Day 2—Walking the Old City

Typical view of Prague, Czech Republic

We Czeched off our first day here with a “free” tour.  Well, not actually free, but at the end of the tour we tip as much as we judged it was worth.  Poor guy. (just kidding!) Our group was about 10-12 people, all American, and our tour guide was an Australian.  Hmmm…at least his English was very good!  Curiously he mentioned he lived about 30-40 minute walk from there, and then later told us how great the public transportation was.  Hmm.

Before they had addresses, they used "house markers".  So
this marker was the Golden Angel, making it's "address"
simply "Golden Angel House".

I’ll spare you (most of) the detailed history of the current country.  But we remember it being part of the Soviet Union, then being Czechoslovakia, for a while Czechia, but now simply the “Czech Republic”.  A millennium ago, there were few bridges in the world, so people crossed rivers where they were wider (and thus slower) and shallow (for obvious reasons).  Praha (the local name for the city) stems from Pra, which meant River Crossing, because it was a suitable place to cross the Vltava River.  The city sprang from this flow of people.  In about 1400, King Charles the IV built the Charles Bridge, which of course made crossing easier, and grew the city. 

We stopped at the Astronomical Clock.  It is pretty amazing, as it shows the hour, the astrological sign, and the amount of daylight (based on how far this golden sun is into the blue area of the "face".  Every hour, the skeleton pulls the rope and rings the bell, signaling we are all one hour closer to death (nice!), and the doors open showing the Apostles processing behind the little doors.

The Charles Bridge, built in about 1400.

After the tour, we crossed the Charles Bridge (with 1000 of our closest friends).  The bridge is lined with numerous Saints and other religious statues, making it a striking passage with lots of photo options.  Then we began meandering our way up the far banks.  But first, we needed a “biological break”.  We found a place, and checked the price (30 Kc, Czech “Korun” (Crown), or about $1.30).  It was part of a bar, and we thought maybe we’d get a bite to eat (and use the facilities for free!)  But the bar was closed.  Undaunted, the attendant made us aware that we could still buy a beer for 60 Kc, and go to the bathroom for free.  Well, that amounted to a “free beer” (with the purchase of a potty break), so for the next 10 minutes Bill wandered the streets with a bottle of beer in hand.  Lesser Town, a neighborhood on the far side of the river, has become home to quite a few Embassies (and an empty beer bottle).  We saw the US, German, Italian, Japanese, and a few others.

St James church along our tour route.  There was a "hand" that
was hung by the entry.  The story is, a would be thief tried to
steal a string of pearls off of a statue of Mary.  But when he
touched her, she grabbed him and did not let go.  He was
"caught" and the penalty of losing his hand was, er, obvious!

The Christmas Market in Old Town Square.

Part of Old Town Square (and neat buildings)

One of many towers that ringed the city.

The Vltava River from the Charles Bridge.

Vltava River looking toward St. Vitus and Prague Castle.

The Statue on the Left is St. King Wenceslaus.  Purportedly, he was a "good king".

Free Beer with potty.  (nice graphic!)

Prague from Petrin Tower.

There were a lot of Christmas markets set up in various places.  In combination with these, the stores and streets were packed with people, many of which had some form of ice cream in their hands.

As it was a sunny day, with clear skies, we went to Petrin Tower, an Eiffel “inspired” tower that sits atop a hill on the far side of the river.  After 303 steps (and a few sloped paths), we made it to the tower with 202 more steps. It was a good view from the tower.

St. Vitus and the Prague Castle.

Astronomical clock.

"City Hall" lit up at night.

We headed back down to our hotel, stopping for a sausage on the way.  It was a “brat” style sausage.  We grabbed some “dinner” in the hotel lounge (thanks to Theresa being Diamond with Hilton).  And then bundled up and headed back out for what we thought was a “Czech Christmas Mass”, to be held in the Old Town Square.  We thought this would be really cool!!  Well, it turned out to be a concert called “The Czech Christmas Mass”.  Uh, that doesn’t count!  So, we headed back and debated on Midnight Mass.  (Spoiler alert…no!)  So, Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Merry Christmas!!!