Last day in Prague

This morning, we caught the tram up to Prague Castle. Well, we caught the tram to the bottom of the hill and then walked up a couple of hundred steps to the castle. I wish I had a step counter to count the number of steps we have walked up in Europe. It is a lot!

Prague Castle is really a complex of buildings rather than one castle. The Old Royal Palace is one of the smaller parts of the whole visit as most of the Castle is occupied by government offices and the President of the Czech Republic. As for the other buildings, the most impressive is St Vitus Cathedral. It is built on a MASSIVE scale. The stain glass windows are some of the best we have seen. Just a beautiful building. We also really enjoyed the Lobkowicz Palace. The Lobkowicz family were an old princely family who lost all their properties and possessions to the Nazis and, then again, to the Communists. Since the end of Communism in 1989, the family has worked to regain all of their possessions and put them on display to the public. It was a magnificent museum and we were almost alone in the Palace.

I forgot to mention that, en route to the Castle, we had stopped at Babicinna Spiz to pick up GF sandwiches for lunch. After visiting all the buildings at Prague Castle and eating our lunch in the sun, we headed home for a cup of tea.

In the afternoon, Ian and I headed back out to visit the Jewish Quarter. Apparently, the Jewish community in Prague was one of the biggest in Europe. Inevitably, they faced discrimination and persecution but their community and their buildings have survived. In a relatively small space in the city, we toured through multiple synagogues, ceremonial halls and the beautiful (and emotional) Jewish cemetery. It was a great last sightseeing activity in Prague.

We decided to eat out tonight but we didn't have the energy to walk far so we went to La Boca, an Argentinian restaurant across the road from our apartment (Czech food is just a bit too indecipherable when it comes to gluten free). We shared a big Argentinian grill and reminisced about our best memories of Prague.

Tomorrow, we catch the train to Vienna for the last stop on our adventure. Prague has been amazing. I am so glad we came here. It is a beautiful, safe, astonishing city. Definite bucket list item.