Prague

On the train to Prague or Praha 6/11, Tuesday morning.  We asked the hotel to get our train tickets which they did for a fee of 2euro per ticket.  Well worth it since the line to buy tickets when we arrived into Budapest was miles long.

So we packed a lunch snack since our train ride is 6 1/2 hours long.  A good reason to take the train.

Day 1  Lessons unlearned.  We thought we would ask our hotel to purchase our tickets to Berlin on Sunday as it worked so smoothly in Budapest.  Guess what, doesn't work that way.  So we decided we needed to get the tickets for Berlin in our hot little hands so we could just enjoy our touring of Prague.  Our adventure was a little like the skit "Who's on first" with Abbot and Costello.  Our first challenge was getting to the under ground, figuring out what kind of tickets to buy, how many coins we needed, how many minutes each ticket was worth.  We didn't have enough coins so there was a tabak store which sells tickets.  We needed 6 30 minute tickets, the lady only had 5 but she would have more tomorrow!  Come back she says!  Finally get to the train station, find a line to buy "international" train tickets, order two one way trips to Berlin on the 10:29 train for Sunday.  All is good until the lady wanted paid.  Don looked at me, I looked at Don.  "Surely you have a credit card!"  After a one hour trip back to the hotel, retrieve credit cards, back to the train station and finally able to buy tickets to Berlin.  It was now time for a beer!  That was the first half of our day.  Oh, the joys and challenges of traveling.  Yes, we still like each other!

A little about Prague.  It is city in the province of Bohemian in the Czech Republic.  It is originally a city of four towns:   Castle Quarter, Little Quarter, Old Town and New Town.  The 30 year war between the Protestants and the Catholics started in Prague in 1618.  The Catholics won.  After WWII, the Russians took over Prague.  It became a Socialist Republic until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. 

We spent the afternoon of 6/12 touring New Town which included Wenceslas Square.  You know Good-King Wenceslas of Christmas fame.  This is the same square that the Velvet Revolution occurred.

New Town is home to Art Nouveau.  Why "nouveau"?  It was born in Paris and was not inspired by Rome.  It is neo-nothing.  It liberated the artist in the architects.  They were free to do as they pleased.  We visited the Mucha Museum.  Alfons Mucha was one of the most famous artists of the Art Nouveau movement. His art is readily recognizable for the posters he did for Sarah Bernhardt and others artists. Check him out on Google.  He is a contemporary Maxfield Parrish.  Pic 1 Jewish Synagogue, Pic 2 the Municipal House, Prague's largest concert hall.

Special note, Czech beers are famous around the world.  Budweiser was originally a Czech beer.  The American brewery adopted its name after a visit to Bohemian in the 19th century.  The term Pilsner beer comes from Pilsen,a Bohemian town famous for the best Pilsner beers in CR.  .  No one here would drink beer out of a can!

Day 2 we toured Old Town which included The Jewish Quarter called Josefov. Of the 120,000 Jews from this area sent to concentration camps, only 10,000 survived.  Here are a couple pictures of the Jewish Cemetery and the Spanish Synagogue.

In the center of Old Town is the Tyn Church.  it is a Catholic Church now but spent 200 years as the leading church of the Hussite movement.  Buildings have been built all around the church now.

Other views are the Astronomical Clock. A statue to Jan Hus stands in the center of the square.  He was the leader of the Hussite movement.  Hus lived a century before Martin Luther but they espoused the same doctrines that condemned church corruption, and promoted local religious authority.  The last picture is of the Havelska Market which is an air market dating back to the 13th century.

Day 3 we toured/walked the Castle Quarter, the roost of Czech rulers for over 1,000 years.  The "Palace " is not just a palace but a collecion of churches, public buildings, gardens and a Monastery.  St. Virus Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral that symbolizes the Czech spirit because it contains the tombs and relics of the most important saints and kings including the first three Hapsburg kings.  A Mucha stained glass window is an important part of the church.  We met him  on Day 1 in New Town.  He is the father of Art Nouveau.  St. Winceslas (day 1) is also buried in this church.

From the Strahov Monastery, which was self sufficient we see a beautiful panoramic view of Prague.  

Day 4 we just roamed.  We looked up at fabulous facades on buildings.  Sometime you miss those little details because you are so focused on where you are going.  We saw brides being photographed in the historic sites.  A small wedding took place in the 11th century Rotunda, a small catholic church.  We took alley ways that we swore were new only to end up at a site we had toured previously.  Prague is a very small city.  If you were to walk the longest site seeing trail they have you would only cover 2.8 miles.  Because it is so small, it seems like we tourist as just packed in and we are, into a very small area.  We stopped into La Bottega de Finestra for a little lunch of wonderful cheeses, salami and prosciutto and wines.  The foods range from traditional Czech, French, Vietnamese, Italian, Indian, Irish, Thai, McDonalds, Burger King and KFC.  Something for everyone!  All the high end designers are here, Chanel, Prada, Tiffany, Guicci, Feragamo, and on and on.  No temptation to buy anything.

Tomorrow we leave for Berlin where we connect with Janet and Dave for 8 days.  It will be fun having travel companions.

11th century Catholic Church Rotunda

Gate to the Charles Bridge