Prague Travel Guide...Who Doesn't Love a York Family Vacation?!

I always miss my family while I'm at school. But to be honest, I don't always think about it. Usually I'm caught up in what assignments I have to complete, what tests I have coming up, what my dinner should be that night (not sure WHY I think about this so often considering I eat the SAME THING ALMOST EVERY SINGLE NIGHT... Prague is not vegetarian friendly so it's not my fault). But whenever my family and I do get the chance to be together, it reminds me how much I miss them! It's weird how much happens in their lives, my siblings especially, that I just never get to hear about. Maybe they should actually answer my texts or facetimes to fix this issue?? But regardless of our phone tag, it makes such a difference seeing each other in ~real life~.

So last week I got the HONOR of showing them around my city (Prague) and visiting other European cities (Vienna & Budapest), too!

First stop: Prague.

My family arrived in Prague on Saturday April 20th. To be honest I'm not sure exactly how our time was split up, but here are just some of the BEST things we did over our 3 days in Prague:

1. The Prague Castle.

For one, the castle itself is beautiful. It dates back to the 10th century... but it doesn't look a day over 30! Kidding. The old walls of the church and the stone steps through the gardens are really something else. But what took our breath away more than ANYTHING was the walk up the tower. Literally it was 825 steps and we COULD BARELY BREATHE for the following 10 minutes. The trek up was nothing compared to the view, though. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, even though they can't possibly do this view justice. All in all, if you're ever in Prague, skip your workout for the day and visit the top of the Old Castle Stairs.

2. The Babies.

I'm sorry, what? I know, I know, that was my reaction too.

David Černy is responsible for the babies we visited along with others around the city, including 10 of them scaling the Žižkov TV tower. The babies were created to represent Prague as the Cultural Capital of Europe, which is... less than self explanatory. But anyway, they are cool to see and fun to climb on (that's weird).

3. Easter Brunch.

While I encourage you to try out as many of these foods, places & adventures as possible if you ever find yourself in Central/Eastern Europe, this event might not be very easy to recreate... York Family Easter Brunch. But the reason I'm adding this in to my top 3 of Prague is because I was so incredibly happy this fine Easter morning. For one, my dad met me at my favorite gym of all time to work out (happiness level instantly through the roof), then we headed back to the airbnb which had a rooftop patio with a table and lounge chairs (happiness level increasing even more!), and then my family and I made ourselves an Easter Brunch of eggs, a whoooooole big bowl of fruit, toast, jam, peanut butter, and OF COURSE a little Easter candy. What more could I have asked for?

Second Stop: Vienna.

A few days later, we road-tripped through Central Europe to Vienna, Austria.

We were immediately flooded with Sound of Music vibes, even though that took place in an entirely different region of Austria. Nonetheless, we got out ~music~ on:

1. Haus Der Musik.

At the House of Musik we saw a super fun classical music concert. I know what you're thinking... "fun and classical music exist in the same sentence?!"... well, yes. in Vienna they do! The performance was a conglomeration of opera, ballet, orchestra, and any other form of Beethoven, Vivaldi or Haydn imaginable.

2. St. Stephen's Cathedral.

VISIT THIS CATHEDRAL AT NIGHT! It is SO MUCH better than during the day. The inside of the Cathedral is decorated with hanging stones that make it look a whole lot like Hogwarts, and is built on top of underground tunnels and rooms holding nothing less than the skulls and organs of former Viennese and Austrian rulers. These catacombs were not my favorite part, but the Cathedral in general definitely was.

Third Stop: Budapest.

Budapest was my favorite city we visited! It was much more metropolitan than I had expected and absolutely beautiful.

1. Central Market.

Okay this market is admittedly more expensive than necessary, but that doesn't mean we didn't visit... TWICE! I loved the market because I love markets in general. It was a huge indoor space filled with food stalls, farmer's market/produce stands, traditional clothing, and a whole lot more. Being the Hungarian family we are, the Chicken Paprikash was a given. In fact, my brother ordered (some form or another of) Chicken Paprikash 4 times within our 2 days in Hungary. And I'm pretty sure he didn't regret it one bit! The market had a few different Chicken Pap recipes, but since I'm opposed to eating meat, I went for a falafel wrap. Come to think of it, I probably ordered falafel about 4 times while in Budapest... but I don't regret it either!

2. Széchenyi Thermal Baths.

After a week long road trip through the European countryside, we were ready to soak up some sun and some minerals! The Thermal Baths are a unique part of Hungarian culture. The mineral water is supposed to heal your body when you soak in it and drink it (but, ew, please don't do it at the same time). Whether it worked for us or not, I'm not sure. But we sure did feel relaxed hanging out in a ~healthy hot tub~! Plus the lazy river was anything but lazy. It threw my into the wall or other people at least six times. Totally worth it!

Budapest was incredible. It was a huge city with the most lively outdoor-eating culture I'd ever seen. I could spend forever there! Vienna was beautiful. The music can not be appreciated enough. Prague is quaint... and in a way it's home. I've been here for over 3 months at this point and I have about 20 days left. It's crazy that this is my life this semester and I am so grateful that I was able to share it with my family this past week. This spring break vacation was one for the books. But in case this blog post was all the reading you could handle, I made a video about it too that you should definitely go check out! That's all for this week, folks. Thanks for tuning in to my life once again! Now let's get crackin on finals amiright??? xoxo, (a)Lex

*post from Alex's previous travel blog, Life with Lex. May 1, 2019.*