Czeching out Prague

I took an overnight bus from Krakow to Prague. The transit time was about eight hours, with the bus arriving at a nice and early 4:20am! Luckily the hostel that I had booked was right around the corner from the main bus terminal - a mere 5 minute walk.

I met an Aussie guy on the bus who ended up joining me at the hostel I booked - he hadn't arranged anything yet. Motivated, he suggested watching the sunrise from the Charles Bridge, one of the main tourist attractions in the city. I figured why not and off we went.

It was nice to be able to tick off the main tourist attractions while there was no one on the streets - it's rather quiet at 5:30am!

We continued through over the bridge to the Prague Castle. The main feature of the castle grounds is the Saint Vitus Cathedral - a beautiful building of Gothic architecture constructed in the 1300's. The original Saint Vitus was constructed on the same site 400 years earlier but was burnt down and reconstructed.

A quick shot of the (empty) castle grounds...

As with most military fortifications, the Prague Castle is set up on a hill overlooking the old town square. This offers great views of the surrounding city.

Prague is much like Krakow in that it was not bombed in WW2 and as such a vast majority of the original architecture remains, making it one of the most beautiful and touristy cities in Europe. The buildings are often adorned with great detail (statues, features on the doorways and windows) and colour - more so than anything I have seen to date in Europe. 

Opposite the castle is another hill, atop which stands the Žižkov Television Tower which offers great views of the city. The trek up there was not an easy task - first climbing the hill itself before climbing even more stairs to traverse the tower - but the view was worth it!

I also made a stop to an original Czech restaurant, trying out the local cuisine once more. It is very similar to Slovak dishes (not surprisingly), with tasty breads and soups on offer.