Greetings from Dresden.

This morning we caught a train from Dresden to Prague. Our train was scheduled to leave at 9:22 a.m. Luckily, we both woke up pretty early and were able to have a bit of a lazy morning before walking over to the train station. We arrived and boarded our train only to find out it was 30 minutes behind due to a “technical issue with the tracks.”

We decided to spend the extra 20 bucks to ride first class to and from and were happy with our decision. There was hardly anyone else in the car and the extra space was welcomed. They even came by and brought you food and drink (if you ordered it).

It was a beautiful ride to Prague, we enjoyed watching the countryside fly by as we road along the Elbe River.

Once we arrived in Prague, we exited the station and were on our way to adventures! Outside the train station there was an eclectic mix of people enjoying the benches in the sunshine – from families, to people possibly under the influence of something taking naps.

We continued our walk and next thing we knew we popped out at Wenceslas Square. I instantly recognized it from the Rick Steves video we had watched. Like many of the places we have seen on our journey the building at the end of the square, the National Museum, was hidden behind a cover for restoration. You can see the Samsung ad over the covering below.

From the square we walked to the old town square and took in the sights. By this point, it was quite warm and we were standing in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, I had not packed any sunscreen with us since we were both expecting it to be cloudy. From the old town square we were headed to the Charles Bridge. It was about half-way there that I had remembered I wanted to see the Astronomical Clock which we had somehow missed when we were in the old town square. We decided to continue our walk and catch it on the way back.

Charles Bridge was built in the 14th century. We definitely wanted to experience this history and so did the rest of the Europe. The bridge was packed!

We made it across the bridge and then through the streets up to the Prague Castle. You can see photos below of the St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle and the views from our walk up there.

After walking around the castle complex we needed to start heading back to catch our afternoon train. We stopped by the old town square to find the Astronomical Clock was under renovation and you couldn’t see it. I was very bummed out – this was much like Big Ben that was covered in scaffolding…

We made it back to the train station and picked up some lunch. The two young men working at the shop we stopped at both spoke English which I was very thankful for. Our train was on time and we were on our way…

We enjoyed our time in Prague. One thing we learned is that Prague is one of the top five most visited cities in Europe along with Paris, London, Rome and Instanbul. I can see the allure of Prague with the incredible architecture and history, but the crowds (even in April) were a little too much for us. We were ready to be back at our apartment, putting our feet up and resting after a long, busy and hot day in the sunshine.

Tomorrow we are “playing it by ear” depending on the weather. We are here in Dresden until Sunday, so we will see what the day brings. Until then…