Last Sunday my parents arrived in Prague!
It was so good to see them again, I think I only realized then how much I had actually missed them...
We met at my flat as I had asked them to bring some things over from Germany for me (a big pillow, a bar of my favourite chocolate and some photos to decorate my room).
I didn't expect them to bring over anything else, but then I realized that they brought me a lot more than I had asked for: a digital frame with lots of photos on it, all the calendar sheets until September of the calender my sister and designed last christmas, German cheese (the cheese you get here tastes like rubber... :/ ), German bread rolls and LOTS of German chocolate!!! Oh my god, I nearly cried, I was just so overwhelmed by that!



...and this is just a part of it! :)

Shelley (my Irish flatmate) and I then accompanied my parents to their hotel to check in and afterwards we showed them around the city centre.
We ended the day with some delicious traditional Czech food called Svíčková (Marinated Beef Sirloin) with houskové knedlíky (bread dumplings).

Monday was my first day of uni (I will tell you about my first week there in my next blog entry), so I had to get up early, but met up with my parents in the city centre after my surgery lecture. Together we walked Karlův most (Charles Bridge) and looked at some of the main sights. In the evening we went to a Concert in the National Museum where songs of Mozart ("A Little Night Music"), Bach ("Air"), Vivaldi ("The Four Seasons: Summer, Winter"), Liszt ("Love Dreams"), Dvořák ("Humoresque", "Waltz in D major", "Slavonic Dance No. 8"), Smetana ("Vltava: My Country"), Tchaikovski ("Andante Cantabile") and Brahms ("Hungarian Dance No. 5 and 6") were performed.
Usually I don't react too emotional if it comes to music, but when the orchestra played "Air" in this amazing setting, I had tears in my eyes - that's how much I liked it. :)

On Tuesday we got together at the Castle area where we enjoyed the great weather, the free entry to Katedrála svatého Víta (St Vitus Cathedral) and the grand view over the city. Afterwards we walked through Valdštejnská zahrada (Wallenstein Garden) and discovered the John Lennon Rememberance Wall which I found rather disappointing, the photos are quite nice though ;).



















Can you see the TV Tower in the far left corner? I live quite close from there... :)



the Castle Gardens





Wallenstein Garden



Charles Bridge

John Lennon Rememberance Wall:















Wednesday was spent with a long walk through the district Hradčany:



Písecká brána (Písek Gate), a former city gate of Baroque fortification



Cubist Houses designed by Josef Gočár

In the Royal Garden:







Belvedere - Queen Anne's Summer Palace and a prime example of Italian Renaissance



Ball Games House



Castle Square:



the German and the Czech flag in front of the official residence of Czech President Václav Klaus as part of President Joachim Gauck's inaugural visit to the Czech Republic

Link to a German article regarding his stay: http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article109749417/Bundespraesident-Gauck-setzt-in-Tschechien-Zeichen.html





a statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia



Archbishop's Palace





Kostel sv. Jana Nepomuckého (Military Church of St. Jan Nepomuk)



Nový Svět (New World), a country lane of quaint cottages dating back to the mid-14th century





Pražská Loreta

view from Strahovská zahrada:





It was great to see my parents here in Praha and to show them around all the places I like, I'm already looking forward to see them again for Christmas (as well as the rest of the family of course :) ) - if you want to visit me, feel free to ask me about it, I'm sure we could work something out! :)