Day One of this trip began yesterday and had us flying almost ten hours to get from Seattle to Paris. Our flight was smooth and uneventful and we got some sleep but not as much as we would have liked.

To start Day Two, we were in Paris for about two hours this morning and then were on a Czech Airlines flight for the first time ever. It was fine and the best part was that it took only one hour and fifteen minutes to fly to Prague.

Our Seattle-built CSA Czech Airlines 737-800 in Prague

The drive from the airport to our hotel was when we started to have our first impressions of the Czech capital. Due to the more rural nature of the route, the area looked much like lots of Europe with agricultural plots of land and deciduous forests surrounding them. Only as we began to enter the urban area did that change to more industrial sights and large, more modern, apartment buildings. We completely skirted the districts of old world architecture, cobblestone streets, and large parks that Prague is known for and soon were at our hotel – the Hoffmeister. Despite not seeing the Prague we expected, we knew it was just a matter of time before we would experience the parts of the city that we had seen and read so much about.

Though we arrived about two hours before check-in time, our room was ready and we were shown to a spacious suite on the fourth floor overlooking a treed hillside of one of those large parks Prague is known for. We napped for a couple hours trying to shake our jet lag and then hit the streets to discover what we could about the Prague we had heard so much about.

The photos which follow illustrate that we found much of the picture perfect Prague we were expecting very quickly, just across the street and down a ways from hour hotel. And we haven’t even gone on the famous Charles Bridge, let alone crossed it into the Old Town and Jewish Quarter sections. We also didn’t turn up the hill which would take us to the well-known Prague Castle. We still have four more days for all of that! Check back for more from Prague this week and experience it along with us.

A tram on the street that leads from our hotel to the river
Oleander growing on a street with typical architecture in the area around our hotel
Warmly colored buildings basking in the summer sun along the Malá Strana (Lesser Town)
We found an excellent location for dinner with this view right from our table. The Charles Bridge can be seen along with some of Old Town.
Clint raises his glass to a great introduction to Prague.