Man our Christmas adventures started off a little rocky. I had purchased train tickets for Prague and we showed up when the train was supposed to leave only to find you need a reservation! We quickly booked one for a later train, and then checked out the website and saw I missed the tiny box to check to get a reservation when ordering the tickets. I didn't think about it, but apparently going to Prague the Sat before Christmas is VERY popular. We wanted to check and make sure our ticket would work for the later train so we got to the station early and were standing in line waiting out turn and like everyone in front of us was trying to get to Prague as well. The poor ladies who worked there - there were no more reservations left for that day by that point and people were not happy. I can understand that, but there is also not much they can do about it. The train only has so many seats. There were two ladies working and the one seemed nice and the other not so much and when our turn came we got the not so nice lady. So we asked our question and she was so pleasant and friendly - I think she might have reached the end of her rope with people yelling at her.
We arrived in Prague later than normal, but I thought we were still in time to eat at the one restaurant as it was supposed to close 2 hours after we got in. It wasn't in the main downtown area so we hiked up the hill from the train station to try and find it. I enjoyed that area as it was like this was where people actually lived, not just the super touristy downtown. We got the restaurant and tried the door...and it was closed! They closed early that day for the holidays. I was so sad. There was another lady who walked up just after us and wanted food as well and we were chatting. She was trying to help us find other vegan food in the area, but no luck which was fine.
New plan was to drop our bags at our room then head to a restaurant we went to last time we were in Prague and enjoyed (and was close to our room).
Much better plan. This was the main street on the way to our room. There was a small Christmas market there, but not many people or much happening with it.
The restaurant we ate at was amazing and had very subdued holiday decorations. After dinner we walked over to Charles Bridge to check it out at night. It was a little foggy and a little misty.
Then we headed to the old town square with their Christmas market (though it was closed by that time) and the astrological clock
This Christmas tree was a little crazy. The lights were constantly changing and parts would light up and darken and it went through a couple minute cycle of crazy lights.
That is the same Christmas tree to the right of the photo
The next day we awoke to it pouring down rain. Not so much fun for exploring, but we had Christmas markets to check out. After eating a great breakfast we were off.
It pretty much rained the entire day which was kind of lame. The Christmas markets were also a huge disappointment. They were just full of tourist junk that I don't want. I did not like Prague as much on this trip as I did on the last. I like the architecture as it is so different and everything is so pointy and rigid, but the downtown area was just soooo touristy and that was all. All the shops are just junk I don't want and not like shops I would even go in to spy on. It could also be that there were just a ton of annoying drunk people all over the place. They drink a lot here in Berlin but somehow there are not a lot of annoying drunk people. In Prague...they were really getting on my nerves. That and they used disposable cups for your hot wine! The horror! ;) Oh they also had these large plastic bins full of water and fish all over the place on the side of the road. The fish had no room to move or anything, some were even sticking out of the water they were so packed in there. Then I guess you pick your fish and the guy kills it and cleans it right there for you. It made me soooo sad. The poor fish. Stuck in there horrible buckets and left there for who knows how long until they are killed. I did not like it at all. We left in the afternoon of our second day to head off to Vienna! More on that next time.
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