Prague: Day Two

As if the subzero temperatures weren't enough, we woke up Sunday morning with an hour less of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings. We powered through though, and found a great cafe for breakfast. The girls ordered cappuccinos and here is how they came:

That frothy orange drink on the side? Incredibly fresh, incredibly orange-y orange juice. They always seemed to serve their hot drinks on cool trays like this, often with a shot glass of water. I like that - I might have to get some trays myself!

For breakfast, I had the English breakfast which came with a fried egg (in the shape of a star!), bacon, sausage, and toast. Hubby got an awesome looking ham and cheese sandwich.

After this, we walked a short distance to the Old Town Square to join our walking tour. While we waited, we got some photos of the Easter Market!

Our travel buddies:

Here's the hubby:

And me!

Here is that tasty pastry that the hubby got the night before. The entire square had several of these stands, so the air smelled of sugar.

Clearly they like Easter:

Everywhere we went there were Easter eggs:

We went with New Europe tours, one that J had done before and enjoyed. The tour itself is free, and the tour guides work on tips, so it's up to you to determine what the tour was worth. Our tour guide was Filip, who J had before.

Filip sounded like he was from Great Britain, his English was so perfect. But he's Czech. He told J last year that he never had any English lessons - he learned everything by watching English television. (The TV just broadcasts things as is without dubbing them into Czech). Many people were like that in Prague, speaking perfect English, German, and either French or Spanish or something else. This is why I felt like an idiot because I can barely speak one language, and these guys were putting us to shame.

Anyway, we started our tour and the day of chilly walking. They built in a lunch break and took us to Bohemia Bagel, with, according to J, our friend from NY and bagel authority, said they were actually pretty good. (Hubby and I got goulash, my favorite Prague thing).

We went everywhere, all in the freezing cold. Our excursion took us all over and also across the bridge to the castle area that had some great views, despite the overcast conditions:

Here's us!

We even found the U.S. Embassy in the distance!

This was one impressive church. I'm such a sucker for ornate buildings, and this guy took many centuries to build and they're still working on it:

 Inside:

Here's me at the John Lennon wall. When Lennon died, there was an outpouring of love for him, since at the time this music was banned in the country, and even though the government at first painted over this several times, they eventually gave up and people still come to add their art.

Hubby got to snap some pictures of the locks on a small bridge. As in most European cities, couples come and put a lock on a bridge to signify their love for each other and toss the key in the river. (We're not quite sure what it means when they bring a combo lock though.... that's a little suspect!). As you can see, it's really packed with locks so they are removed every few weeks.

We even came upon a staircase leading to the famed Charles Bridge, and it's one I'd seen before. My wedding photographer, Marcella Treybig, shot a wedding here and I remembered seeing this staircase! Her picture was much better, though. (I partly blame the weather. And my amateur photographer status.)

The Charles Bridge crossing back to the main part of Prague:

For dinner we went to a place that our guide recommended. He didn't tell us that they didn't have English menus, though, so THAT was fun! But actually, we just asked the server for his recommendations and he was happy to suggest some dishes. They were great.

After dinner, hubby went to go see an Organ concert at a church and J, S, and I hung out in a bar for drinks while we waited for him to join us as the snow started to fall.

A busy and cold but really great Easter!