Promenading in the Cobblestone City

It had been a year and a half since my last trip outside the UK so I had been eagerly counting down the days for this short but sweet vacay.  I had my luggage neatly packed a month beforehand with checklists of things to do at the last minute at the ready (eager much?).

Prague has always been on my list of places to visit in Europe mainly for the aesthetic reason that I love cobbled streets! I was also intrigued with one of Europe's best-preserved cities with buildings from mostly every era still intact (e.g. from the medieval, baroque and renaissance periods). If you like walking, Prague is the best city for it as it is very small and compact that all the sights are located very closely to each other. 

My top 4 Prague picks:

Charles Bridge aka Karluv Most

This was the first sight we saw on our first evening.  My partner and I decided to take a stroll nearby our hotel without our guidebook or travel map.  Before we knew it, the bridge started to emerge right before our very eyes. As you may be able to tell from my tone, I was pretty excited about it!  The bridge was built in the 14th century and around the 17th century the bridge was beautified with baroque sculptures.

Strahov Monestary and Library

This place is home to one of the city's finest churches and it is located in an elevated area of the city which offers visitors a great place to stroll around and absorb the views of Prague from the top. It's awesome 800 years old library is one of the main highlights here and not only does it boast one of the oldest monastic collections in the country, it also holds 16,000 books.  Do you remember the library in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast? Well it reminds me of that! 

Astronomical Clock (in the Old Town Square)

You can't go to Prague and not take the time to pay this piece of masterpiece a visit. It was first installed in the 15th century and possesses many astronomical features. The clock shows the position of the sun, moon and stars while it's lower dial shows signs of the Zodiac.

The John Lennon Wall

We were close to missing out on this sight because of time constraints.  Needless to say, this was the last place we visited before heading back home. We decided an impromptu trip just two hours before our cab was due to collect us from the hotel (and may I add, we had not packed yet). Luckily it only turned out to be a 15 minute walk and it was worth it! This wall was once just an ordinary one but during the Communist era in the 1980´s, graffiti became prominent as a form of protest against the regime with messages of love and peace.

Copyright © 2014 Kimberley Sta-Maria. All rights reserved.

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