My absolute favorite place in the world used to be Central Park in New York City. Then I visited Prague, Czech Republic in December and to date,  I still have not recovered from how amazing my experience was.



I actually knew nothing about Prague prior to my visit. When I started to look into the sights and sounds Prague had to offer as my trip approached, I grew more and more excited. The architecture looked so beautiful in pictures! Prague offered Christmas Markets (something we don't have here in California)! So much to experience!

The boyfriend and I flew from Paris to Prague, which was only a short 1.5 hour flight. I love how everything in Europe is so close together.

Speaking of close together, Prague is actually really small so it was very easy to access everything by foot! We saw almost all the landmarks we wanted to see in the two and a half days we were there. We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel called the Royal Court Hotel. I highly recommend it! For about $50 USD a night, we got a very clean and comfortable room. In the US, such a hotel would be quite costly! They also offer a free breakfast, and the customer service was top notch.

Here are some of my favorite parts of Prague:

The National Museum

Astronomical Clock

When we went to Prague, it was Christmas time so lots of lovely holiday decor everywhere! Here is a Christmas tree in the middle of a Christmas market.

Lots of street performers everywhere. This guy was playing songs on water-filled glasses.

This view will never get old. This is the view of Prague Castle from the Charleston Bridge.

Everything looks like a storybook fairytale setting!

View from Prague Castle

St. Vitus Cathedral. I absolutely love the gothic architecture.

Charleston Bridge

Christmas carolers!

Prague's John Lennon Wall. Many people paint messages of peace, love, and unity on this wall. This was one of my favorite parts of Prague, just reading and seeing everyone's artwork. They even tried to take down the wall right before my trip! Luckily these things are hard to take down.

Dancing House - very awesome architecture

Just a lovely boat. I love this picture because it's so simplistic. It's actually my computer wallpaper.

St. Vitus Cathedral again, this time taken with my GoPro

The gates in front of Prague Castle. Here we are seeing the changing of the guards.

And of course, the second best part of traveling (aside from seeing everything) is trying new food!

Food stand offering Czech goodies

Food at a local Christmas Market - sausages, potatoes, cheese, bacon, etc

Beer is cheaper than water in Prague! The cup of beer was a little over $1 US dollar. Sausage is so good and juicy in Prague.

A delightful dessert that they sell everywhere in the Christmas markets! It is called a  Trdelník.

It is made from rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix. Nowadays, trdelník is again gaining popularity as a sweet pastry in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and is very popular among tourists. (Source: Wikipedia)

Mushrooms at the Christmas markets were SO good.

There were food stands at Prague Castle. They sold delicious dark beer and chicken kabobs, along with sauerkraut.

Beef Goulash. This was very tasty; like a hearty beef soup with chunks of potatoes. The bread was great use in mopping up the extraneous soup. :)

On Christmas Eve, the Christmas markets were closed so we visited a bar. We visited Da Capo Cafe & Cocktail Bar, and had an absolute blast! We tried absinthe for the first time. When the bartender saw that we didn't know how to drink absinthe, he came out from the bar and stood next to our table to teach us. (You apparently dip a spoonful of brown sugar in the drink, light it on fire, and stir it in the drink).

On top of the bartender's unexpected hospitality, all of the waitresses were SO incredibly friendly and chatted with us throughout the night. They made THE MOST amazing drinks - such as the picture above - and also served really good food. The best part was that everything was so cheap! We drank quite a lot and ate quite a lot, and our bill was only $30 USD for two people. It was an amazing experience, and I'm thankful that the Christmas markets happened to be closed that day. Otherwise, we would never have stumbled onto such a gem.

Da Capo Cafe & Cocktail Bar had delicious handmade desserts like this strawberry fruit cake. It was moist and oh so delicious...

Another delicious drink

We also got to try traditional Czech food! The above is goulash with dumplings (bread). So good, and very filling.

My boyfriend got this meat plate. Everything on it was very good.

I absolutely loved Prague, and if I could go back to visit again, I would in a heartbeat! I highly recommend it as a travel destination to anyone interested in visiting a friendly, vibrant, and fun city. Everything is tasty and nothing is very expensive in Prague, which always makes a better time!

-Mina