Here's the trip report. Sorry it took so long to write up:
Day 1- flying (we left USA on Tue and landed Wed night). Once we landed in Prague (in the evening) we decided to rent a car to get from the airport to the intercontinental (we had a lot of luggage so it worked out better this way). Once we got to the hotel (Intercontinental), we checked in, relaxed for a bit then went to the Chabad House for dinner. We are positively famished by the time we arrived (full day of traveling + lack of sleep since we had crappy seats from SFO-Frankfurt). Post meal we went back to the Intercontinental and attempted sleep. I say attempt because of my three month old son who slept on the plane and woke up at 3 am and was ready to party (this is why we chose to go for a while, we didn’t want to rush with the baby).
Day 2 (actual day 1 [Thursday])- We woke up, went to Shelanu for breakfast and then decided to tour the Jewish area. My family and I first went to the community council so we would be able to go see the Maharal for free. Note* The guards out front will have a mini interrogation before letting you go inside. Some questions are: Jewish name, describe Friday at your house, did you have a bar/bat mitzvah, where do you live and which Shul do you go to. Bring your ID with you. Post interrogation we got a paper saying that we could go to the Mahral after 5:30pm. After this, we went to buy passes to see the Shuls. I had a former student ID on me so we were able to get the package (all shuls except Old-New Shul [can go for free at either mincha or maariv time]) for $25. We then went to the Spanish Synagogue, walked around (beautiful architecture), took a photo outside with a statue from Franz Kafka, then walked around the Old town Square.
Note about changing money- speak to the Shluchim. I was able to find a place that gave me a great deal to transfer USD to Czech Koruna (When we went xe- was saying the xchange was 1usd-22czk, I found a place that would do 1usd-20ck (most places did 19 or less).
At the Old Town Square we walked around, found the Astronomical clock and watched the hourly clock show. After this we went to Starbucks (free internet). Post Old Town Square we went back to the hotel for a brief nap. At around 5:00 we walked to the cemetery, davened by the Maharal and the Kli Yakor. We then went back to our hotel, had a quick dinner and walked to the Old-New Shul to see the inside and take photos. In most places photography is not allowed….we don’t listen well. After that we walked around the Jewish Quarter a bit more then went back to our hotel.
Day 2: Friday, Since we were switching hotels, we spent most of the morning packing up and getting ready to check out. Before we left the Interconteneital, I went to Shelanu to pick up our food for Shabbos.
Note: We ordered food for Fri night and Shabbos day. Since we were switched to the Sheraton (a good 20 minutes away) and have a baby, going to Shelanu/Chabad House for food on Shabbos was out of the question. When picking up your food, make sure, if you ordered two meals, that you get two meals. We had a slight incident, but thank g-d everything worked out in the end.
Day 3: Shabbos. We spent Shabbos at the Sheraton In our room. Saturday night, we walked from our hotel to Shelanu, ate and then walked back to our hotel. Since we slept all day and my son was not on the right time zone, we decided to walk slowly and take gorgeous night photos.
Day 4: Sunday- We left our hotel and walked to Wenceslas Square, Powder Tower, back to the Jewish Quarter for Souvenir shopping and then walked to the Metronome for Sunset photos. We took some amazing photos (dslr+tri pod+ remote).
Day 5: Monday- Prague Castle. Eh. For my first Eurpoean Castle I wasn’t that impressed. The only interesting part was the St. Vitus Cathedral. We spent the better part of an hour walking around and taking photos. After that we went to Starbucks near the castle, and took some gorgeous photos of the view from the Castle.
Day 6: Tuesday. Tuesday was the 17th of Tammuz. We spent ¾ of the day at our hotel. Two hours before the fast we walked back into town, went back to the Alt-Neu shul, took some more photos (got to see the Ladies side of the shul, since it was open), went back to Shelanu for dinner and then slowly walked back to our hotel, enjoyed and taking photos of the many sights.
Day 7: Wednesday, we went back to the Jewish Quarter, went to Klaus Synagogue, then to the Chevra Kadisha building. While Klaus synagogue had a beautiful Aaron Kodesh, that was all I can say about it. The Chevra Kadisha building wasn’t anything special (sadly). Most of it was either locked or tapped off. Although, while inside, there was a minyan by the Maharal, so that was nice to watch and listen to. After that we went back to the Old Town Square, took some more photos, bought a few more souvenirs and that was it.
Day 8: Thursday, packed and went to the airport.
Note: We brought a lot of our own food so we would not have to eat out often. We did buy bread and milk (when they had) from Shelanu. The hotels do not have mini fridges, so we had to use the mini bar to store our food. It was a tight squeeze and it kept our food cool enough that it did not go bad.
All in all we had a great time. 6 days in Prague was definitely enough. The only reason we stayed longer was 1- did not want to fly back on a fast day, and 2- Thursday there were saver tickets to fly business (on Lufthansa).
Hope you enjoyed, feel free to ask any questions