[Day 14] Off to Prague

Today, we were moving on to Prague and meeting my sister-in-law’s family there. Again, this was a new place and I was excited to explore it. My sister-in-law’s family had been there before so I didn’t do much planning except to look for places to eat at 🙂 It took about half a day to get there so plan out your schedule wisely.

Once at the Václav Havel Airport Prague, I was amazed at all the Korean I was seeing on the signs. Usually they have their native language, English, and Chinese but here, the only Asian language they had was Korean.

I think it was because back in the early 2000s, there was a really famous Korean TV drama called Lovers in Prague. This show got really high rating and attracted thousands of Koreans to visit Prague. It was interesting to see how a TV show could influence a country.

We were able to use UBER in Prague and used it to head to our accommodation. The airport is about 40 minutes away from the city and it felt like we were driving through the country side.

Once at our accommodation, we met with the family, unpacked, and shared gifts with each other. We got each other matching tops and hats so we had some fashion coordination for the coming days.

As dinner time came close, we headed out towards the heart of the city. It was raining but we still wanted to go out. If it is your first time going to Prague, look for hotels near Charles Bridge or the Old Town Square. This felt like the main area and offered a lot of things to see and from here, everything was pretty much walking distance.

For dinner, we did not make any reservation and ended up at a burger place called Joy Burger. They had regular burgers but I wanted to try something unique so I got the Olomouc beef burger. I was interested to know what olomouc cheese tasted like since I’ve never heard of it before. It was really good.

TIP: Similar to Spain, every restaurant, bar, cafe took reservations. If you have somewhere you want to try, make reservation

After finishing our meal, we continued to walk towards Old Town Square. They were having a Christmas Market here and was said to be the most popular. And it was! The place was crowded with tourists and locals, buying food and ornaments, and looking at the decorations. They had huge Christmas trees, all covered with lights, and it looked amazing with the surrounding Gothic architecture. I believe every hour, they also had a light show with music.

And because of the food, the area even smelled good! You could definitely come to the Market and fill up on different foods. Make sure to bring cash here. Different from Spain, Prague had a lot of places, even shops, that did not take credit card.

One of the food we fell in love with was Trdlo/Trdelník. This is a must try! It’s a tunnel cake and they use nutella or marmalade jam as a spread. Since this was the Market, we were able to get one right off the grill. Super fresh. Nice and hot. This would become our go-to dessert for the duration of our time in Czech Republic.

After getting our dessert, we moved to see the Prague Astronomical Clock. We had perfect timing as it started to ring right when we got there. It is impressive, even in the dark, and at each hour, as the clock strikes, you were able to see the 12 apostles appear. The clock tower was also bigger than I expected and I found out it was a tower you can go up! However, by the time we got there, it was closed.

After seeing the Clock, we kept walking and ended up on the Charles Bridge. Even thought it was late at night and it was raining, there were lots of tourist on the bridge taking pictures and taking in the night scenery. From afar, you could see the Prague Castle. After a quick look around, we headed back to our accommodation to get ready for a full day in Prague.

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[Day 11 +12] Relaxing like the locals in Madrid

I am combining day 11 and 12 because most of the days, I just hung out with my brother and sister-in-law. After our other brother’s family left, we just wanted some time to be lazy.

My brother and sister-in-law really wanted me to try this restaurant called Taberna El Sur so we headed there for dinner. This place was really small and I would recommend that you make reservation in advance. There are lots of bar seating if you are ok with that as well.

It was tapas style and we tried different things from the menu. We all got sangria first and ordered tapas like ropa vieja (braised flank steak) and carrillada (braised pork cheeks). They were so good. And the portions were good too. We ordered 4 tapas and it was enough for us.

After our filling meal, we walked to Plaza de Cibeles to see Cibeles Palace. I saw this place while driving by so I wanted a closer look. The building is all white but during the night time, they flashed different color strobes on it, making it look green, red, and more. We tried to go inside but they were closed.

TIP: I also did not realize how close this place was to Retiro Park. I would see this Palace first and head into Retiro Park for a half day tour.

And because it was the holidays, the streets were full of decorative lights. And by the Metropolis Building, they even had a giant Christmas Ornament. While walking back to Puerta del Sol, we saw several Christmas trees as well. It was really beautiful during the night time.

Our Sunday morning started with us visiting a church. We walked most of the way to church but on our way back, I got to ride the metro for the first time. The ticket was easy to use but we ended up getting off at the wrong stop and had to buy another ticket. They had pretty bad customer service.

We didn’t know what to eat for lunch and ended up at Tierra Burrito Bar and it was similar to Chipotle. But the portions were huge! They couldn’t even roll the burrito all the way, which was better for me 🙂 I think this solved my craving for American food.

Afterwards, we headed to the Royal Palace of Madrid. I just wanted to see what it looked like. There were lots of street performers outside the Palace and many tourist and locals taking walks. It was pretty peaceful. I did not get to go inside since I did not have tickets but by the size of it, you would need to spend at least 3 hours to see the place.

I also got to see the Catedral de la Almudena and this was impressive. Even more so than the palace! The architecture was stunning. We couldn’t go in because it was too late but still amazing. I would recommend staying here and seeing the sunset. It would make a killer photo.