Stop #3 on our journey was Prague. Prague was the city that always got the reaction of a dreamy "oh, Prague, I love Prague" from everyone we talked to before the trip. I can see the allure of the city. It very sweet and lovely without being overwhelming. Aside from the area around the castle, the bridge, and the town square - there aren't a ton of "must do's" in the city. On our first night we headed toward the Old Town Square for dinner and a little bit of sightseeing. The Old Town Square is made up of a few churches, cafes, and the Old Town Hall. Displayed on the Old Town is the Astronomical Clock. Built in 1410, it is amazing all that this clock does. Looking at it, you can tell it's complicated, but I didn't even realize that it shows the position of the sun, moon, zodiac, and calendar...in addition to the time. We got suckered into a touristy place for dinner - but it was a good time with live musicians and we ended up meeting a nice couple from San Francisco and were able to enjoy their company for a while. We also had our first taste of Czech beer (well, at least in the Czech Republic). The Czech pilseners are right up my alley since they are light and easy to drink.
Day 2 we woke up to a whole lot of rain. Unfortunately, this ended up to be the standard for the rest of our trip. No matter, we got out our umbrellas and made our way to the Prague Castle complex. It is basically a walled in city with a palace, 2 churches, museums, and a street of little shops and restaurants. The inside of the palace was not like the others we had seen. There weren't any rooms set up to view living quarters or period specific decorations. Instead you enjoy the views from the castle (as seen in the picture) and the actual construction within. I loved the huge wall of windows and the ceilings.
The most impressive part of the complex is the St. Vitus Cathedral. This was built in various stages beginning in 926. It has 21 chapels and is, like all the other cathedrals we have seen, very beautiful. (Cass and I have determined that we could write a tour book on Cathedrals alone for as many as we've seen). I've included two pictures of the outside of it.
At this point in the day it was freezing and Cass and I were extremely unprepared for cold weather so we went to an indoor exhibit for some warmth. It turned out to me a weaponry show. Now, guns and swords to me are like the porcelian exhibit to Cassidy. I can look at a few and appreciate them, but soon I am bored, bored, bored. As you can see from the picture, I decided to take a seat and contemplate more exciting things such as running water, tax law, and watching paint dry while he read all about guns from the past. When the sun broke through the sky, we headed out of the complex and back towards Old Town. The streets here are like something out of a picture book. Little tiny cobblestone streets with pastel colored houses is all you can see. Here is just one example:
The sun didn't last for long though and we were caught in the rain again. We headed towards the first bar we saw and holed up with some beer and our first game of many playing Uno. After some time we faced the fact that it wasn't getting any nicer that night and just headed to dinner and then home. I bought a coat and attempted to buy some shoes since I only had flip-flops with me and my toes were nearly frostbitten. However that was a failed attempt and I only ended up with some socks and this classy look that I think might be seen on all the hottest fashion runways for Fall 2008.
Day 3 began with a trip (in the rain) to Adidas where I bought some real shoes and then we were ready to go! We walked through Old Town and Josefov, which is old Jewish neighborhood. In Josefov is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe, from the 15th century. Because the government didn't allow the Jewish to bury their dead elsewhere, graves were dug deep enough to hold 12 bodies. Tombstones were then placed one in front of the other. I wish I had a picture of this b/c it is hard to imagine what it looked like. It was literally a cemetery that was completely covered in back to back headstones.
Afterwards we walked along the river and passed the Rudolfinum concert hall and got some great views of the river, Charles Bridge, and the Castle District.
As the rain started up again we headed to U Fleku. This place deserves a blog of its own...but I'll try to sum it up here. It has been around since 1459 and only makes and serves one beer. They don't export or even bottle their own beer but still approximately 2.15 MILLION gallons of it is consumed annually. The staff come around with full glasses and set one in front of you if you have an empty glass. The room was filled with long, wooden, communal tables and the patrons were all nationalities. But the music and the singing was what made it great. A brass band plays requests and people go nuts. And we're not talking 22 year old college kids - many of these people could be members of the AARP but are still up on tables singing and dancing. Cass and I stayed (and drank) for quite some time and also got in many more games of Uno.
By the time we left it was dark and our walk up the river was stunning. The castle and the bridge are beautifully lit and even in the rain it was enjoyable to view. All in all, Prague was great. I wished we had better weather but then again we had so much fun just hanging out in the bars with people and playing competitive Uno that I'm convinced it could not have been more fun. Krakow is up next...
Last week my friend Sherri from Chicago came to Madrid to visit me. We spent a couple days in Spain and then took off for Italy where we spent one day in Venice and the next 2 in Florence. Although we were exhausted at the end from our very full days of walking around nonstop, it was totally worth it.
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