For our last half-day in Prague [Praha], it was decided that we were going to go back to the Old Town Hall Staroměstská radnice, in order to take a guided tour to see the machinery of the Prague Astronomical Clock Pražský orloj. I am not sure why we did not did the tour on Monday when we first visited, as we ended up paying for admission twice. However, a word to the wise: if you ever find yourself in Prague, do take the tour. The price is negligible in comparison to the ticket entrance and you will actually get to see something besides the view from the tower. We waited at the small frescoed hall for the tour to start.

The guided tour was led by a very giddy lady who was extremely excted to describe all wars, murders, maiming and torture methods in full gory details. The visit started at the chapel, which is not the original one, but a reconstructed version. It is right behind the clock, so you can glimpse a bit into the mechanism. And glimpse means see a couple of gears and the sculptures. Then we continued into the only intact room of the area – the gothic Hall of Justice, which was honestly very impressive – and well maintained.

We went on to visit a Baroque hall with paintings that depicted the Hussite war and the coronation of George of Poděbrady. The guide also explained that Good King Wenceslas, from the Christmas carol, had never been a king. We finally got to see some original frescos from before most of the Town Hall was destroyed – on the very last day of World War II.

Afterwards, we moved underground, to see the surviving Romanesque and Gothic foundations of the Old Town Hall and the city itself, which used to be 6 metres lower than it is today. They are not the only cellars in Prague [Praha] that can be visited, but they were pretty impressive and preserved.

We did not have time for anything else after the visit, but I ditched my family then to do a quick souvenir-shop run, and met them at the hotel 15 minutes before pick-up. The driver could not find a parking spot, so he was 10 minutes late anyway. We got to the airport, went through security and tried to find somewhere to eat. My parent seemed to be desperately looking for something, anything, that was not Costa Coffee for lunch, but unfortunately for them – fortunately for me – nothing else was found. Ergo, I got a vanilla latte! My other parent was astonished by my happy “Costa Grin”. We had seen a few Costas around Prague through the visit, but aside from saying I liked the chain, I did not push to go into any. I knew there would be enough of them in the UK in a few days.

It did not take long for our gate to be called, and boarding started before schedule. Since I had paid for the upgrade, we were amongst the first to board the plane, despite being on the literal last row. The flight was all right – there was some turbulence, but nothing too bad. And when we were landing, I was surprised about how clearly you could spot the Torrejón Christmas park (hello there, light pollution).

We landed, got to the shuttle, then to the parking lot, and finally home. As a balance… I don’t know. More than a trip, I thought about this as “spending time with family somewhere else”, but I was a bit confused about my role in it. I was expected to sit back, but I was also expected to plan and guide, it felt like being on thin ice a couple of times. I was not disappointed because I made a big effort not to do much research beforehand – beyond what my parents had prepared. I know we missed a few interesting things, and we had a couple of hiccups, but Prague [Praha] was pretty good for a three-day escapade, and I got to see actual central Europe Christmas Markets, which we missed in Vienna in 2024.

I liked Prague’s Gothic – I know, no one is surprised. If anything, I was taken aback at how packed it was, especially tourist families with kids during weekdays. I think the whole Christmas market tourist pull is way more important than I had given credit to. Yes, I had seen actual group trips aimed to see them but… Just wow. Talk about packed. And finally, on the topic of famous and populated Christmas Markets – I am not sure a couple of them actually closed for the night. At least they were still open way past 22:00… Which would cause even more contrast a few days later in Oxford. It was also not as cold as I had expected or feared, which was decent for pictures. Maybe next time we can do something warmer. Like the North of Africa…