 feet wide. As we passed the first of three bridge towers we heard the beautiful sounds of a violinist and accordion player and stopped to listen for awhile. Making our way across the bridge towards the "new town" where you can find the Prague Castle, we heard several other buskers performing; all were spaced out well so as not to interfere with each other. On the other side Z found a great restaurant called Café & Creperie Pod Veží. I had mentioned that it would be cool to try a crepe so he made it happen! We shared a caprese salad and chicken panini before each ordering our own extremely tasty crepes. I indulged in the pistachio, honey and mascarpone crepe while Z indulged in the lemon juice, sugar and butter crepe. We of course allowed each other a taster but devoured them pretty quickly. Best crepes (besides Z's homemade ones) ever!!!! We also each ordered a fresh lemonade which was amazingly good! I believe we were served by the owner who was gracious and very attentive, but not intrusive. I find the service at restaurants here to be very non-intrusive; they let you eat in peace and don't rush to bring you the check. In fact you have to actually ask for the check.