After breakfast, we started our day in the Prague Castle gardens, which adjoin our hotel. They are terraced on a steep slope, so we had quite a few steps to climb up and down, but it was worth it.
After a pit stop to elevate and ice my ankle, we then headed across the historic Charles Bridge towards Old Town. The bridge (which will appear in a later photo) dates back to 1300s and is lined with statues of Saints. Statues in general seem to be very popular in Prague as they are everywhere.
Prague is one of the few old cities left in Europe that did not suffer any major damage from WW2, and since there are strict laws in place about changing any of the original/historic features on buildings, it's an extraordinarily beautiful city. These shots (most of them taken in Old Town) give you an idea, although it's hard to capture just how beautiful it is in person. I feel like I'm constantly walking around with my head angled up and my mouth hanging open--your typical tourist gawker--but I can't help myself.
Here is the famous Astronomical Clock, which was constructed in the 14th Century and still functions today. At the hour, the skeleton rings the bell, the panels open, and the apostles scroll by. Apparently, if you are an actual astronomer, the clock tells you about what the current planet position are, when the next full moon is, etc.
The poor man who designed this clock was invited to a big banquet by the council after it was completed, where he was honored and celebrated, and then held down and blinded so that he couldn't design such a magnificent clock for anyone else. A rather shocking reminder of how cruel and barbaric things could be in the medieval period in spite of their beautiful creations. Or at least of how easily disregarded individual lives were.
Because my ankle still looked like this yesterday...
instead of the walking tour we originally were planning to do, we did this:
Super corny, and I couldn't help feeling like G.O.B. from Arrested Development the entire time we were riding these, but I have to admit that it was also extremely fun. We had our own guide for three hours and got much further out than we ever could have walking. And you can't argue with views like these:
Our tour started a little after 6:00 and took us through and around the main center of town. One of our many stops was the house they used as Mozart's in the film Amadeus. I'll include a shot of that for any of you who are fans out there (there are a dozen other pictures and explanations I could post but there's just not time!):
Around 8:00, our guide Teresa took us to a park at the top of a hill with great evening views of the city and great beer.
We all enjoyed a cup of Gambrinus and a package of peanut 'puffs' that Teresa said they started making in Prague during communist rule since they couldn't import any foreign snacks. What was great about this location is that it was just picnic benches gathered under lights strung through the trees filled with people (similar to the Biergarten in Berlin) simply relaxing together and enjoying each other's company. There were no TVs blaring, no loud music you had to shout over. Just a beautiful evening, good beer, and friends.
The ankle is a bit better today (although I'm still having to ice & elevate periodically), so we spent most of the late morning/early afternoon exploring Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. But now we need to go get our train tickets for our travel to Salzburg on Wednesday, so those pictures and narrative will have to wait for another day.
After reading the story about the clockmaker, I couldn't help but think that there was a poem just waiting for you to write it. I'm tempted to give it a go myself.
ReplyDeleteyes, there are a few potential poems tucked away for later from this trip, and that's on the list for sure. But feel free to go for it. I just might not read it until I've come up with my own :).
DeleteGood for you. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
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