A casual day for wandering in the beautiful sunshine! We head back to the Jewish Quarter, fascinated by the history and the buildings. Then into the Old Town, where we go up the Town Hall Tower and are rewarded with fantastic views. We retrace some of our steps from our first day and also our guided walk with Helena, stopping to savour some of the overlooked detail, unseen vistas or architecture we may have missed along the way.

Around Prague


A wedding at the Old Town Hall



Prague as seen from the tower of the Old Town Hall

After naps and dinner, we are back wandering the streets, with our tripod, taking photos of magical Prague after dark.


The Castle and St. Vitus’ Cathedral


The Charles Bridge


The Old Town Square; Cow, all dressed up for the party that is Prague!

Prague is completely and absolutely full of tourists of every stripe – German, Italian, Japanese, English, and American. The entire old city – which is made up of 5 historic precincts, the Old Town, the New Town (about 700 years old, not so new), the Jewish Quarter, then cross the river to the Little Town and Prague Castle – seems to have its mind set on selling something to the tourists. We see little evidence of stores catering to locals, although as we wend our way around these ancient areas, we are surprised that many of the people who sit in the outdoor cafés are speaking Czech.

The number one item on the sales agenda is music – there must be a different concert in a different venue on a different night for every tourist. We can’t get over how many flyers we are handed and posters we see for different concerts, catering to all musical tastes from the greatest hits of the 1500s to concerts of musical theatre. And I will always remember Prague as the city of music because trios and quartets play and sing for coins on the streets and bridges – all of them surprisingly good. We can’t help but become infected with the spirit of this musical city, and as we walk we sing snatches from Don Giovanni, which Mozart premiered in Prague, and which is the #1 offering on the musical menu – from 3 full productions daily, one at the Estates Theatre, one at the Black Light Theatre, and one at the Marionette Theatre, to arias included on the programme of many of the concerts; Prague seems to thrive (at least economically) on this opera. This does not include the incredible number of hour long “hits” concerts at the various churches and chapels of the city.

After a bite of lunch in one of those outdoor cafés, we join a 4 hour walking tour that promises to give us the full story on Prague. We start in Wenceslas Square, which we had explored yesterday. Our guide, Helena, points out the bullet holes in the Museum at the top of the square, which date from the Russian invasion of 1968, which stopped the democratic reforms known as the Prague Spring. The Russians mistook the museum for the Parliament, which is across the street and to the left. A few metres away are the monuments to two young men who both committed suicide by setting themselves on fire to protest the Russian actions. They were 19 and 20.

We head from the New Town, started by Charles IV in 1348, through a narrow passage to the Old Town. By this action, Charles intended to make Prague the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and the most modern city in Europe. Helena shows where the walls used to be, and indicates the roof of the 1 gate still standing. Most of what Helena points out here we had stumbled across yesterday, but she does take us by the Estates Theatre, so-called because it was built for the exclusive use of the aristocracy, meaning that we common folk were not able to see Don Giovanni in its original production when it premiered here. The opera scenes of the movie Amadeus were filmed inside the theatre, and the production which plays every day all summer long uses historically appropriate costumes, scenery and staging techniques.


From left: The Estates Theatre; the Atronomical Clock on the Old Town Hall; Church of Our Lady of Týn


The building on the right looked like the building on the left until an accident during restoration revealed a striking Gothic building underneath the Baroque façade


A cow in the Cow Parade, happening all around Prague

Around the corner is the Jewish Quarter. We are realizing that these Towns, originally all legally separate entities are not very big geographically – we wonder how many people actually lived in each town 500 and 600 years ago. The story of the Jews in Czech is not a happy one – restricted from leaving the Quarter, prohibited from carrying out any activities except selling jewels and gold and lending money, enduring the occasional pogrom, but tolerated for much of the time because they provided the only source of capital (necessary to finance the king’s spending) at a time when the Church prohibited Christians from lending money. This changed in 1848, as part of the wave of social unrest that swept through Europe that year, when the Czech Jews were guaranteed their civil rights. By the beginning of WWII, there were about 18,000 Jews in Prague, and the Jewish Quarter had fallen into disrepair after a century in which they were able to live anywhere. By the end of the war, the Jewish population was gone, few of the survivors returned to Prague, and the synagogues, public buildings and cemetery are all museums (and – as are almost all building in Prague – concert venues). There are only about 1,500 Jews living in Prague now.


The Staronová (Old New) Synagogue

We cross the Charles Bridge into the Little Town, where the nobility lived following construction of the bridge, the better to be close to the Castle. Amongst the many palaces is St. Nicholas Church, not to be confused with St. Nicholas Church (another St. Nicholas Church, in the Old Town: one was built by the father, the other by his son, both Baroque – Helena speculates on the dynamics of this particular family).


From left: 2 St. Nicholas Churches


The Little Town, below the Castle

We walk up and up, rising to the Castle which dominates the City. This castle, still actively used – the President’s official residence, numerous ministries and museums, and the Cathedral, is in amazing shape. It is huge – according to one guidebook it is the largest unified castle complex in the world.

We tour the Castle, marvelling at this sight and that – in particular, St. Vitus’ Cathedral is quite fantastic. Helena tells us that this is the 1st building to use the particular style of vaulting in the roof, and that it spread from here to become quite common throughout Europe. This building was actually only completed in 1929; although it was started in 1344, only ½ was completed before the Hussite Wars interrupted construction.


From left: The Castle Entrance; the President’s Official Residence; Building inside the Castle


From left: St. George’s Basilica; the Steeple of St. Vitus’ Cathedral; Castle garden with view over Prague


Views of Prague from the Castle

Most fascinating in a macabre sort of way is the window out of which the good citizens of Prague, at this point converts to Protestantism, pitched 2 Catholic representatives of the Hapsburgs – the Hapsburgs were Catholic, and theirs was the official religion of the empire. This action, known as the 2nd Defenestration of Prague, started the 30 Year War in 1618, one of the most vicious wars in European history, a battle between Protestants and Catholics. And the good citizens of Prague ultimately reconverted to Catholicism, still the main religion in the Czech Republic.


The 2nd Defenestration of Prague happened through the upper middle window of the stone building, starting the 30 Years War

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Dresden to Prague: 153 kilometres

Happy Birthday to Nimi on July 30!

We say goodbye to Dresden, and look forward to the delights of Prague. A Sunday drive through some very picturesque German country side is scheduled this morning. Part of our route is indicated on our map as a scenic route and it certainly is. We enjoy green rolling hills with fields of sunflowers crossed by many rivers and streams. Small towns, their houses cascading with overstuffed flower boxes of trailing geraniums, greet us as we drive through. Many tourists never get to see this part of Germany. Rather they opt for the Munich/Bavaria tour, traveling the Romantic Road and seeing the conventional Germany of beer gardens, lederhosen and oompah-pah.

We reach the border of the Czech Republic in about an hour and a half and after we are pulled over, passports inspected, we enter a whole different landscape. All of a sudden there are mountains, some with sharp peaks, sheltering small castles on them. Stretching fields of hay and straw and corn lie in front of us.

Many other things reveal themselves to us as we drive through the small towns that dot the road to Prague. Dilapidated buildings, many still windowless and grey, left over from the Communists. Some of these buildings hold intrepid businesses: brothels with young (and not so young) Czech women scantily dressed selling their wares on the highway outside these hamlets and on the quiet main streets inside, many of them beside seemingly-blind local residents. Suddenly Sunday morning has taken on a different feel. Many of the women try to wave us over as we drive by. We wave back and keep on our way into the city.

We head out in the Sunday afternoon sun to explore the city. There is a metro stop just outside our hotel and we are only four or five stops from the old town. We get off at the bottom of Wenceslas Square, the avenue of fast food joints, pick-pockets, hustlers, tourists and some of the most interesting Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. It is a busy place and all our guidebooks warn us to keep our belongings safe as we stroll up the avenue. At the top of the avenue sits the statue of good King Wenceslas IV of Christmas carol fame, and the National Museum, modelled on the Louvre. It is a motivating beacon to reach the crest of the boulevard.


From left: Good King Wenceslas and the National Museum; Looking down Wenceslas Square; Beautiful Art Nouveau Hotels

Prague is an intoxicating city. So much history, architecture and art crammed into such a relatively small area. We know already that this will be one of our favourite cities on this trip. We wander into Staré Město (Old Town) and reach the vast square, home to the old Town Hall and the Bridge Tower. The square has been through many transitions both political and social over its history and plays host to many different types of architecture from Baroque to Romanesque to Rococo, Baroque, Renaissance and finally Gothic. These buildings now are the silent witnesses of the dozens of expensive restaurants and cafés that lure the tired tourists in for coffee or beer – which is cheaper here than anywhere we have been on the trip – it can be had in some of the cafés for about C$1 for ½ litre.


From left: Staré Město; the Týn Church; Approach to the Charles Bridge

We continue down to the river Vlata (the Moldau) and cross the river over the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) named after Charles the IV. It is now pedestrian only and it is always busy with strollers out for the view. Across the river is Malá Strana (Little Quarter) nestled right under the Praský Hrad (the Prague Castle). The nobility built their homes and businesses here, encouraged by proximity to the seat of power. Now, the palaces are home to government agencies and international embassies. The red roofs of the buildings draw your eyes up to the castle at the summit.


From left: the Charles Bridge; view to the Castle; view from the bridge

We wander back across the bridge and choose a riverside restaurant for a quick beer in the setting sun. Then we cross the river again, find a traditional “beer and Czech food” dinner in Malá Strana before heading for home and sleep.

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