We wanted to see as much of Prague as we could in the day we had here, and I think we did our best. Olen purchased a pedometer when we were in Rothenburg, and according to it, we walked 10 miles today! The weather was lovely today, bright and sunny, and even hot!
Prague is a beautiful city with very ornate buildings. It is the only central European capital that was not bombed in WWII, so the buildings that pre-date that era have been preserved. It has a special beauty.
There are very good signs posted to help tourists locate the places they might want to visit in Prague. They stand out because they are brown, and easily recognizable, but the wording on the signs is in Czech, so the only part of the signs that helped us were the stylized illustrations on the signs beside the unrecognizable words.
Right after we finished breakfast at the hotel, Mike Morrow met us to give us an orientation walk around the area so we would know what we wanted to see, and we wanted to see it all! He took us to the main areas and walked across the Charles Bridge with us.
The bridge tower gates on either end of the bridge are thought to be the finest Gothic gates anywhere.
While we were on the historic bridge over the Vltava River, he told us about a folk tale relating to one sign on the bridge. Here Mike is stroking the dog for luck....or something. 
Mike walked with us for almost two hours and then left us to do our own thing. We returned to the hotel where I posted last night's blog, freshened up a bit, and we set out for the day.
It was almost noon when we decided to take the elevator (no steps to climb this time!) to the top of the town hall. The view of the city from that angle gave us an excellent orientation to the area. Also, on the hour, the astronomical clock on the lower part of the building puts on a show with revolving disks, a skeleton (Death) pulling a chain where doors open and the 12 apostles march by. This all takes place in about a minute or two, but tourists by the hundreds assemble to witness the event. From above in the tower, the show looked like ants eyeing a breadcrumb.
If you are a student of religious history: We passed the Jan Hus Memorial and the Tyn church building.
We walked the entire length of Wenceslas Square, which is more of a wide street than a square. It was in this area that more than 300,000 Czechs and Slovaks came together in 1989 to proclain their freedom. At one end of the square is a statue of St. Wenceslas on a horse. There is some sort of Christmas song about him, but he is most remembered for Christianizing the Czech people and raising their cultural-level. In the photo Olen is seated beneath the statue. This is a popular meeting spot for local Czechs.
We ate a picnic lunch on Wenceslas Square. I ate my peanutbutter crackers that I have carried through four countries, and Olen ate his beef jerkey from the Dollar General in Capshaw, Alabama!
We saw several interesting things on our walk up and down the square. We stopped at a Thai massage business which was demonstrating one of their techniques. Customers were sitting in the streetside window with their feet in a glass tank full of water with some sort of small fish in it. The fish were all over their feet feasting on whatever the fish thought was edible and unnecessary on the feet dangling in the water. It was quite entertaining to watch the people on the other side of the glass exposing their feet to the fish, and I suppose paying a large price to do so.
We walked across the Charles Bridge again and up the mountainside to the Prague castle area.
We wandered around the area, made several photographs, walked in the St. Vitus Cathedral, and watched the changing of the castle guards. 
As we walked back across the Charles Bridge as the sun was getting low in the sky, a violinist was serenading the crowd by playing his version of "You Raise Me Up", the song my Salt Shaker girls learned to sign last year. It made me think of all of the precious people I love that are half a world away. I hope the Salt Shakers have all had a wonderful Saturday, also. I know we have.
Slowly we returned to the area of our hotel for dinner and a much-deserved rest for our feet and tired muscles.
Prague is a beautiful city with very ornate buildings. It is the only central European capital that was not bombed in WWII, so the buildings that pre-date that era have been preserved. It has a special beauty.
There are very good signs posted to help tourists locate the places they might want to visit in Prague. They stand out because they are brown, and easily recognizable, but the wording on the signs is in Czech, so the only part of the signs that helped us were the stylized illustrations on the signs beside the unrecognizable words.
Right after we finished breakfast at the hotel, Mike Morrow met us to give us an orientation walk around the area so we would know what we wanted to see, and we wanted to see it all! He took us to the main areas and walked across the Charles Bridge with us.
The bridge tower gates on either end of the bridge are thought to be the finest Gothic gates anywhere. While we were on the historic bridge over the Vltava River, he told us about a folk tale relating to one sign on the bridge. Here Mike is stroking the dog for luck....or something. Mike walked with us for almost two hours and then left us to do our own thing. We returned to the hotel where I posted last night's blog, freshened up a bit, and we set out for the day.
It was almost noon when we decided to take the elevator (no steps to climb this time!) to the top of the town hall. The view of the city from that angle gave us an excellent orientation to the area. Also, on the hour, the astronomical clock on the lower part of the building puts on a show with revolving disks, a skeleton (Death) pulling a chain where doors open and the 12 apostles march by. This all takes place in about a minute or two, but tourists by the hundreds assemble to witness the event. From above in the tower, the show looked like ants eyeing a breadcrumb.
If you are a student of religious history: We passed the Jan Hus Memorial and the Tyn church building.
We walked the entire length of Wenceslas Square, which is more of a wide street than a square. It was in this area that more than 300,000 Czechs and Slovaks came together in 1989 to proclain their freedom. At one end of the square is a statue of St. Wenceslas on a horse. There is some sort of Christmas song about him, but he is most remembered for Christianizing the Czech people and raising their cultural-level. In the photo Olen is seated beneath the statue. This is a popular meeting spot for local Czechs.
We ate a picnic lunch on Wenceslas Square. I ate my peanutbutter crackers that I have carried through four countries, and Olen ate his beef jerkey from the Dollar General in Capshaw, Alabama!
We saw several interesting things on our walk up and down the square. We stopped at a Thai massage business which was demonstrating one of their techniques. Customers were sitting in the streetside window with their feet in a glass tank full of water with some sort of small fish in it. The fish were all over their feet feasting on whatever the fish thought was edible and unnecessary on the feet dangling in the water. It was quite entertaining to watch the people on the other side of the glass exposing their feet to the fish, and I suppose paying a large price to do so.
We walked across the Charles Bridge again and up the mountainside to the Prague castle area.
We wandered around the area, made several photographs, walked in the St. Vitus Cathedral, and watched the changing of the castle guards. As we walked back across the Charles Bridge as the sun was getting low in the sky, a violinist was serenading the crowd by playing his version of "You Raise Me Up", the song my Salt Shaker girls learned to sign last year. It made me think of all of the precious people I love that are half a world away. I hope the Salt Shakers have all had a wonderful Saturday, also. I know we have.
Slowly we returned to the area of our hotel for dinner and a much-deserved rest for our feet and tired muscles.
I'm exhausted just reading this ;)
ReplyDeletewonderful pictures and interesting! thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you got to come and visit us for a short while! Safe travels to you!
ReplyDeleteI am staying up late and catching up on your blog tonight. Two things about Heidelberg that I remember. 1) The housetops acted as utility poles throughout the town when we were there 20 years ago, with the wiring going from house to house. I don't see that in your photos. 2) The WC I visited had a man collecting tips. Awkward! P.S. I'm enjoying your journey very much.
ReplyDeleteI apologize. I put this in the wrong dated section, and I meant Rothenberg (sp?).
ReplyDelete