Prague, CZ!

Prague has to be within Europe’s top 3 cities for me.
I think I’d rank Lisbon, Paris and Prague as my favorites, and this
visit back to the Czech capital only confirmed that. I was lucky enough
to know about Prague almost 15 years ago when my oldest brother got
called there on his mission and lived all over the Czech Republic for 2 years!

My family picked him up at the end of his 2 years and explored the entire
country for weeks. It was before the CZ was part of the EU, so it was much
less discovered with hardly any American tourists, and so so cheap. We
completely fell in love with the place and the people, since we were able
to meet and stay with so many darling locals that my brother had known
during his time. Exploring Prague + the smaller charming towns, staying
with locals, eating home-cooked meals and watching my brother speak
the language made it special & personal place to me. You can guess how
exciting it was to be returning with Chase and his family this time with some wonderful ideas in mind on things to do in Prague as well as making some more special memories.
Below are lots of photos of this magical city…beware of wanderlust!!
^^ The Charles Bridge with my love
Walking the streets into Old Town Square ^^
Behold the Trdelník…the best Czech treat ever. It’s like a cinnamon
roll almond pastry rolled into a cylinder shape over a rotisserie.
We probably had close to 30 between us all in 3 days ;) They
are also known as chimney cakes. Have your first one plain, but
make sure to try nutella-filled and soft serve ice cream-filled!
So many darling markets for trinkets + street food.
This is Wenceslas Square in the newer part of the city.
The local street food was AMAZING. I wanted to eat it for every meal,
which we practically did! These cheesy potatoes were life-changing
and my pregnancy cravings required us to track them down more
than once. I was also so obsessed with the potato dumplings
(especially the spinach kind…) their version of ‘grilled cheese,’
sausages, red + white cabbage, bread, bacon, so much more.
If you order a traditional “Bohemian platter at any restaurant
you’ll be able to try most of these items. Kolkovna is a good one.
What I wouldn’t give for this potato/cheese/sausage/dumplings bowl
again right now!!! So simple, but so delicious. I love good street food.
I also love using other currencies (and claiming blissful ignorance on the
exchange rate ;) No idea how much we spent on nutella chimney cakes!
^^ Handmade wooden toys are the best gift to bring home from Prague!
The puppets are probably more unique, but I loved the slingshots too.
It’s the truth! ^^

We toured + climbed the Old Town Hall in the Square.
It is absolutely a must-do for the views!
Mother-in-law and sis-in-law! Missing Rach! ^^
I could have spent forever up there. It was so peaceful, the weather had warmed up,
and I just wanted to soak in the perfect view forever. We stayed on top almost an hour.
^^ The famed Prague Astronomical clock. We watched it strike the
hour from the outside, then later the inside as we toured through it!
We all got so excited about the rope candies. Why are these so amazing in Europe?
We got a few too many and ate them a little too fast…but don’t regret it :)
What do you know …more trdelniks! On our final day Chase’s dad ended up with kidney stones in the middle
of the night, :( so everyone was up late and Chase and his mom took him
to the hospital to help them pass. It was a crazy night and we felt so bad!
We took the last day easy since everyone was running on no sleep and we
were sad not to have his dad out exploring with us as we did the castle.
^^ Chase caught this cheesy but cute candid on the walk up to the castle!
^^ Our little fam in Prague!
Chase’s mom told us to kiss, so kiss we did!
Overlooking Prague at dusk is a pretty romantic setting.
Also, Shelley is becoming quite the photographer + snapchatter after this trip ;)
I love this photo with Chase’s darling mom!
I lucked out so much with her ^^
Haha ^^ see what I mean? Her new iPhone 6 has made her a pro
photographer :) Every time we looked around she was getting some cool
angle at a new sight. She got some of our favorite photos every time!
Up by the castle we couldn’t resist a taste of these shish kebabs ^^
^^ Beautiful interior of the Church of Our Lady before Týn + chips on a stick outside ;)
We walked darling Golden Lane where all of the homes are miniature!
the famous nutella-filled version ^^ mouth WATERING!
A few more treats for all of that hill-walking ^^
The views as we walked down from the castle were so stunning ^^
^^ As was the view crossing back over the river.
I LOVE this city even more after this visit.
For anyone visiting (and for anyone who made it to the end of this post…)
here is a quick rundown of favorite activities you can use for your trip!

— Old Town Square: the food, the astronomical clock, the stands, the city hall.
— Climb the Old City Hall for the greatest views.
— Walk along Charles Bridge at sunset…and any time of day!
— Eat street food in the Old Town Square: classics like dumplings, bratwursts and trdelniks (cylindrical pastries!)
— Walk around Prague castle (can be underwhelming to visit inside)
— Stroll down Golden Lane to meander through the dwarf sized houses with cute little souvenir shops.
— St. Vitus Cathedral, one of the prettiest cathedrals to step into.
(After visiting the Cathedral, visit the deer moat just outside of the castle.)
— Stroll through Josefov area, near old town. Antique stores, collectibles, clock stores.
— Unique Prague Dancing House … about a 25 minute stroll from Charles Bridge along the Vltava River.
— Take a cruise along the Vltava River
— Traditional folklore dinner and show
— Vysehrad Castle a little ways down the river
— Shopping in Wenceslas Square
— Ballet at the Prague National Theatre
— Day trip to Cesky Krumlov or Karlovy Vary, the most amazing towns that my brother took us to when we picked him up from his mission!

D?kuji, Prague!
Milujeme t?.