🏰🌉 Prague

It wrapped itself around me like an old storybook 📚 worn at the edges, but still whispering. I stayed in Žižkov, up a sloping street where laundry flapped between balconies and the tram 🚋 tracks curved like they remembered older routes. Riding into Old Town each morning felt like time travel 🚋: crumbling murals gave way to gold domes, and suddenly I was standing in front of the Astronomical Clock ⏳ with a warm trdelník in hand €3 cinnamon sugar sticking to my fingers as the statues above ticked into motion. I didn’t rush. Prague doesn’t want you to. 🍺🥘 My budget lived in pub corners and side streets. In Vinohrady, I found a tavern lit by amber lamps, hearty beef goulash for €7, dumplings like edible sponges soaking up every drop 🍖🥣. The beer? Always cold, always cheap, €2.30 for a half-liter of Pilsner that tasted better in a smoky room filled with Czech banter 🍻 One night I ducked into a jazz cellar 🎷🕯️ stone walls, flickering candles, and a saxophone echoing off 14th-century arches. No cover, just a tip jar and that feeling like you’ve stumbled into something rare. 🌫️🎻 Dawn on Charles Bridge is something I didn’t expect to carry with me. No crowds, just mist rising off the Vltava, and a busker coaxing something delicate from a violin 🎶🕊️. I sat with a sweet koláč pastry €1.50 from a bakery that opened early for commuters 🥐🌄. Boats passed below, and the statues watched like sentinels frozen in prayer. It felt like the city was letting me in on a secret 🤫 that beauty doesn’t cost much here. Just time. And maybe the price of a pastry. #europeonbudget #travel #budget