Prague back to Paris

April 25th began a long travel day. I was slow to rise knowing it was my last time in a bed for the next day and a half. Once breakfasted and checked-out, we dragged our bags down to Fira’s bus stop to catch our 11am coach to Santorini’s port. Our ferry was not scheduled to depart until 3:30pm, so we killed three hours in a café enjoying Greek yogurt and honey. The girls took my suitcase, so I could ninja ahead onto the boat to stake out a table. We learned our lesson from having to sit in the hallway on the first ferry. We made it to Athens at 11:30pm where Bri, Mary and I parted ways with Amy to head to the airport for our 4:25am flight to Prague. I slept on the flight, cherishing the two hours of shuteye.

We landed in Prague at 6:30am where Mary and I spent the next ten hours exploring the city during the layover before our flight to Paris. Still trying to wake-up and rally, we made it to the Old Town neighborhood of Prague. At 8am we watched the Astronomical Clock (in above picuture) in the town centre strike the new hour. It is a beautiful, giant old clock that tells several different version of time with celestial hands and astrological signs. We wandered through the Old Town Square and across the Charles Bridge. It is Prague’s oldest bridge with impressive stonework and large religion statues. I love that both the streets and sidewalks are all cobblestone.

Once we crossed the Charles Bridge to the Little Quarter, we made our second stop for coffee. We continued up through the Little Quarter to the Castle Quarter. Here we investigated the Prague Castle, although I would call it more of a palace since it has no fortification. Inside Prague Castle, my favorite building was St. Vitus Cathedral. It has a gothic façade and an interior of imposing vaulted ceilings and stained class. The stained class looked almost mosaic due to the small size of each colored piece that is welded together with iron.

Our lunch was a traditional Czech meal of duck, dumplings and cabbage with apple strudel as we dined on wooden benches. It was now time to head back to the airport. I loved the brief detour in Prague, although in our short time, I failed to master the monetary system of the Czech koruna. I pulled out a 1,000 koruna note from the ATM, yet it is only equivalent to $60. I felt confused all day attempting to figure out conversion rates in my head when a latte was 85 koruna and we spent 624 koruna at lunch!