Farewell Prague

Our last full day in Prague was wonderfully full!

The stairs immediately in front of our apartment lead directly up to the castle entrance, so that’s how we started our day.

Now that’s convenience!

St. Vitus Cathedral on the castle grounds was our first stop.

There we climbed the 287 spiral steps to the top of the cathedral’s clock tower for sweeping views over the city. It’s not for the claustrophobic!

While we’re on the topic of the cathedral, we have to give a shout-out to our dear friends (and fellow travel addicts) Jon and Nora in Ohio. Jon is a talented artist who captures their adventures in watercolor—and he just sent us a photo his artwork that looks exactly like the spot where we were standing a few days ago!

After all those steps, refreshment was in order—and what better place than a beer garden at a 12th-century monastery? It’s the same one with the beautiful libraries we visited two days ago.

The afternoon was spent wandering museums, churches, and city streets, eventually landing at another beer garden—this one right on the river, where we watched tourists navigate paddle boats.

We ended the day with a cozy dinner just around the corner from our apartment.

Both of us ordered Czech goulash with potato pancakes.

Until now, we only knew the Hungarian version, made with noodles, ground beef, and tomatoes. This Czech take features fork-tender beef slow-cooked in a beer and onion sauce, topped with pickled onions. Absolutely delicious!

This morning, we packed up our bikes and made our way to the train station.

Biking through the city on a Sunday morning was a much calmer experience than when we arrived during rush hour!

On the way, we stopped once more at the Astronomical Clock to catch the hourly glockenspiel.

Built in the 1400s—back when people still believed the sun revolved around Prague—it remains one of the city’s most fascinating landmarks.

The crowing rooster was the final addition to the clock. Made in the late 1800’s. It gave everyone a good laugh.

Here’s a fine example of one of the confusing road signs we mentioned a few days ago. We now know this means that bikes are allowed on the route.

All packed and ready to travel by train!

We weren’t sure what to expect, but so far train travel has been pretty easy with our bikes. It’s necessary to plan ahead and buy passage for the bikes, but storage onboard is simple. The most challenging part has been the height difference between the train and the platforms. Kind passerby’s have offered help when getting our loaded bikes off the train.

We’re now on train 2 of 3 heading to the mountain town of Vrchlabí, where tomorrow we’ll begin our bike ride along the Elbe Cycle Route.

We’ll share another update tomorrow. Thanks for following along! 🚲🚲