A Hot Day in Prague

We had planned to give ourselves a sleep in this morning but the bed in our hotel must have dated from the pre-Iron Curtain era and didn’t encourage the worker to lie in bed and rest! So we rose like good little communists and went to have breakfast before getting started on the work of the day.

 

 

 

We had a two and a half hour drive from Cesky Krumlov to Prague so we found ourswlves hitting the cobblestones of Mala Strana at around 12.15. The city is built on a curve of the Vltava river ( the same one that the rafters loved on Cesky Krumlov) and the inner city is divided into a few seperate districtS. Stare Mesto , the Old Town,is the centre with the Town square, and the Tyn Church. The Mala Strana side (lesser town) is located just across the Charles Bridge from Old Town, at the bottom of the hill that leads up to Prague Castle. Nove Mesto ( the New Town) lies to the south of the Old Town and is the home of the huge Wenceslas Square.

Id done a lot of research on hotels, trying to find something central which offered parking and settled on the Hotel U Pava in Mala Strana , about 3 minutes walk to the Charles Bridge.

We were so happy with our room, its a glorious grand room with a coffered ceiling and lush furnishings but the best thing about it is the view up to the Castle, even from the loo! 

 We dropped our bags and headed off to catch the tram up to the castle. We needed to buy tickets at the nearby metro station, Malostranka and had a slight hitch when we realised the ticket machine only took coins but a quick purchase of throat lozenges at the shop gave us the coins we needed. 

In the guide books,they describe entering the castle from several entrances but the current security levels meant that access was limted to only a few and we had to go through a bag check and security scan to enter the castle complex. The traditional guards were also accompanied by a another soldier with more modern artiliery.

The entrance to the castle has a series of courtyards. We purchased a “Circuit B ” ticket which gave us access to the major sites within the castle. St Vitus cathedral is absolutely huge. It was buit in two halves, one much earlier than the other and the older section houses the tomb of St Wenceslas ( Good King Wenceslas) as well as the tomb of St John of Nepomuk, who is much loved in the Czech Republic.  Locals claim the tomb contains more than a ton  of silver!

 

The newer section has some gorgeous stained glass windows designed by the premier Czech Art Nouveau artist, Alfons Mucha. It was simply beautiful!

 

 

Back outside the cathedral we worked our way down the castle complex, first passing the great Golden Gate, a 14th mosaic of the last judgement. 

 

We visited the Old Royal Palace, which is now fairly bare but dominated by Vladislav Hall, which was used for horse jousting matches!

 

 The Golden Lane is a series of tiny cottages which originaly housed goldsmiths but now hold a mix of museums depicting the homes of early craftsmen and shops selling the wares of modern craftsmen.

 

When you finally reach the bottom of the castle complex the views across Prague are wonderul. We walked back along the gardens that lie below the castle, cool and green. It was 27 degrees in Prague today! 

As we walked down the long series of steps back to the river we congratulated ourselves for catching the tram up, I don’t think I’d have survived the climb up on such a warm day. We battled the crowds near the Charles Bridge and managed to get a few shots of it basking in the sunshine.

After a rest in our room we headed back out to find dinner. I was keen to try the restaurant inside the Franz Kafka Museum which was only a 1 minute walk from our hotel. We had skipped lunch again today so it was lucky we went early as their terrace was booked out later on. There is a very cold change pedicted for tomorrow so I doubt we will want to eat outside tomorrow night. It was idyllic sitting by the river watching the swans land, the tour boats cruise past and the constant parade of people walking across the Charles Bridge

Our meals were wonderful, finished off with a gorgeous apple strudel which we shared. Leaving the restaurant we stopped to take a photo of a rather unusual sculpture by a contemporary Czech sculptor, David Cerny. He’s known for his quirky, off-beat works and the “Piss” lives up to his reputation. The two bronze gentlemen rotate gently as they pee on a map of Czechoslovakia. Interesting! 

 

Then we wandered down to the bridge to see the passing parade from close up. What a crowd! 

Back in the room we popped open a bottle of bubbly and sat in the bath watching the sunlight fade on the castle and the illuminating lights go on. I couldnt ask for a better way  to finish the day.