Eastbound Road Trip: Prague, Day 1

We arrived at the Hilton Old Town Prague about mid-day (see previous post!).  If you go to Prague, I could not more highly recommend this hotel.  I do not usually have such strong feelings about hotels, but pretty much every aspect of our experience there was perfect.  The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful.  Upon our arrival, the front desk staff gave us a free upgrade to a spacious corner room.  Here are some photos from their website:

Each morning we enjoyed a 10 euro breakfast that was extensive and delicious; one of the best breakfast buffets I have seen!  The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating with Kellan.  They spoke kindly to him and even brought him a special plate of Belgian waffles.  To top it all off, we accidentally left K's beloved blanket in our room and the staff searched for it for a couple of days and then mailed it to us.  We were very pleased and grateful for such wonderful service.

After we unpacked in our room the day we arrived and fed Kellan some lunch, we headed out in search of a playground.  Our concierge gave us great directions and we walked there quickly and easily.  The streets were full of city trains, which K could not have loved more.  He was mesmerized.

We had a great time at the playground and stayed there until we felt K was sufficiently worn out and ready for a nap.

We prepped K for a nap in his cozy stroller cocoon and started a walking tour of Old Town Prague.  It wasn't long before K drifted off for a nearly three hour nap!

If you read my previous blog, the afternoon sun was as wintry as can be, making it difficult to get nice photos.  It seemed everything was cast in shadow.  In person, it was really beautiful, so I apologize if the photos do not quite give the sights justice..

Wenceslas Square

A market-filled side street.

One of the creepiest statues I have ever seen.
Matt told me to sit on his lap and I refused because I was too scared.

At about 3pm we reached the Old Town Square, which was the main site of the Christmas Markets and home of the Town Hall Astronomical clock, pictured below.  The clock was originally built in 1410 and is the oldest working clock in the world.  It features a clock, calendar and a number of moving figuriness as well.  We were able to get close enough to watch it chime at about 5pm, and there are pictures of that below.  It is fascinating, but a little too complex to describe in a blog post.  To learn more, follow this link.

The following is a panorama from Wikipedia of the square when it is not full of Christmas Market tents:

Here are some more of my pics:

Town Hall Astronomical Clock by day

Church of Our Lady before Tyn

We found a restaurant that served unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell on the square.  This fresher form of the Pilsner Urquell is a specialty in Prague and a must-try.  I admit I prefer the crisper taste of pasteurized beer, but it was an experience worth trying.  As we sipped our beers, we watched people walk by and the gradual flickering on of the lights of the Christmas market tents that filled the square.  The next night, the lights of a massive tree would be lit for the first time of the 2012 Christmas season.  It was about 4pm when I took the picture below and the sun was well on it's way below the horizon.

 By 4:30pm the sun had set completely and Kellan had woken up from his blissfully long nap.  We made our way over to the astronomical clock to watch it do it's thing as it tolled five-o'clock.

Old Town Astronomical Clock by night...

Old Town Square by night...

After another stroll through the white night lights of Old Town Square, we headed to a local restaurant for a traditional Czech Dinner.  The beer was delicious and food was...well, not good.  It was kind of sad because we were so excited to end an already great day with a bang!

Fortunately, a liter of beer makes pretty much everything better.  ;-)  After dinner, we headed back to our lovely hotel for some rest.  The next day, we would visit Prague Castle.