Parents in Prague

On Friday morning my parents arrived in Prague after flying over night from Raleigh. They checked into their hotel and walked around during the day while I was on my school trip to Kutna Hora. When I got back, John and I met them for dinner. We met them at their hotel and it was good to see them when we walked in. We were all pretty tired after being busy all day, them from traveling and John and I from our bus trip, so we decided to eat at a local place within walking distance. At dinner they caught me up on things happening at home and I had to teach them how to order beer and say thank you in Czech. It was fun and I planned on meeting them the next day to do some sight seeing.

The next morning I met them at their hotel again and we took the tram all the way up to the castle. Unfortunately it was Saturday morning so the castle was packed with people but it was still nice to walk around. St. Vitus is the cathedral inside of the castle complex and it is free to go in but the line was very long so we decided to buy tickets and go see some of the other buildings in the complex. We went inside of a part of the palace, St. George's Basilica and the torture tower where they kept and tortured prisoners. After walking around the castle grounds and looking down at the really great view of Prague, we walked down from the castle and through the streets of Lesser Town, which sits below the castle. This led us to the Charles Bridge where we looked through all of the vendors selling jewelry and paintings on the bridge. We had lunch at a Czech restaurant and then walked over to Old Town Square where they saw the Old Town Tower with the large astrological clock. I showed them where my studio is and we also walked through the large market that is right next to studio that sells everything like fruit, books, games, and other souvenirs. I was able to pick out a pashmina for my birthday and Mom got one also. It started to get a little cloudy so we decided to part ways and meet up for dinner later that night. John and I met them again for dinner that night and we went to Klub Architektu. The food was really good as always and afterwards we walked around old town. The castle was lit up on the other side of the water and we also walked around Old Town Square again.

The next morning, Sunday, I had some homework to do but I wanted to hang out with my parents for a little while in the morning. We took the tram downtown again and walked down along the water to see the Frank Gehry building Fred and Ginger, also called the Dancing House. I had seen it several times from far away and it was cool to finally see it up close. We started to walk back into town and came across the New Town Tower. We decided to make the climb up the stairs to the top (mostly because Mom really had to use the bathroom that was in the middle of the tower and up about five flights of stairs) and when we got up there we had a really great view of the city. We then made our way over to St. Wenceslas Square and had a good lunch at a place that I like, Café Louvre. I had to go do some homework and get ready for the week so I left them downtown to explore the city on their own with plans to meet the next night for dinner.

On Monday night John and I came back from studio and found Mom and Dad sitting outside of the pension waiting for us. We got ready and went to dinner at a local place about a block away that I had been to a few times before. They told John and I what they had done and seen while they were on their own over the past two days. They really got to see and do a lot while they were here. After dinner we said goodbye as they were leaving the next morning to take a train to Munich. We have plans to meet them again though on Thursday in Vienna, which I am excited about.