Prague (+Berlin)
Prague- Day 1
Good Morning from our first airport lounge experience ever! Today we are on the road to our 3rd country on this trip, the Czech Republic or Prague to be more specific. After waiting in a huge line here at Copenhagen Airport we were able to use one of the benefits with our credit card and get into the lounge for some free breakfast and relaxing before our flight.
As we board our flight we are preparing for around 3 weeks of travel through eastern Europe in an attempt to show Bre some of the places that I have been to before. After landing in Prague we made our way across the city by train. Much like most cities you have 3 modes of transport to get around, the first one being cars on either Uber or Grab or some variation of the app. These tend to be the most expensive but the quickest. Next in most larger cities you have trains or metros that are slightly slower than a car but usually half the cost. Lastly you have your option of buses. These are typically the cheapest option but tend to take a bunch of time and can sometimes be very stressful to navigate. I suppose I am forgetting the option of walking, which we have done on occasion but the downside of this in Europe is the fact that almost all airports are built way outside of the city making it impossible to walk. This train didn’t take long and before we knew it we were on our way to our Airbnb.
Airbnb is usually the easiest option in Europe. Again it is the middle of the road option between hostels on the cheap side and hotels on the more expensive side. This Airbnb was located just a few steps from the historic side of Prague which was great but two not so great things were the fact that we were very early so we couldn’t check in yet and the fact that we had to have a shared bathroom in order to save some money. Either way we made the most of our time by enjoying some coffee and crepes and getting some work done.
After our wait, we checked in and dropped off our bags before making our way out to adventure around the city. We saw a majority of the sites from Charles Bridge, to the Old town Square, and even the Dancing House (a uniquely shaped building right by the river). All of these sites I had seen before. Some of the new things we went by were the Lennon Wall and a river walk.
One thing to love about this and a majority of cities in Europe is how walkable they are. The negative side here is the fact that everything is centralized around the river and built uphill from the river outward. It makes for great views but you really earn your steps walking around. We enjoyed some burgers and then what I believe is still Bre’s favorite dessert to date, Trdelník. This is a hollow churro, lined with fresh chocolate and then filled with ice cream. That is the best I can describe it. After that we called it a day and made our way back to our Airbnb.
Berlin Day Trip
The next day we woke up to a bit of an adventure. A few months before our trip Bre’s sister told us they were going to live in Berlin for the summer. Sadly this was after we had already booked our trip. Thankfully though we have a travel expert who planned out a nice long bus ride to Berlin and back in the same day so we could go see family. Even with booking this bus just a few days prior it was only around 80 dollars for the two of us roundtrip! So after an early morning we made it to the bus stop, and took a nice 4 hour ride to Germany.
Our day was spent walking around the Berlin wall, the Brandenburg Gate, a huge park, and a few other sites with family. We ate at the mall for a quick lunch where I bought a belt. Another one of the benefits to underpacking is you really don’t have to worry about forgetting something because aside from your passport and phone, you can get whatever you need wherever you go. After lunch we saw some old churches and the iconic TV Tower before making our way to her family's apartment. We finished the day with some amazing Schnitzel, said our goodbyes and boarded our bus back to Prague, which we barely made in time. This is just another great example as to why to remain flexible and spontaneous while traveling. It was a great day even though we didn’t have anything planned and it didn’t even cause us to blow the budget.
Prague- Day 2
The next day after sleeping in a bit we made our way up to the Petrin Gardens, a park overlooking most of Prague. Here Bre ran her 5k to keep her goal alive of running one in every country. I know what most of you are thinking, Josh what did you do while she ran? And if you know me at all it was definitely not run. I enjoyed the shade where I worked on some voice overs for our YouTube channel. Afterwards we met back up, explored the park which has some very unique towers, a church and castle.
Following this we went back to the Airbnb to clean up for the day before making our way back to the river. This is the central point where a majority of things are in Prague. We explored the Island in the middle of the river which is home to these Beaver looking animals, though we aren’t sure what exactly they are.
We also grabbed some lemonade from what Bre referred to as “the cutest coffee shop ever” although that title has been given to several coffee shops so you may have to reach out to her for an updated list. We finished the day with another long walk up a never ending hill to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Church. This is a very beautiful area where you can get a drink and enjoy a nice overlook of the city, which is exactly what we did. We finished our final day here with some gelato of course before calling it a night.
