22 Day 2010

Adolf, our bus driver, had to take today off, so we had a different bus and driver for our tour into Prague. But he took a busman's holiday and joined us for our tour.

We started at the Prague Castle, a large complex on the hill above the city. It includes the cathedral of Prague, St Vitis, and the palace. We were met at the gate by sentries standing in little boxes. When our guide obtained our tickets, we stood in a very long line to tour the cathedral. She said she had never seen so long a line. Just our luck to be there at the beginning of a three-day weekend for Pentecost Monday. But that gave her time to give us good information while standing in line.

St Vitis is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe. It was built in sections, which is clear on the outside from the color of the stones. There are many large stained glass windows, mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. Many side chapels line the side aisles. The main organ is only a façade, and a small 6-stop organ plays for services. (We didn't hear the organ.)

We then continued our tour of Prague Castle, moving on to residence and office parts of the buildings. An interesting (for a history buff) room is where the "defenestration of Prague" occurred. Apparently this happened three times in history, not only just before WWI. Elsewhere in the building, it was a fairly "normal" medieval castle: large, ornate, and overwhelming.

From the Prague Castle we descended a large series of stairs toward the Vlatava River, and the Charles Bridge, crossing into the Old Town area. The bridge is about 800 years old and is lined with statuary. It is a pedestrian bridge with some merchants and stalls, and was quite crowded today, especially with reconstruction going on.

The center of the city in the Old area is a wonderful Medieval city. Prague survived WWII without bombings. In the last 20 years, there has been much done to upgrade and refurbish the buildings. It is a charming city.

In the city, we walked the streets, saw many old buildings and squares, and fought the crowds. Particularly interesting, was the Astronomical Clock. It is a clock tower about four stories high that has a clock that "performs" on the hour. Mechanical characters parade by, or are animated. Very interesting. There are also several more large churches. Many of the narrow streets are now lined with shops. (Maybe they have been for centuries.)

A group of us had dinner at a small cafe with very good food and Czech beer. We then did some shopping where we found a Czech nativity to add to our collection. After a brief stop in one of the large city squares (where I tried a unique Czech pastry from a street vendor), we headed back to the bus for the ride back to the hotel.

Since we had our main meal in the afternoon, we drank dinner at a bierstube near the hotel with a group of our traveling companions.

Tomorrow, it's off to Salzburg.