Josefav, the Jewish Quarters of Prague

After a slight diversion and writing on other topics, I’m back to writing about my favorite place –  Europe!

In May this year we started our second Europe trip from Prague again, as we just didn’t get enough of it last time and also the tickets were the cheapest than any other country. As this was our second trip to Prague, we decided to revisit the places we loved during our first trip and also visit the places that we had previously missed. One of the places we missed but really wanted to see was Josefov.

Josefov is a small Jewish Quarter in Prague located between the Old Town Square and the Vltava River. While Jews are living in Prague from as early as 10th century, the establishment of this ghetto is believed to be in the 13th century, when Jews in Prague were ordered to vacate their homes and settle in one particular area. Over time more and more Jews settled in this area, as there were increasing restrictions on their living areas, movements and trade.

Interesting colors and shapes of rooftops and the clock, Jewish Quarter, Prague

The City with an old world charm, Prague – Day 2

My love for Prague was definitely not one at first slight (for reasons listed in my earlier post  http://wp.me/p29z7S-be ) but this city definitely grew on us when we gave it another chance. And later, we felt that it was one of the most beautiful and picturesque cities that we had visited during our trip.

I have been trying to write this post since a while now; but every time that I have tried to write, I been completely lost for what was the best thing about Prague or what can I describe it in one word as. Well I have given up on that now and  realised that I loved practically everything here. We could explore this city for days at an end and still find newer and prettier things to see each day. Each building here is very modern as an establishment but still maintains its history and old looks. Also, it has something for everyone –  starting from its history and culture to the most amazing party places and night clubs.

The city with an old world charm – Prague, Day 1

When we decided that we wanted to visit Europe for a holiday, the first city that we finalised was Prague. For some reason this city held a sort of  a fascination for us; as we had heard that it’s a beautiful city from practically everyone who had been there and it was extremely recommended on every travel website. It was also a place that a lot of Indians normally didn’t visit, hence we decided to start our trip from there.

However, despite our huge excitement, our trip did not start on that good a note. We reached Prague quite tired after an over-night flight, only to read at the airport that the temperature here is 12 degrees (and we had come expecting summers). So we first froze outside the airport waiting for the shuttle. Next when we got off the shuttle to look for our hostel, as our luck would have it, it started raining. We somehow managed to reach our hostel (which was near the old town square) quite tired, wet and hungry only to be told that the check-in was another 2 hours away. Well that quite tested our patience levels and we just felt that this whole idea was a mistake. Then we two grumpy people just dumped our luggage there,  collected the city maps and decided to head out to eat something.

The Beautiful Bohemian Town – Cesky Krumlov

When we were finalizing our itinerary for Czech Republic, a friend recommended that from Prague we should visit a small Bohemian town called, Cesky Krumlov. When she said it I just didn’t understand what she was saying, as the pronunciation is quite difficult when you first hear it. But then one look at the pics of this place online and we were sold.

Cesky Krumlov is a small fairy take village located in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic and is situated on the Vltava River. This town is full of old Baroque buildings housing cafes, shops, museums and bars, a beautiful castle, and an old-town square. This town is on the Unesco World Heritage List and is still maintained like it was in the 18th century.