Fortunately the bed in Prague is a post Communist era one, so we slept more comfortably last night. The room stayed warm despite the considerable drop in temperature overnight, but we put on our warm jackets again before setting out to see the sights across in the Old Town.
Crossing the bridge
The Charles bridge was much quieter this morning and it wasn’t long before we noticed some familiar figures heading our way. Much hugging and laughing when we stumbled on Jo and Steve, with their son Daniel and his girlfriend, Kristina. They had arrived in town late yesterday afternoon and are staying in the Old Town and when we met they were heading across to see the castle.
Fancy meeting you here!
After another round of goodbyes we worked our way across the bridge and up busy Karlova Street to the Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock. We paid an astronomical price for the privilege of going up to the top of the tower where the views of the Old Town Square were, admittedly, pretty good. I’m not sure if they were worth the price of the ticket though! At the top if the tower we also ran into a few other people that had been on the cruise, it seemed to be a morning for unexpected meetings!
Astronomical clock
Tyn Church and part of the square viewed from above.
Back on ground level we admired the buildings on the square, one of which Albert Einstein had lectured in.
Painting of St Wenceslas on left hand building, Einstein lectured in the one at right.
Taking a narrow street out past the Tyn church we eventually arrived at the Powder Tower, the original Gate to the Old Town and where they used to store their gunpowder. On our way we popped in to the Church of St James, another Baroque beauty, albeit a little dark, where the organ was playing, I’ve included a short video below
At the Powder Tower
When we walked underneath we emerged into the New Town. Na Piriopke street runs between the Old and New towns along the line if the old moat. Beside the tower was an Art Nouveau beauty, the Municipal House with it grand mosaic representing the Goddess Praha (Prague).
Municipal House
We walked up Na Piriopke to the top of Wenceslas Square, the heart of the New Town. At the opposite end we could see the huge National Museum but as it was completely shrowded in scaffolding and netting we decided not to walk up to it. Instead we detoured into the pretty and peaceful Franciscan garden, behind St Mary of the Snows church. This was a perfect spot to plop on a park bench for 15 minutes and give our feet a rest.
Franciscan Garden
After our feet stopped complaining we headed back up into the old town to Havelska Market. There’s been markets here since 1262 (!) so we decided to check out the produce to see if it was still fresh 😂 Actually it was mostly souvenirs with a few interesting handcraft items and some beautiful fruits.
Markets
One stall was selling marionette puppets
Yum!
We did a little shopping here and at another interesting store on Karlova Street as we headed back towards ” our side of the river” for a wander down through the Kampa Gardens and then to the Lennon Wall. Since the 1980s the wall has been painted and repainted with John Lennon images, Beatles lyrics and messages of hope and peace. The communist regime hated it but even when they painted over it the messages and paintings would reappear.
Lennon wall
Finally heading back to our hotel we passed another sign of love, one of the Love Lock bridges that are scattered all over the world these days.
Love Locks under Charles Bridge
Yet another sign of love was one of several Hens parties we have seen in town this weekend. Prague is a popular place for Bucks and Hens weekends but the Hens seem to go to a bit more trouble than the boys, making the occassion a real dressing up affair. These “Where’s Wally” hens were the quirkiest we’ve seen!
Pretty hungry by now but not wanting a restaurant meal we picked up some delicious soup and cornish pasties ( traditional Czech food? 😂) From the nice little bakery near our hotel for a late lunch. Then indulged in a little quiet time listening to the passing parade of tourits and party people walking down the street outside.
Lots of people love Prague but , personally, it seems a little too much loved. It’s jam packed with tourists just like us and the crowds at bottlenecks are a bit daunting.
We walked down the river to a little restaursnt on Kampa Island for dinner. I was keen to try Czech Goulash so I can make a highly scientific comparison the Hungarian Goulash when we get back to Budapest. It was served with bacon dumplings and fried onions, very tasty!
Goulash
On to Poland tomorrow!
