It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This weekend started off with dinner at a cute little restaurant called Malý buddha (Little Buddha) on Friday and a walk around Prague Castle at night. It just got cold here last week, and we even had a few snow flakes here and there. It is magical to be at the castle at night, and on Friday they were having some sort of a fancy ball or meeting, and everyone around looked very regal (which made me feel a little like a dirtball, but was quite romantic). We wandered around snapping pictures of St. Vitus all lit up until we were kicked out by the castle guards at closing time.

As Dita demonstrates, you have to get down to get the top of the cathedral in your picture.

We all ended up on the ground eventually

Photo cred to Miss Dita

Last night, December 1st, was the lighting of the tree at Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square). We got there early, and had to stand through an amusingly terrible 1+ hours of "entertainment" before they finally got around to lighting the tree. It was really very funny, but also a little painful to watch. After the lighting, we were caught up in a vast human tide, as thousands of people tried to leave the square all at once. I got separated from my friends when a huge human torrent swept between us and carried me off in another direction. It was both amusing and terrifying. I fear that people may have been injured in that crowd, and felt really sorry for all the children who were pummeled around and (I imagine) partially suffocated. If I am here next year at this time, I will definitely skip this event. The best part of the night was the tickets for free kielbasa we'd gotten from a friend. Something I wouldn't normally eat if it wasn't free, but very glad I did - delicious!

Staroměstské náměstí isn't the only area that's lit up as of last night. Václavské náměstí, as well as Prague's other major squares, are also all decked out for the holidays, and look really beautiful. There are Christmas markets everywhere, with good things to eat and cute things to buy. I went to one last week where I picked up some cute hand-made gifts and a bouquet of dried lavender to hang in my bedroom. Now it's time to get to work trying to squeeze in the time for some Christmas shopping and hand-making of my own over the next few weeks.

Hezké svátky! (Happy Holidays)