Our last stop on our July European tour, added on to our Viking Cruise – because we could!
We spent 3 days in Prague. I had always wanted to go there, ever since my brother made a video for Blur in one of the castles. So I finally got my wish. I decided we would stay in a “local” hotel rather than a big multistorey modern box. Luckily the place I tracked down was much better than my similar attempt in Budapest. Somewhat unassuming from the outside but definitely authentic and comfortable inside, with a small internal courtyard garden where we enjoyed the odd cocktail – as you do!
We made use of the Hop On Hop Off Bus, a boat trip and of course Shank’s Pony to get around the city and were rewarded with an overload of beautiful architecture and sights.
First off, some general photos of buildings around the city.
We went up to the site of Prague Castle and cathedral which was on the opposite bank of the river set high on a hill. I am not sure if this is where my brother filmed, I suppose I should check! We didn’t go inside any of the buildings – I don’t remember why, which is of course the failing of being so far behind with my reminiscences on this blog… note to self…. (!)
Anyway, here are some shots of the various buildings which make up the complex…..
…and the views across the city.
Later we went for “lunch” our style so mid afternoon! We found a bar which served snacks which was on a permanently moored boat, next to a very interesting quayside place. We had Langoš which is a traditional street food. Looks like pizza and is some sort of fried base covered with cheese, in theory with garlic but I don’t remember tasting that, and good old tomato ketchup! Its not for the fainthearted and you definitely need the beer to wash it down 😉
One evening we had another gut busting meal, which was sadly rather tasteless, and then I had to sample the chimney cake – same thing they sell in Budapest so I guess an Eastern European thing, basically icecream in a big baked cone, like a huge cream horn! The overall theme of their food was, well, heavy!
As mentioned, we also did a river trip. This was included in our Hop On bus ticket and caused the most stressful of the bus journeys we took, though in truth they were all pretty bad, the worst city bus service we have yet to experience in fact. This time the driver hung around FOREVER outside the Hilton Hotel which is one of the stops – to the point that he then had to make like Lewis Hamilton to get to the dock in time for our departure. Actually, that was an insult to Lewis – he is a GOOD driver, ours was diabolical, so much so that we all complained as we got off. ☹
That said, the river trip was great – with any city you always get a totally different outlook from the river. Unfortunately, once again I have forgotten the detail as there was so much information on the commentary that even retaining half of it to put in my notebook back in the hotel room was a challenge. Looking in said notebook it seems I did not actually try! Anyway, some more views:
The other place which caused a frenzy of photography on my part was St Nicholas Church in the city centre. A baroque church which was hard to photograph from the outside due to all the buildings around it. The interior is full on baroque OTT everything! I have the brochure for this and it goes on a bit but the facts about the interior dimensions are impressive so I will repeat them. The diameter of the dome is 20m, the height inside the church to the top of the lantern is almost 57m. This makes it “the tallest interior in Prague”. One of those ambiguous descriptions but it is still impressive.
Interestingly there is also a Rococo belfry adjacent and directly connected to the dome. The belfry belongs to the city, but the church does not. Apparently there is also a huge crypt beneath the entire floorplan of the church, but we were not able to visit this.
I also love the quote about the architect: “in the interior architect Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer demonstrated his mastery of perhaps all of the expressional resources offered by the Baroque style in order to emphasize the overall aesthetic effect. The elemental lack of restraint in the individual elements is typical for the architect” !!
Finally, no visit to a city can be complete without the main square and in this case the Old Town Astronomical Clock. To describe this, I have lifted the following from Wikipedia:
The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square. The clock mechanism has three main components – the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; “The Walk of the Apostles”, an hourly show of moving Apostle figures and other sculptures, notably a figure of a skeleton that represents Death, striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.
We secured a table at a café opposite and waited to see the figures, forgetting of course that everyone else would just stand in front of us so we too had to stand up to watch!
So that’s it – our trip from Amsterdam to Prague via the Rhine, Main, Danube and taxi. We called it a trip of a lifetime – which it was – and said we would not do another cruise – which it turns out we did and we will !! So posts to follow on those in addition to the completion of the story of our trip Down Under earlier this year. I remember we were told when we were kids that putting off your homework only means more and more backs up and the task gets bigger. Seems I didn’t learn…. or that even when you are retired, life takes over 😉