Too good to be true: Prague...or Frog, as Gianna calls it

We did our first overnight trip with Gianna in Europe. We were only in Prague for about 24 hours, but Gianna was a great traveler: enjoying the sights and sleeping good in a strange place! We loved Prague; it is just a beautiful city. After we got there Saturday afternoon we walked through the old downtown area and across the famous Charles Bridge to the castle area. Unfortunately this involved a walk up a LOT of stairs. Prague is NOT stroller friendly, to say the least! At the top we saw the castle complex and went in St. Vitus Cathedral. It is enormous and has some of the most beautiful and intricate stained glass we've ever seen!

Then we took our time walking back through town to stop along the bridge and in some of the countless shops. We had a great dinner in a place with traditional Czech food. Doug enjoyed pork knee (oh my) and I had pork tenderloin on a bed of cheese (yes, you read that right...and, by the way, Americans should serve more dishes on beds of cheese).

The next morning we visted the Jewish quarter. This is the site of several synagogues which mostly act as museums dedicated to the sad history of Czech Jews. One in particular houses the names of all the Czech victims of the Holocaust written on the walls, which fill an entire building. Of the 120,000 Jews living in the Prague area only 10,000 survived to see the end of the war. From the 1400s to the 1700s Prague's Jewish community had only one cemetary in which to bury their dead. So 12,000 are buried in a relatively small area. It is an unbelieveable sight. We were moved by the displays and the history of this area. Despite the somber end to our time in Prague, we really had a great time and recommend a visit to anyone. Though we suspect it would be even more fabulous without a toddler!