PeronnardFamilyWorld: Czech this out !(Prague)

What can you expect from Prague?! We really had no idea except that Eric was last there when he was 14 years old when it was really a luxury to own a car. This was at a time when Prague was still under communist rule. Today, they are definately their own country and there are some traces of German and Russian influence but mostly the negative in posters depicting the demise of Hitler and the unfavorable depiction of the soviet leaders. You see some russian dolls and some foods that are definitely German or Russian influenced but they are now the Czech Republic and they prefer to speak only English (very pro-American) if not their own language. The cars have definitely gotten more exotic and pricey!!

The town unfolded for us in a very easy-going friendly way with great restaurants in our path serving anything from Pizza all over town to the more local goulash or cabbage soup in a tomato base with sour kraut. Yum!! We walked for about 7 hours on mostly cobblestone paths that lead us to the old downtown where we found our way to some spectacular cathedrals, synagogues and an amazing fortified town which is like a city within a city. There we meandered through beautifully maintained gardens with tulips and grape vines and exotic birds, a colorful and a white peacock.
We came across a cage and found in it 6 regal owls. It was a lovely day. There were concerts out in the plaza's, rock climbing and each church we passed was holding a classical concert (something very typical here and maybe unacceptable elsewhere). I was tempted to go classical today but the boys protested begging for more pizza and maybe Iron Man II.

Prague did not disappoint! From the top of the fortified town we could see spires for miles representing churches in every district of the city; very typical of Europe.

Tomorrow, we head for our 6th country, Austria, in 5 days. We're racking up the countries at a rapid pace now!!

Nice flower bed downtown Prague