Spending Koruna, or as I Liked to Say, Kroner in Prague

Arriving in Prague meant a new currency - the koruna - and a new language - Czech.  While dividing every price by twenty wasn't very fun, it wasn't as hard as trying to figure out what anything meant in Czech.  My first, and most entertaining mistake with the language?  Calling their currency kroners!  How I came up with that one, I have no idea, but it stuck and that's what I called it the rest of the trip.

Sara and I spent one of our three days at Prague Castle.  Well, we spent a good chunk of that day getting lost on trolleys that changed routes without warning, very limited signage, none of which was in English, and a map that was only in Czech. Up to this point on the trip I enjoyed or at least pleasantly tolerated the adventure of getting lost, but given the lack of signs or English, Prague had me frustrated.  However working together we finally made it to the castle, which really is a walled fortress with many buildings within its boundaries.

The most noteworthy part of the castle was actually in the Cathedral of St. Vitus which featured, among other more expected features such as colorful stained glass windows and beautiful woodwork, the tomb (sarcophagus) of St. John of Nepomuk. The tomb is made of approximately two thousand pounds of silver!  Definitely stunning and no doubt a massive tribute, but I'd call it over the top.

The Old Royal Palace also surprised me as I learned that men used to joust inside of the Great Hall.  While the room was huge, I struggled to figure out how there was enough room for men on horses to charge at each other, until I learned that they would ride up the entrance stairs to start their attack!

We filled the rest of our afternoon by walking throughout the old part of the city - across Charles Bridge and into Old Town Square.  A much prettier part of the city than we had seen yet, I loved the mixture of architectural styles and decorations of the buildings.  I was enthralled by the 16th century astronomical clock, which told Bohemian time, modern time, sunrise and sunset, orbits of the sun and moon, signs of the zodiac, and the saint of the day.  So cool!

Sara and I stayed with one of her friends from high school who is living in Prague - it was wonderful to stay with Dave and his family and have some home-cooked meals!