Snow Day!

So we DID check the forecast before packing for this trip…a few times. It was supposed to be cloudy, chance of rain and mid to upper 40's the whole week. We still seriously considered bringing our heavy coats, but in the end we decided that with warm ski socks, scarves, hats, gloves, a thousand layers and our lighter winter jackets we would be OK for temperatures in the 40's. Well the weather was so wrong, particularly on this day, that I will be hesitant to ever trust another forecast again. It was in the 20's and snowed all day. We froze. 

 
We went to Old Town Square and enjoyed it for about three minutes before we found a place a few blocks away for lunch. It was a nonsmoking Mexican restaurant/bar called La Casa Blu. The food was 
 really good, and we enjoyed sitting there (drinking a beer of course) and watching the snow.

The best way to take pictures of the snow...inside with a beer.

Old Town Square in the snow.



After heading back over to the square to attempt to take a few pictures, we took a tram across the river. We found our way to the Old Castle Steps that lead up to the castle. The actual Old Royal Palace and another section of the castle were closed due to the following day being a national Czech holiday, so we ended up walking around the courtyard and taking some pictures of the outside of the churches before making our way out the other side of the castle. 

The front of St. Vitus Cathedral within Prague Castle.



Walking through the courtyard

 
The view from this side was just as great and the visibility had improved a lot from when we were on the stairs, so the conditions were much better for taking some pictures. We also just happened to be walking out of the gates just as the changing of the guards was taking place, which was really interesting. (A note- we only saw the hourly changing of the guard, not the elaborate one done at noon each day, which is supposed to be very impressive.) 

The view through the castle vineyards.



A great view of Prague.



We were seriously freezing at this point. I can honestly say there are few times in my life when I’ve been colder. Luckily we found a nice restaurant just as we came off of the “hill” from the castle. I had hot wine and potato soup, both were very good and most importantly warm. (Andy had onion rings and a beer, equally good.) We actually did not realize until after sitting down that this place was completely nonsmoking which I was particularly grateful for given the cold I carried around with me all day. After another trip to Wenceslas Square, we jumped on a tram towards the neighborhood near the apartment. We ended up eating dinner at a bar a couple of blocks away. Even though there was smoking here, we really liked the atmosphere at this bar.


The great place that saved us from impending hypothermia.