Dublin & The Beginning of Prague {The In-Laws Visit}

Brian's parents came to visit us last week!  It was quite the treat to have them over and to have our first visitors in Dublin.  The plan was for them to be in Dublin for 2 days, then head over to Austria for a few days before meeting Brian and I in Prague the following weekend.

We all know a trip from the West Coast to Ireland is loooong, but what we didn't expect was for Robin & Richard's flight to be delayed and them to miss their connection!  If that wasn't bad enough, the delay was 24 hours so we lost a full day with them in Dublin.

Brian and I were so disappointed, so I could only imagine how Robin & Richard felt, being stuck in DC with no help from the airline (not to worry though, Robin wrote a letter and was nicely compensated in the end).  Anyway, they eventually made it here and their time was so short, I only got 1 photo - can you believe it?  I'm sure Brian can't.  At least it was a good one.

B & Parents in Temple Bar

I met up with them for the afternoon and it proved to be a typical Irish day.  Sunglasses were on one minute and the next we were hunkered down in a shop hiding from the downpour.  After a short break back home for a nap and some coffee, we had a very nice dinner at The Winding Stair just north of the Ha'Penny bridge.  We made the most of their short time, and when I woke up the next morning, they were all gone.  Brian was off to London for work, and The In-Laws to Austria. 

A few short days later, Brian was back in Dublin and we packed our bags to meet his Parents in Prague.

A beautiful first evening in Prague

We arrived around the same time, and all of us were hungry so we found a nice place for a late lunch off the beaten path and tried our first of several goulash and potato pancakes, with a beer, of course.

Robin and I had an amazing Blueberry Beer.  It just had a hint of blueberry and not at all sweet.
I went back for more at the end of the trip.

As all first days in a new city, we were excited to see some sights, so we went on a walk to the Charles Bridge taking in the architecture and vibe of the city along the way.

I always love all the colors of the buildings

We strolled across the bridge and snapped a few photos.  The construction of the Charles Bridge started in 1357, again, the history in Europe is just incredible.  The bridge has survived floods, battles, war and revolutions and while pieces have been damaged and destroyed, the bridge as a whole has survived.

Richard is so tall, he covered the castle!  Or I just didn't get the right angle 

Birds on the bridge

On the Charles Bridge

And on the other side of the bridge, we stumbled upon an impressive estate and garden, that turned out to be the Senate building.  It was originally built by a military commander as his personal estate in the 1600's, he lived there for 12 months before he was ordered to death by the emperor.  Most all of the belongings in the estate were taken as war booty by the Swedish in 1648.  And the estate was turned over from the family to the Czech government in 1945.  I don't know the story behind that, but I'm guessing it wasn't pleasant.

Our tour guide Brian figuring out where we were - thanks Wikipedia 

In front of a dripping wall, that was a decorative piece in the garden

We continued our walk back on another bridge over Vltava river and had an amazing view of the Charles Bridge.

The view

Us

Robin & Richard

And then we were back to the main square, so we stopped for a drink before dinner.

Main Square 

One of the most famous sights in Prague is the clock below.  We probably walked by it 10 times and I only took a photo at night, but I think it turned out good!  It's an astronomical clock and as everything in Prague, it's old!  Installed in 1410 - I didn't know people were "installing" anything in 1410.

Astronomical Clock

It was a great first day in Prague, and we still had 2.5 more to go.