Our Romantic Getaway to Prague

Last weekend was dreamy. We drove to Stuttgart to drop off the kids (thanks to my brother Frank and sister-in-law Emily for keeping the kids) and then on to Prague, Czech Republic for our getaway. In a nutshell, we got to see that we've still got it - that chemistry, that playful fun, that laughter - what we had eleven years ago when we first met.

Charles' Bridge in the background.
Brides of Prague

ummm. . . we saw quite a few stag parties (groups of UK bachelor men). Apparently a tourist wanted a picture with them and the "angel" on the right is the groom-to-be.

The Dancing Building

Astronomical clock to the left
Found a guy that knew how to use our camera. I could learn a thing or two from him.

Some of our adventures included:

1) Picking up hitchhikers at the Czech Border on our way to Prague - two college students who were completing a sort of "Amazing Race" challenge (sponsored by their university). They had to hitchhike from Holland to Prague - our team (Ahmar and Renka) got to the astronomical clock in 36 hours and placed third out of eight teams.

2) Actually getting to read tour guide books and interesting information about Prague at our leisure because our hands weren't full with three small children the whole time. This included taking a tour of the Jewish Quarter for an afternoon of one day.

3) Staying at the Marriott Executive Apartments downtown. We had a really fun time there ;)

Along with that, it was great to be able to easily go to and from the hotel room if we wanted to throughout the day. We had a working kitchen, which we only used for breakfast - it was so great to not have the alarm clock of our children so we ate breakfast whenever we wanted!

4) Stumbling upon the Hard Rock Cafe Prague and getting our dose of American style dining as well as the closest either of us has ever gotten to the bar scene. . . loud music and tattooed servers.

5) Eating at several Rick Steves' restaurant suggestions to include a quaint farm-themed traditional Czech food restaurant (where the waiter stopping us from ordering more because he said it would be too much food) and an indian buffet that was in the student area of town and was dirt cheap (Jacob was very hesitant about it at first, but as soon as he stepped in the door, he was a gleeful indian food connoisseur).

6) In deciding what scenic ride we wanted around town, we opted for the rickshaw biker, instead of the horse-drawn carriage or the old-car convertible rides.

Prague had good shopping, inexpensive dining out, and beautiful old synagogues, cathedrals, castles, and bridges. Prague had the beauty of other major European cities without too much modern day hustle and bustle (perhaps because it was a weekend and because it is smaller than Paris or Rome). We love Prague and it's recent history - with being freed from communism as recently as 1993, having close ties to American ideas like democracy (one of their leaders married a rich American woman and helped bring those ideas to Czech popularity). We love Prague!