After a 4 hour train ride from Berlin through fields, forests, and scenic river valleys, we arrived in Prague. The train station itself was a mix of modern and historic, just like the rest of the city. We made our way to our hotel, Residence Bene, located about 10 minutes walking from the Old Town Square (Stare Mesto). Each morning we were awoken by construction workers with jackhammers and trowels working and climbing outside our window on scaffolding. Then we proceeded downstairs to eat breakfast consisting of tea, meats, cheeses, yogurt, cereal, and occasional screaming child.
Some general thoughts about Prague:
- The streets, squares, and buildings are beautiful and well preserved because much of it was left alone by the Nazis.
- Central Prague is very walk-able and easy to get around. There is so much to see in a small area.
- Beer is cheap ($1 for 0.5L in a bar/restaurant) and delicious. We tried about 6 or 7 different kinds and everyone of them was really good, our favorite being Kusovice (B- rating is bogus, but pretty high for the snobs on that site). It might be hard to drink Bud Light again.
- Czech people are nice if you try to speak their language, but they curse you under their breath if you act too much like a tourist.
On to the sites…
The view East towards the Old Town Square. To the left is the Town Hall tower and in the distance is the Tyn Church. On the Town Hall tower is the Astronomical Clock that provides the time, zodiac, and position of the sun and moon. Each hour there is a little performance by the mechanical figurines on the outside and inside of the clock tower, but it’s not so impressive.
This is the Powder Tower, that gets its name from gun powder that was once stored in it. This is last remaining gateway to the old town, there used to be several . In official coronations and parades the king would pass through this entrance.
Prague Castle sits on a hill over the Vltava River and can be seen anywhere. It is the largest castle complex in Europe (it spans across all the buildings you see at the top of the hill) and is the currently where the Czech President works and resides. The complex is surrounded by walls, towers, and Castle Guards. There are several squares and lanes that are surrounded by palaces and royal buildings. The main feature of the complex is the massive gothic church, St. Vitus Cathedral. The interior is impressive with 100 ft. vaulted ceilings.
This is the view from the Prague Castle. To the right you can see Charles Bridge and one of its towers.
This is the view from Charles Bridge back towards Prague Castle. The bridge was built by Charles IV in 1357. One fun fact is that he instructed hundreds of thousands of eggs to be mixed into the mortar to strengthen it.
This is the Old New Synagogue the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe built in 1250 and is part of the Jewish district of Prague.
We took a day trip to town about an hour away from Prague called Kutna Hora. One of the sites there is the Bone Church, named for the decorations of bones from over 40,000 people buried there. It includes a chandelier that contains at least one of each bone in the human body. We also took a tour of a medieval silver mine and crawled through narrow, cold, and wet passages.
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