Destination: Praha

I had the marvelous opportunity to visit the city of Prague
with my friend Shannon over our April vacation. What a gorgeous
city! And we were blessed with perfect weather while
we were there. It was a delightful week. And it was my first time in eastern
Europe~ it's always so very interesting to see a new area of the world.

Shannon babysits for a family here in Grenoble, and the dad's
brother, Alexis (Alex-ee), is currently living in Prague for a couple of years.
He was an awesome host and tour guide. :)

(It was so hard for me to choose what pictures to post and in what
order~ I decided on chronological order. Shannon and I walked this city
up and down, over and under, so many times it wasn't even funny.
It's really not that big of a city, at least the really stunning, historic part.)

Day 1

Petrin Park.
On a more serious note... This is a monument on Petrin Hill, dedicated to the victims of the communist era (1948-1989). The seven bronze figures appear more decayed the further back you go, symbolizing how political prisoners were affected by communism. The plaque beside it reads: "The memorial to the victims of communism is dedicated to all victims not only those who were jailed or executed but also those whose lives were ruined by totalitarian despotism". It was crazy to think about what a different city (and a scary place) this was just 20 years ago (during my lifetime!).
On another day, Shannon and I went to the Museum of Communism in Prague. In the section discussing WWII and a buildup to communist rule, it was explaining Hitler's rise to power in Germany, saying that during times of economic crisis (the Great Depression), the Germans looked to a strong leader to save them. That sentence really hit me, as we are currently in a time of economic crisis. We have to be especially careful not to give any leader or government too much power- that power can be misused in a number of ways. Anyway...back to the beautiful city of Prague.

Love the colors!Gotta love the eastern European fashion. :)
Blue, pink, yellow, green...I want to live in this neighborhood!
This astronomical clock has a little show every hour, and lots
of tourists gather around to see. The show itself is really not worth
all the hype. These little depressing-looking figures who represent
the apostles come out, and it's over after 30 seconds.

Prague Castle.

Day 2

We had a great deal of fun with this mirror maze. :)

How many Whitneys can you see?

Prague.

St. Vitus' Cathedral

A view of Old Town Square, where they had a big Easter Market set up.Powder Gate (11th c.), an ancient entrance
to the city. (It's so named because it was
used to store gunpowder in the 17th century.)

Day 3

The colors and the architecture in Prague are so unique, and just
breathtaking. I couldn't get over it the whole time we were there!A view from Charles Bridge.
Old Town Square.Mozart debuted Don Giovanni in the Estates Theatre
in 1787. Apparently Mozart had a special relationship
with Prague; he felt like they understood him.

Day 4

We hiked up to see this gorgeous church and a
beautiful park that Alexis had recommended to us.

When I saw this church door, it was prettymuch love at first sight. :)A beautiful cemetery next to the church.

Golden Lane (named after the goldsmiths who lived there in
the 17th century), one of the most picturesque streets in Prague.

Day 5

Shannon and I decided to venture off and find Troja Palace, even though we didn't have a map of that particular area of the city. We wandered through what you might call the less picturesque parts of Prague. :) But we enjoyed our walk and finally made it to the palace! It's modeled on an Italian villa......with French gardens.

Prague is full of gorgeous parks.

And so the sun set on our delightful visit to Prague.

Coming soon: l'Italia! :)