Praha (Prague) 2014

I simply remember my favorite things!

Church of Our Lady

I have been to Prague a couple times, and each time I am amazed by the diversity and surrealism of this city. It's easy to see why Hitler planned to retire in Prague and preserved the city from the Nazi air strikes and demolition caused by WWII. I've heard it said that you can find every style of architecture across Europe in a building somewhere in Prague.

It's a collection of culture and a hub of human experience.

My first experiences in Prague were as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2014, and then again when I returned to Prague with my husband in 2015. Although the majority of my time in 2014 I spent in Slovakia, there were a few days I was privileged to be in Prague. One of these times came at the conclusion of my mission as I prepared to return to the United States.

From my journal I remember these experiences in Prague:

October 14, 2014

So many thoughts and emotions are running through my mind as I sit on this train headed to Prague. I am so lucky and blessed not to have to travel alone. It has been a crazy few days. Can you blame me for not finding time to write? I was too busy finding people to love.

The sun still isn’t up. It’s 6:15am. I rose at 4:15am to catch our train from Košice to Prague. Our friend from Holland greeted us at our apartment to pick up our baggage and I’ll never forget saying goodbye to him. I’ll always remember seeing his golf-beret hat, red scarf, and black all-weather coat. The best was the smile on his face and him asking us to, “make a picture” with him. We listened to hymns in his car as we drove to the train station. I couldn’t help but get teary eyed.

There’s a fog covering the hillside. I say goodbye to Košice—a magical city.

I cannot believe that this is already ending. Where did the time go?

10 hours on the train went by so quickly. Now I am here at the mission home in Prague and making potato salad in their kitchen. From the dining room we hear, “Hey, you guys wanna try something?” Curiously, we poke our heads into the dining room. “Wanna try some special cheese? Have you heard about this? Come try some, it’s stinky cheese, honey, and ritz crackers."

So with some honey, stinky cheese, and crackers we munch and munch.

It’s a Czech thing.

and it was actually pretty good.

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A little tip:

One of the most helpful travel tips I think I can give is to stop at the Tourist Office in any major city (or sometimes even small ones) that you visit.

When I first started traveling I didn't really take advantage of Tourist Offices because I din't want to look or feel like a tourist. I wanted to find the places off the beaten path, pave my own trails, and embrace getting lost!

Sure, wandering and finding your way are part of the experience of traveling, but sometimes you just want to know where to go, how to get there, and not waste the precious time and funds you've dedicated to travel!

If you're short on time, stopping into a tourist information center is a quick and easy way to get a map of the area, find out where public restrooms are (always tricky to find in Europe), prices for museums, etc. Often times I have found that by stopping into these tourist offices there are certain discounts going on, or museums are closed certain days that weren't listed on that blog where I was finding my information, or there's a city pass that will save you money on traveling and admission to museums.

Prague Tourist Office

open 9:00 to 19:00

Staroměstská radnice (Old Town Hall) Staroměstské náměstí 1110 00 Praha 1- Staré Město tourinfo@prague.eu