The Moore's Abroad

We recently returned from a long weekend in Prague. I didn't know too much about this city before planning our trip and it is really beautiful with all the ornate architecture on the historic buildings everywhere. It definitely exceeded our expectations. It's probably the most beautiful city that I've been to so far. There is quite a bit to do there - we didn't get to it all by far - and it has a fun vibe.

We had 4 full days and kept busy. We walked over the famous Charles Bridge that connects Old Town with New town - lots of vendors and interesting street performers there.

the organ grinder - Raegan said she wanted to play one

these guys were playing folksy country music - Ron's favorite musicians there

We happened upon a fancy old car-for-hire and decided to take a quick tour of the city in style...

This is the John Lennon wall

The Prague Castle is really amazing, we took the tram up the big hill to get to the massive castle complex

Views of the city from the castle

We took the kids to Slovansky Island - right in the middle of the city close to the Charles Bridge - to see the playground and the boats before checking out what was to be the best Mexican restaurant in the city! (the restaurant was of course disappointing...)

Day 2 we decided to take the funicular (train) up Petrin Hill to go up the observation tower which is a mini version of the Eiffel Tower. We arrived at the funicular to see a huge line, looked up the hill and said 'eh, we can just walk'. Well, it was much larger of a hill than we thought, especially given I am pushing Wyatt in the stroller and Ron had Raegan on his shoulders most of the time. But, we made it! Great views from up there, nice gardens and of course the playground we had to visit.

there was also a mirror maze at the top we had to check out

This was interesting art at the bottom of Petrin Hill - a memorial of all those impacted by communism

We were never too busy though to enjoy the most popular pastime each day - drinking the beer they are so proud of at the traditional beer halls and taverns! (we of course didn't experience the true night life there as we were home by 8:30/9pm with the kids).

There is a very limited 'traditional Czech' menu that we worked our way through during our trip. i.e. beef goulash, roasted duck, snitzel with dumplings, fried fish, etc...

Ron loved that the fish I ordered had the head on

When we got tired of Czech cuisine, we found a Hooters just around the corner - it was definitely disappointing, but then again we aren't fans of the place in the US, so we should not have expected an improvement!

Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square were very lively and fun - sort of a festival atmosphere. We went there a couple times to watch all the street performers and of course see the big astronomical clock.

We took a river cruise while there - it was a nice change from walking around

We did also check out the Prague zoo, it was nice but a regular zoo so I will not post any photos there. ...with one exception, this ridiculous photo of Wyatt. He is mad because the tram is really full and he has to share a seat with me. He was literally fuming in his seat for 20 min until we got to the zoo.

We were excited to have our old Austin neighbors and family friends the Shopps, who now live in Switzerland, come visit us for a long weekend. It is amazing how kids can pick up right where they left off 5 months ago when they said their goodbyes. Raegan and Travis were inseparable (now they are referred to as 'Ravis') and we are pretty certain even Wyatt and Savannah really remembered each other and got along great.

We had great weather all weekend so the kids had fun in the backyard (amazingly no serious injuries!)

We strapped all the kids in 3 different jogging strollers and walked down to the beach in Charlottenlund

A beer for the road home...

We took the train downtown to do a canal cruise - a first for us and definitely something we will do with visitors again

We also walked over to where the Copenhagen Jazz festival was going on

waiting in the train station at the end of a long day...

We also went to Tivoli Gardens for the first time - this is second oldest amusement park - we all had a great time. There were a lot of rides for the bigger kids so Raegan had a blast on those with Ron. Unfortunately we took Wyatt on one he wasn't ready for first thing, so he didn't want to do anything remotely "scary" after that...

Here are Kristin and Savannah on the ride that scared Wyatt...Savannah is clearly enjoying it!!