Prague Trip Day 3: Prague Castle Tour!

Hello guys,

For our third day in Prague, we set out to explore the castle complex perched high on a hill overlooking the rest of the city.  Hubby and I had gotten a good look from the Charles Bridge on our first day, but we were excited to see it up close.

Prague Trip Day 2: The Museum of Communism

Hey guys!

So one of the things that I was very eager to learn more about in Prague was its history within the Communist Block.  Having grown up in the States at the tail end of the Cold War, I have some memories of the big events surrounding the fall of the Soviet Union but not a whole lot.  I was in kindergarten when the Berlin wall came down, for example.  Between this and our shared love of history museums, Hubby and I were both super excited to check out the Museum of Communism near Wenceslas Square.  Ironically enough, today it is next door to a McDonald's and across the street from Bennetton.  I couldn't make that up if I tried!

Prague Trip Day 2: The Jewish Quarter

Hey guys!

So one of the reasons why I was most excited to plan a trip to Prague was its incredibly rich Jewish history.  I taught at a Jewish day school for several years and learned so much about the culture from my amazing students and coworkers.

A Little Backstory

Prague's Jewish Quarter is comprised of three blocks in the Old Town.  It was originally the most flood-prone area where Jews were forced to live and work in relative isolation from the rest of the city.   Today its one of the best remaining displays of hundreds of years of Jewish culture, history, and architecture anywhere in Europe.  Prague was never bombed on a large scale during World War II and very little damage was done by the Nazis, who actually preserved the city's synagogues with the intent of creating a museum after the war.  Jewish artifacts from all over Europe were shipped here for the planned museum, many of which never made it back to the original locations because so many synagogues were destroyed.  (This makes for amazing, but haunting, displays today.)  The Jewish Quarter was once again relatively lucky during the Communist era.  Prague was considered such a backwater that they never got around to demolishing the city's places of worship.

The Maisel Synagogue

Prague Trip Day 1: Walking Tour of Old Town and Wenceslas Square

Hello guys!

Prague is actually a sprawling, modern city of 1.3 million people.  For our trip though, we focused on the historic parts of the city's downtown, featuring beautiful architecture, some of it dating back centuries.

For our first full day, we started in the:

 Old Town (Stare Mesto)

Jan Hus Memorial

Anniversary Trip to...

Hello, everyone!

My apologies for the prolonged radio silence.  I really need to start getting back into the habit of  posting regularly so that I don't have to start every entry with an apology.  This spring has been crazy-busy, and with all of the changes that have happened for us in the last year I really felt the need for some privacy to sort out some personal stuff.

But now I'm back and feeling super excited to connect with all of you again.   The school year is now over, and Hubby and I just got back from what is becoming an annual tradition: a trip to a new place to celebrate another year of marriage.  This year we are up to eight, which is completely crazy because it almost feels like we got married yesterday!

Last year, we spent a magical week in Paris to celebrate.  (You can read more about that trip here.)  This year, we decided to try a place that neither of us had ever been before....  Prague!