Who put the honey in the honeymoon?

Prague edition!

Sometimes, when I remember our wedding in September, it still feels like I’m about to burst. Marrying Ramon has been such an unexpected joy. Not least because we got a vacation out of it over the New Year holidays! I knew I loved him but this new official status… I don’t know, there’s something magical about it when you are in love.

So we went to Prague. I had never been there and if you have not, nothing I can say and no pictures can do it a modicum of justice. It is stunning for its architectural beauty but also for the scale of that architecture. It’s not just a few centrally-located buildings. It feels like it goes on for miles and miles in every direction, across the river, up hills and down in valleys… It’s just breathtaking, every wedding-cake-style building more epic and candyland than the last.

Instagrammable

We heard Prague was a busy place in summer, but at New Year’s the streets were thronging with people. In my pictures I tried to capture scenes when it wasn’t too full, but if you’re traveling to Prague, no matter if it’s summer or winter, holiday or not, it’s packed. Count on it! This place is just too good an advertisement for itself.

Telling time

That freaking clocktower is so cool – full of asymmetrical gears and cuckoos and little soldiers and zodiac signs and who knows what-all. I think you could look at it for months and not get all the symbolism. At the top of every hour the plaza around it fills with people who wait to hear it chime, but my favorite part was our guide telling us about its genius mathematical and decorative construction. Apparently the one who commissioned the clock murdered the one who made it, so they couldn’t make one like it for anyone else. (Though that might be hyperbole!)

But in case you want some clock action, how about this cute little skeleton bonging the bell?

Prague Castle and Cathedral

The west side of the Moldava River, running right through the city, features the Prague Castle and its cathedral. Our tour guide talked to us about the imperial history of Bohemia, which was an education for me. It also explains the grandiosity of the entire city. The castle and cathedral are nothing if not adorned and every angle has a hundred-and-one things to see. It’s impossible to take it all in, even with the massive Starbucks coffee we had while we were on the grounds. (I told you it was touristy!)

Prague over the river

On the Castle side of the river is an adorable neighborhood of restaurants, shops and museums, including a big compound honoring their favorite son, Franz Kafka. We had a tour through that area, including the John Lennon wall. I don’t think I ever understood the importance of the counterculture behind the iron curtain; I mean, we all knew they wanted Levi’s in Moscow, but seeing this wall and hearing its history made me appreciate much more what the hopelessness people must have felt, living under communism.

Just a little plug for Civitatis here, I’d never heard of them but they have free tours all over, in English, in Spanish and I presume in other languages. You just give the tour guide a tip. This may or may not be the best way to go – I imagine that the tour guides make more if you contract them through their own companies. But we found good tour guides through Civitatis and they gave us great recommendations for what to see, do, and eat while we were in Prague and, later, in Budapest.

The tour continued to the famous Charles Bridge. As I have mentioned already, Prague is full of tourists; until you get on the Charles Bridge, which is ten times worse. You’re like sardines, shuffling along like at the end of a major league sporting event, trying to leave a stadium. Fortunately, the statuary and the great views are still visible – you just have maybe longer to look at them than you planned!

You might have noticed we’re pretty bundled up. COOOOOOOLLLLDDDD! Especially on the bridge, where the wind buffeted us enough that we leaned into the throng for warmth. Soon enough, we were back on the east bank and ready for hot chocolate.

A little Prague ham, anyone?

Which brings me to wanting a little sustenance. Luckily, Prague in winter has just the foodstuffs that will keep us going the rest of the day. There’s a lotta pork. A whole lotta pork.

Like the most delicious ham ever, sold out in the Christmas market in the main square. The smell was sooo captivating. And at our favorite restaurant we shared a leg that was so big it came on a cutting board instead of a plate. It was also adorned with a fist-sized knot of horseradish: mmmmmm. It was like a Bugs bunny cartoon with my ears blowing steam straight out! And of course plenty of beer!

Also something very clever: to keep a fried egg in a nice circle, why not use a bell pepper ring? I will be using that, thank you very much!

Towering over us

Back to the touristing around, we had to check out the Tower Gate, which was our meeting point for another tour – this time of the Old City and the Jewish Quarter. The tour gave us more information on World War II in Prague, including Jewish history and the ghettoes where Jews had to live, in dangerous squalor. And of course that was better than the alternative, which was a concentration camp. The city’s synagogues remain some of the most visited sites in this hyper-visited city.

The neighborhood around the Tower Gate was monumental and gorgeous, including what must have been the chic-est restaurant in town, a couple of centuries ago, with vaulted ceilings, murals on every wall, and a tuxedo-ed piano player. Grand construction and that imperial mindset reached all around this city.

New Year’s Eve

We’ve got a little habit, Ramon and I, of enjoying the heck out of a Hard Rock Café. Yes, they’re chain restaurants and none too fancy, and yes, they aren’t the cheapest place in town. They also have a dangerous gift shop in every one of them, with local versions of t-shirts and other gimcracks and geegaws that we probably shouldn’t spend money on.

So of course, that’s where we spent New Year’s Eve.

Since I’m now a rock-n-roller myself (more on that in a post somewhat down the line, when I can play a few more songs), being at the Hard Rock had new meaning. I have been watching John Bonham and other famous drummers in Youtube videos lately and taking our picture in front of Zep at the Hard Rock was extra cool.

The schedule that night was a bit of an unknown, but when we sat down we realized that the first act was sitting at the bar near us. We ended up chatting with him and when he got up to play, he gave us a sweet salute for our honeymoon. (He also called us “not spring chickens” which I didn’t think was strictly necessary, but whatever.) He ended up being the best act of the night. Next up was a weird duo of DJ and saxophone that I did not… get. It wasn’t till after the ball drop that they started playing danceable music again.

By then the margaritas and champers had worked their magic on me, and much whoop-whooping was heard from the two-top by the bar. Outside after the party, the snow started to fall. Loads of merry-makers were carousing through the little storm, and we made it back to our fantastic hotel with the best bed and sheets ever, having welcomed 2026 in total style.

No resolutions for me: quitting smoking in November was quite enough to last me a while, thank you! I’m still going strong four and a half months later, and there’s nothing I can do to top that, probably ever!

Skirting out

On our last full day we explored to the south of the city center, in a neighborhood called Vyserhad. The map showed a complex of buildings and part of the original city walls, plus a cemetery. We wanted to have a look and the traipse to get there was fully worth it.