"This Little Mother Has Claws"

Yes, yes, she definitely lived up to her standards, and much more: magical, mystical, a musical fantasy, the City of a Thousand Spires, the home for the some of the finest beers (Pilsner), and famous for Kafka’s krazy stories. Ahhhh…Prague, Praha. And yes, as Kafka wrote, "this little mother has claws." Gentle claws that want to keep you in Prague for longer than intended.







Horse street only! Wow!

When we arrived, and after we realized that we weren't where we thought we were on the map, and got off of a major highway, we found ourselves entranced by Prague's beauty. And of course by night, Prague was spectacular.

We met my friend Emily and her boyfriend, Dani, at a pub and discussed what they had seen since they had been there a few days before us. Of course, they had too many good things to tell us. After that we all decided that we wanted to go to a classical concert to profit from this place that creates famous musicians.

While enjoying the amazing colors and design of the Smetana Hall (named after the composer; Left) inside The Municipal House (Right), we were also surrounded by the astounding sounds of the Czech Collegium (Famous Czech Symphony Orchestra) and two guests, trumpeter and soprano playing a collection of world and Czech music in a Christmas Concert. The ensemble did a wonderful job of playing Bach, Dvořák (famous Czech), Smetana, Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, and Gounod. To say the least, we left feeling very lucky to have heard this concert.

Merry Christmas Eve, ding* ding* ding* Up Up Up! Running 8 miles at 6:30am. Yes, I'm cRaZY, still! But, that was a great way to discover the city without the crowds, see almost all of the bridges (if not cross them), and run to the end of town with the

question of where to now? After our wonderful last morning run on the trip (bad kids, 1 week without running!) we found ourselves

engrossed by the stunning and impressive Old Town Square (Left & Right) overwhelmed with people,

laughter, the Christmas market, horse carriages and the over-towering Gothic steeples of Tyn Church (1365; Below: Left, Center, Right) resembling a castle atop a cathedral, wow! It was beautiful by night, by day, dawn, mid-day.

In the square was also saw the remarkable astronomical clock (1410, Center, Right) with apostles and a

skeleton that rings the bell on the hour. And of course I enjoyed myself with a fine Czech warm honey wine that went straight to my head, but at least I was a warm and funny honey!

For our Christmas Eve dinner we enjoyed one of the best restaurants in town (with equally quality service) sitting on the edge of the river with views of Charles Bridge (Below Right) and the Old Town.

Christmas Day was a nice, relaxing day where we toured some more and visited the famous Prague castle (Below Left) that could pass as a small city with the Cathedral towering over the city (Below Left & Front View Below). Best thing was that it was free that day! I think I've seen my favorite church in Europe: St. Nicholas Church (Below); an amazing baroque structure with light pink and green marble sculptures, awnings, façades, and the like.

We were blown away by its beauty.

St. Nicholas Church

As we profited from that and more of our favorite Old Town Square, we bought some wine and desserts and headed to the apartment Emily and Dani rented for their week. What great company and a way to spend the day with a great meal that they cooked. We went to a nice bar after and enjoyed our evening chatting and laughing amongst ourselves for a holiday well spent.

Before leaving for glorious Brno (in Czech), we visited the beautiful Jewish Quarter with a handful of incredible synagogues. The Old Jewish Cemetery, which is very old dating back to its first gravestone in 1439, has 12,000 graves (Left). But what is so unsettling fascinating is that it stopped being used in 1787 because it became so overcrowded that burials had to be done one on top of the other, 12 layers deep! Prague also houses the oldest still functioning synagogue in Europe that was built in 1270 (Right)!

And to the right, the Spanish Synagogue.

We sadly left our favorite city, but were still excited for the cities that lay before us. Well, except Brno…