This long Easter weekend has been absolutely incredible. I’m really glad that I was able to use the four-day stretch to get some more traveling done. In further proof that Germany is a perfect launching ground for European travel, Andrea and my flight to Prague was just over an hour long. Since Andrea’s mom was already here in Prague on business, she was able to meet us at the airport and shuffle us along to the hotel where we have been staying. That next Friday we had a very relaxing morning as Mrs. Baker finished up some work, and then we started the official “tourist-ing”. The old town square is one of the most impressive, and one of my favorite sights in Prague. There’s an amazing clock tower with a wonderfully beautiful solar, astrological and lunar clock. Plus, on the hour there are two windows that open, and you can watch statues of the twelve disciples cycle by before a little golden cock crows and a trumpeter plays a song from the top of the tower for the crowds gathered below. There was also a lot of festivity going on in the square, with trees everywhere decorated for Easter. I love how much of a Russian influence there is here! Doing my best to describe it, the culture and feel of the city seem to be a funny combination of Russian-meets-Renaissance-Festival. It’s wonderful! We also walked across the Charles Bridge and saw all of the statues and vendors lining the entire length of the river before eating dinner on a boat that had a perfect view of the castle all lit up at night.
On Saturday, we started off the day seeing the Loreta church and treasury before heading to the Prague Castle (which, depending on what criteria you use for judgment may be considered the largest castle in the world). My favorite part was probably the vast Vladislav Hall with its unique ceiling. We also got to see the St. Vitus Cathedral (impressive!) and the very room where the term “defenestration” was coined by the forcible exit of three men from an upper floor window (starting the Thirty Year War). On the way back to the hotel, we decided to wander down a street which took us to the Senate building and a beautiful garden area. We even found a white peacock proudly displaying his tail feathers for all of the admiring tourists.
Starting off Easter Sunday, Mrs. Baker, Andrea and I went to the church of Our Lady of Victory (housing the Infant Jesus of Prague) for mass this morning. The service was in English, and it was really interesting to see how many people gathered in a foreign country to listen. From there we went up Petrin Hill, which overlooks the entire city. It had snowed earlier in the day, but despite the cold weather, there were already a lot of trees that had blossomed and it looked much more like spring than the cold breeze suggested. A quick hot chocolate/hot cider break at the top, and we were ready to head back down again and do some souvenir s
hopping. Overall, I’ve had a fantastic time here in Prague, and I’ll be sad to leave early tomorrow morning. I wish I had just a little longer to explore the rest of what this city has to offer, but I think I’ll just use that as a good reason to come back in the future. I’m looking forward to it. Tchüss and Happy Easter!
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