“The first full day…Prague Christmas Market…🇨🇿”

We had made it to Charles Bridge. Only about a fifteen minute walk from our beautiful hotel. Nathan and I had visited Prague before in 2016 and it was amazing how much came back to us. It’s such a beautiful city.We walked up to the bridge and passed underneath it where there were river boats, cute little restaurants and the obligatory padlock attached to not only the bridge but even the lampposts. It was very romantic despite the drizzling rain. I swear everywhere we’ve been recently the rain has followed us! We found a little cafe that was serving mulled wine, hot cider and donut style ice cream cones with all kinds of fillings. We were even treated to a musical display atop the bridges’ pylon as we stood with our ice cream and mulled wine. It was a nice way to try and begin to feel festive. The Charles Bridge is Prague’s most notable monument.The architecture was stunning as we walked across the Charles Bridge admiring the statues along it. Up until the year 1741, the bridge was the only was of crossing the river connecting Old Town and Prague Castle. Construction started in 1352 and it was completed 50 years later spanning over 500 metres in length. There are over thirty statues across the bridge and they are often patrons and saints from the 1800s. We crossed the bridge and entered into Old Town and were greeted by even more beautiful architecture. The Church of St Salvatore Beautiful baroque buildings, colourful façades and Christmas lights filled the streets and lit up against the dreary grey sky. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves in Old Town Square and it was stunning.First up was the Church of St Nicholas which is a beautiful Baroque monastery that was completed in 1735. The rain didn’t perturb is from exploring! This city is stunning!The Old Town Square is possibly on of my favourite city places I have visited so far the buildings are beautiful, the churches, epic and of course it is home to the magnificent Astronomical Clock.This stunning clock on the side of the Old Town Hall was built in 1490 and every hour there is a show that occurs above the top dial where puppet-like figures rotate through the open windows. So what does the clock represent? The blue is representative of the sky and the areas above and below the horizon. There are also the zodiac signs depicted as well as the calendar and the moving figures. There are four figures that move on the hour each representing vanity, greed, death and lust, the four things most hated when construction was beginning.

As well as the clock, Old Town Square is also home to the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn. The Gothic spires can be seen from many parts of the city and looks like a fifteenth century fairy tale castle. We decided to venture up to the top of the Old Town Hall Clock Tower, to get a full view of the square. It did not disappoint! Dating back to the 1300s, this tower offers the opportunity to climb or take the lift up for panoramic views of the city. It was truly breathtaking. We decided to take the lift up and then walk back down.The views from the top, especially at this time of year were simply stunning. I swear I walked round the whole of the top with my jaw on the ground. It was quite a tight squeeze up there but well and truly worth it.We had managed to get up there at the perfect time too as the sun was setting. You could see along the roads and paths and see the hustle of bustle as people meandered round the market stalls.Satisfied we had taken in the wonderful sights, we began the long walk back down. The sun had almost set completely by the time we got down so we found ourselves a ute little cafe where we treated ourselves to wine, huge litre beers and a mojito did Alex. It was the perfect way to end our first full day of exploring. Snug under the heaters watching the lights of the market illuminate the night sky. We wanderer round the market taking in all the smells and artisan crafts. The food looked delicious at every stall we passed. The colours were magical against the black sky. Even as we sauntered back to our apartment the views never got tiring.