Keep it in Czech.

My oh my, is the city of spires ever beautiful.  Kelly and I arrived in Prague last night, and I'm in love.  Every building has a story, and every street has something worthy of being photographed.  Our hostel, Hostel Rosemary, is lovely, set up like an apartment with shared kitchen/common area (and again free Wi-Fi, so you all get the privilege of continued blog posts!) with shared bedrooms.  We're situated close to the action of the Old Town, which offers endless opportunities for exploration.

Some of the spires visible from Karluv Most.

Kelly on Karluv Most with Prague Castle in the background.

Today we headed through the Old Town down to Karluv Most (Charles Bridge), which is one of the city's most impressive jewels.  There are 30 statues lining the bridge, and street performers, artists and jewelry makers try to collect money from gullible tourists richer than we are.  From the bridge you can see Prague Castle, as well as back towards the Old town, and there are towers and naked statues everywhere.  Kelly and I both have sore necks from looking up all day long!  Across the bridge, we continued along cobbled streets up Zdmecke Schody, the castle steps, up to Prague Castle, the city's main attraction.  It is the largest castle complex in the world, and it feels like a city within a city.  Holy Roman Emperors, Kings of Bohemia and Presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have all held offices there.  The place is simly drenched with history.  Because the castle and its buildings were under

St. Vitus' Cathedral.

construction from the 10th century to the 20th century, it is a mishmash of architectural styles.  The awe-inspiring St. Vitus Cathedral is Gothic, the Basilica of St. George is Romanesque and some of the palaces have been constructed in the baroque style.  We arrived at noon, just as the royal guard were changing their post, amid a marching band's fanfare.  Walking around the castle's complex is a feast for the eyes, and everytime we emerged from around corners or through archways, something amazing was waiting for us, glistening in the sunlight and leaving me in awe of just how long it would take to build such a thing.  St. Vitus' Cathedral was incredible.  The many stained glass windows allowed coloured light to filter inside, amidst the tall columns that uphold the vaulted ceiling.  We also entered the Palace State Rooms, which were enjoyable due to their size and history, but not presented in a particularly impressive way.  There were few signs, and next to no artifacts or furniture in the rooms.  However, it was very interesting to see the windows where the Defenestrations of Prague took place, starting the 30 Years' War, and walking through the halls pretending to be ladies of court was fun.

Beautiful stained glass in Prague Castle.

Gargoyles on St. Vitus' Cathedral.

The view from Prague Castle.

I'm thankful to have been warned about the hordes of people in Prague, because it has been a bit draining to be in a crowd of people all day.  We're both very tired after about 9 hours on trains and buses yesterday, so we're back at the hostel for a rest.  Tomorrow we're planning to get up with the sun to see Charles Bridge without being surrounded by a mob.  Then in the afternoon, we're meeting up with some local Czech people who want to chat with us about Canada while showing us less touristy places of Prague.  We're also working on our Czech, which is coming a bit easier than Polish, but is still very different from any language we've ever been exposed to.  The Czech currency has also provided some difficulty, as there are 17 Krona to $1, and I'm not exactly comfortable with my 17 times table.  It's made me wish Connor was with us!  Trials and tribulations aside, this city is so beautiful and I can't wait to feel more situated here.