I Love Prague!!

So, yesterday (Tuesday?)  I hiked up to the citadel of Gellert Hill and the view of Budapest was fabulous!  After that I headed to the post office to buy stamps and send postcards (otherwise my sister may prevent me from getting back into the country). 

View of Budapest (Buda on the left, Pest on the right)

Next stop was the train station so I could purchase a ticket for the 1:25 train to Prague.  I got there around noon (because in the states that would give you PLENTY of time).  This was a mistake… the system there was a mess and I ended up having to get on the 3:25 which would put me in Prague a little after 10 (female, traveling alone, at night… ugh.)

So I got on the train and proceeded to watch 2 episodes of the Dallas reboot.  Excellent choice.  Then I read and pondered the meaning of life.  I had a chance to view the Romanian, the Slovakian and then Czech countryside.  Well pulled into the train station close to 11 and then I went straight to my hotel and to bed!

Today (Wednesday… I think):  Breakfast in the hotel.  #1 requirement for my choosing a place to stay is that breakfast is included.  Other than the hostel in Brasov, I have not been let down (The Agora Hostel in Istanbul had an AMAZING breakfast!).  Then I ventured out.

I went on a tour of the old town square.  After that I went on a tour of the palace complex.  It consists of MANY buildings so the entire compound took 600 years to complete.  

Palace.

We also drove by the largest stadium IN THE WORLD!  It can hold up to 9 football fields.  Alas, the stadium has fallen into a state of disarray and is no longer really used.  As the bus I was on was driving around Prague I noticed a HUGE balloon hanging over the river and people were in it!  I decided “I must go there!!”  I got off the bus and had lunch along the river. 

Next.. the hunt for the balloon!!  I couldn’t see it in the sky so I had to get on the famous Charles Bridge to see if I could find it… There it was! 

Side Note:  EVERYWHERE you go you see images of King Wenceslas (you know, from the Christmas song).   Well, in the Christmas song they leave out the part where his brother murdered him.  End Side Note.

Back to the balloon.  40 meters in the air, run by two guys in swim trunks… sure, seems perfectly safe.  The view was AMAZING!!  Not a lot to say about it, other than it was well worth the money (I also lack a fear of heights… unless I’m having a vertigo attack, then it’s bad).

Shadow of the ballon I was in.

Charles Bridge from the balloon.

Me in the balloon!!

 Finally I headed back to the Old Town Hall to see the astronomical clock chime on the hour.  The clock was built in the 1400’s and is the oldest working astronomical clock in THE WORLD!!  There’s a creepy dancing skeleton who rings a bell and all sorts of more creepiness happens.

Tomorrow… last day in Prague… booooo.