Prague (Part 2) and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!

On New Year's eve, we decided to hike up to Prague castle. The weather was perfect. Not too cold and the walk sort of warmed us up. The scenery while walking and hiking up and down the castle was pretty. 

Along the way, I stopped to try the waffles on stick that was sold beside the road. It was delicious.

And soon, we arrived the castle. It was swarmed with tourists. We, of course, had to take picture with the guard by the entrance gate. 

There were other architectures beside the castle like St.  Vitus Cathedral which is the largest church in Prague. We didn't spend a lot of time around the castle area. 

After that, we headed back down and went to the town's 'Silvester's' or New Year Eve's market to grab a bit.

In the evening, we got ready in our apartment, made a toast and headed out for dinner and afterwards for the NYE countdown.

Everything looked good in the menu. 

The ladies. 

Oli ordered ribs which was amazingly delicious!

I ordered lamb shank with potatoes. Pretty good too but not as good as Oli's rib.

After dinner, we waited for the countdown in New  Town Square instead of the Old Square because we were told the Old Square would be very packed with tourists. And as customary, at the stroke of 12 midnight, we kissed and toasted to 2013. Possibly the most happening NYE I've had because usually, it's always with families and we'll do BBQ and lit up our own fireworks. But come to think of it, I kinda miss that too. Simple, familiar and just nice.

Some pictures to show you how it went down. :)

Speaking of 2013, let's just say, this year will be a big year for us. We're entering into another new phase that comes with big changes, new and challenging things. We'll share it another time. :)

Prague (Part 1)

I know this is long overdue but hey, better late than never. Okay, bad excuse. Since the last time I wrote, I am feeling much better now. So is Oliver. Last week, Oli took a couple of days off from work and we headed to Amsterdam for Easter. But, as the post title says it, I am not going to write about Amsterdam, yet, but about Prague. Oli visited Prague a few years ago and he was always saying how it was beautiful, cheap and the girls were also beautiful and friendly. So I've always wanted to visit Prague to see it for myself. :) The trip was planned pretty spontaneously. We had some friends over for dinner and we were just talking about our plans for New Year 2013. We mentioned Berlin, Munich, Paris and even some cities in Belgium but finally, we decided on Prague. 

We arrived Prague a few days before the new year. And off we went to explore what the city has to offer.  The first thing that we saw was the Fred & Ginger Building, also called 'The Dancing Building' for its curvy architecture. 

It was winter so it was cold. It didn't help that the temperature went down a couple notches in the evening and the breeze blowing as we walked along the river chilled us to the bones. But we tried to distract ourselves, taking in the sights of the city, the bridges, the castle on the hill from a far and just other interesting things. We walked through Old Town street, observing the night life, the people; locals and tourists, and scouting for a place to have our dinner. In the picture below, you could see a bit of the famous Charles Bridge. More of it later.

We had dinner with the Masons, another family who happened to be in Prague (we didn't plan the trip together) in an Italian Restaurant. Food was decent. Tasted better Aglio e Olio.

After dinner, we headed to Charles Bridge. You can see a bit of the old castle from the picture below, that  is somehow illuminated by light. Our friend, Kyle, wanted to bring us to the oldest medieval pub across the bridge.

Shana and I with our hot red wine. Perfect beverage for cold winter night out (besides Hot Chocolate).

A little bit of inside the so-called oldest medieval pub. More pictures later because we came back again the next evening to have dinner and watch some gypsy like performances.

The next day, we got ready and went to the Old Town Square to catch a free tour. 

A pretty sunrise view from the bridge we're at.

Here's a tip for those who would like to save money when travelling to a new city in Europe but still would like to know the stories and histories behind one, always check if there is a free tour. Oliver and I always go for the Sandemans Europe Tour. They offer free tour in several touristic cities in Europe. Now, although I say free, at the end of the tour, which is usually 3 hours and I'd say, pretty informative and interesting, it's up to you how much tip you would like to give. We did it in Berlin, in Prague and in Amsterdam recently, and we're always happy and satisfied with the tour. So, each of us usually give about 5 euros which is still pretty cheap compared to other tours that cost 3 or 5 times more.

After the tour, we went back to the apartment to meet up with the remaining of the crew who just arrived that day. We then went back to the medieval pub to have dinner and catch the show.

While the dinner was nothing to boast about, the performances were entertaining. They had staged sword fight, belly dancing, a bit of acrobat stunts, and fire shows. Suffice to say the night ended well. More on our New Year's eve celebration in Part 2. :)