falling in love with prague
we spent last weekend celebrating our love and valentine’s day in prague! for the past while i’ve been really fascinated by this czech city, and on christmas morning ian presented me with a plane ticket for valentine’s weekend. i was excited to discover if prague lived up to the thick romance and magic i envisioned it had – and it sure did, tenfold! in fact – i’m about to make a really bold statement – i think that prague is actually my favourite european city!
we arrived late thursday night and checked into the nicholas hotel, which was the most amazing place to stay (one of our absolutle favourite accomodations ever – more on that later). we woke up on friday morning to beautiful winter sunshine bathing the city. this was the view from our room!
after a lovely breakfast, we hit the cobblestoned streets and headed for charles bridge, just down the road from our hotel. and immediately we started falling for prague!
^^ the nicholas hotel (the square grey building in the front), nestled right in with the spectacular st. nicholas church! ^^
there is such a special feeling in the air on charles bridge – some brand of magic. there are musicians and artists and happy people and stellar views of towers and spires and those delightful red rooftops. we both just love, love, loved strolling across the bridge (which we did probably six or seven times more throughout the course of our weekend!).
^^ two different strangers’ attempts at taking our photo :) ^^
we climbed to the top of the tower on the old town side of the bridge, and adored the views from the top!
and then we walked back across the bridge towards the castle district. clearly, i couldn’t stop taking pictures! it’s just all too good!
at the end of the bridge there was an awesome street performer making incredible bubbles! it was super fun to watch.
thoroughly in love with prague after just a couple of hours, we headed up up up the hill to prague castle…
…to be continued!
Beautiful pictures! Prague really is beautiful, especially the bridge and the castle. When I visited the city years ago, I walked a bit away from the center and it wasn`t pretty anymore, in fact, the streets and houses looked very poorly. What`s it like today? I`m a bit surprised that Prague is your favorite european city. Just out of curiosity: Which european cities have ou visited? I live in Europe, it`s always so interesting how a non-european experiences europe.:-;
ReplyDeleteOn another note:
I am going to visit San Fran in march! For two weeks!! I`m so excited!!! ;-))) Can you recommend any book/magazine stores? I`m a book worm...
hi anon! thanks for reading and for your comment!
Deletei've found that what you noticed about prague - less and less charm and prettiness away from the center - is true in many cities. i just absolutely loved prague! i've visited barcelona, toledo, paris, marseilles, aix en provence, milan, florence, rome, venice, zurich, basel, salzburg, vienna, nuremberg, athens, edinburgh, dublin, glasgow, brussels, dubrovnik, stockholm, istanbul, and lots of smaller cities around europe (and some big cities that i'm forgetting, too, i'm sure). maybe i'm just a little drunk on prague's magic right now, but i really think it might be my favourite! (besides london, which isn't in the running, because it's home!) where are you from?
san francisco is theeeee best - have an awesome time! there are lots of neat bookshops around the city. city lights in north beach is a favourite!
Anonymous:
DeleteThree other book stores I also love in San Francisco:
1. Green Apple Books on Clement Street
2. kinokinuia Books in Japantown
3. William Stout Books in downtown San Francisco
Anonymous: buying magazines in San Francisco....
Delete1. Books Inc. on VanNess Street
2. Cafe La Presse near Chinatown
3. Juicy News on Union Street
If you drive to Marin County, after going northbound on the iconic Golden Gate bridge, consider visiting two Marin County towns: 1. Corte Madera; 2. Petaluma.
My two favorite bookstores in Corte Madera:
1. Book Passage ( a second, much smaller location can be found in San Francisco's Ferry Building, which you would enjoy because of it's many culinary options and water views).
2. Barnes and Noble- huge magazine section.
If you decide to visit Petaluma, about 45 minutes north of San Francisco by car, my favorite bookstore is:
1. Copperfield's Bookstore
**Forgot to mention in my first reply:
The museum shop at the DeYoung Museum (Golden Gate Park in San Francisco) has a nice and sizeable selection of art and design books.
Thought of another interesting place for book buying in San Francisco:
DeleteIf you like art and design books, also consider visiting:
1. Chronicle Books--it is within walking distance to the large Westfield Shopping Mall in downtown San Francisco.
Wow! Thanks everybody for these great tips! I am definitely going to checkthese out, especially copperfield`s and green apple, they seem to be my favorite kind of booktores. the other ones sound just as interesting.
DeleteHi Charity!
Thank you for your answer and your tip. City Lights sounds awesome!
I live in Berlin! It`s a very unique city and definitely worth a visit! You`ve already seen many european cities, wow! Way to go.
Looks like y'all had a nice time.
ReplyDeleteAll those beautiful red roofs remind me of the city in the original Wily Wonka movie. Just dreamy!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous city and beautiful pics. Char. Love you!
ReplyDeleteLove Prague! Pure magic and love.
ReplyDeleteDid you kiss in the middle of the Charles' Bridge? A tour guide once told me that if you kiss there you will spend seven eternities together ( didn't work for me though ;-), maybe next time )
You should add Zagreb to your travel list. You'll love it.
Anamaria
What kind of camera did you use for these pics? You always have such nice photos😊
ReplyDeletethank you! i use a canon rebel sl1. it's essentially the cheapest and most basic slr i could find and truth be told i don't totally know how to use it! i often wish i could get better pictures - i know i just need to learn more about how to use my camera (but it's not all that fancy). i edit my pictures in picassa. i've found that adjusting the fill light and shadows a bit really makes the photos look more like the real-life scenes.
DeleteI have to agree that Prague is magnificent and magnanimous and meaningful and marvelous! It's a fabulous city with a fascinating history! So glad to see you there!
ReplyDeletePrague is high on my list of places to visit. It looks amazing. What an adventure you two are having!
ReplyDelete