Christmas in Prague

24.12.2010 - 28.12.2010 -8 °C

Prague is a fairytale place to spend Christmas. I particularly loved the architecture and the food - perfectly satisfying for the time of year.
They celebrate on the 24th (the day we arrived) so we had a pricey but tasty dinner at our hotel, Le Palais and an early night after a day of travel - Donna from Calgary, Robin and Blair from Berlin and of course my short hop from London.

So Christmas Day was our first real look at the city, and we were dropped by the hotel shuttle in Wenceslas Square (named for the Good King, of course - very fitting). We wandered from market to market then found the big one in Old Town square. A setting so charming you could hardly believe it.

Old town square

Old town square and Our Lady of Tyn church

Chilly Christmas Day - Donna, Robin and Blair

Christmas market

Old town hall

Astronomical clock, town hall

Old town hall

Mmmm smoked ham

Christmas market nosh

Trdelnik - traditional pastries baked on a rolling spit

Old town square, Christmas day

Old town square - carriage stand

Old town square

Sisters

From old town, we wandered through the streets and emerged at the river and Charles Bridge, with a great view towards the imposing Prague Castle. The bridge was lined with vendors and a cute blues trio, keeping the many tourists amused. There was a sea of fur hats along the bridge and streets leading away and up to the castle. It was only about -8C but nippy!

Charles Bridge

Prague Castle

Blues trio - Charles Bridge

Prague Castle from Charles Bridge

View From Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Mala Strana

We stopped for a hearty Czech lunch just past the bridge in the Mala Strana district - goulash, roast duck, dumplings, gravy...and mulled wine to fight the chill.
Then we popped around the corner to check out the memorial to Prague's favourite revolutionary, John Lennon.

Lennon Wall

Just beyond a little bridge was covered in love padlocks

Love locks - view toward Charles Bridge from Mala Strana

Mala Strana

From there, we took a tram up the hill to see the castle just as it was getting dark (and windy) but it was a beautiful time of day to catch our first glimpse. We saw the guard changing ceremony then decided to come back again during the daytime to really get a good look around.

Prague Castle - St. Vitus Cathedral

Prague Castle

Prague Castle- (courtesy of Donna)

View from Prague Castle

We headed back down the hill to our dinner reservation but a fortuitous wrong turn took us to a quaint little square below Charles Bridge with an unusual nativity scene.

Nativity scene - Mala Strana