We made it to Prague! Yesterday, but we were too tired to do anything until today. The metro here is one of the least intuitive I have encountered, ever (English is rare on any signage). Well, we did find time to eat:-) I had southern fried chicken, which is called Wiener Schnitzel here - very tasty. Our hotel is nice with comfy beds and a good breakfast.
Our first full day was incredibly productive. We started in Wenceslas Square then walked to the Powder Gate ( they stored gun powder here until there was inevitable accident). The walk to Old Town Square takes you down pedestrian only streets lined with houses painted with colorful scenes and with stone emblems representing ancient families or businesses.
Old Town Square is beautiful with historic sites on every corner. We went into St Nicholas Church (there are 2 in Prague, built by the same guy!) before heading to the old Town Hall Tower. There's an elevator that takes you to the top of the tower with amazing views of Prague, especially the Church of Our Lady before Tyn on the other side of the square. The base of the Old Town Hall Tower holds the astronomical clock.
Then we headed towards the Jewish quarter of Prague. We saw the Old New Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Europe, built in 1260. The real draw in this area, though, is the Old Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery is less than a city block, but there are 12,000 tombstones with up to 12 burials below each - estimates are that there are 100,000 burials going back hundreds of years in this small plot.
We finally crossed the Danube in the afternoon heading for the Senate Gardens and lunch. The Senate Gardens were a hidden gem with fountains and rose gardens with statues lining the path to the Senate. We had lunch in a little pub - I tried klobasa (sausage w/ horseradish and mustard) that was really good. We found a tiny alley ( how tiny you ask? there is a pedestrian light you press to go up or down so that no one will run into you) down to a balcony area with views of the river and Charles Bridge.
We visited the Church of the Infant Jesus and saw a few of the 50 decorative gowns the relic is dressed in for religious holidays. Then we rode a funicular tram up the side of a steep hillside to the top of Petrin Park. This park is huge. There are rose gardens, quaint ponds, old churches, an observatory, a tower copied from the Eiffel Tower, a mirror maze, restaurants, ancient walls over a foot thick and paths leading in every direction. There were people biking, eating picnics on the grass or just sitting on benches. The views from the gaps in the trees gave you an idea of the size of the city. I'm so glad we rode the train up and down, this is no easy or small hill to hike.
We crossed the Charles Bridge at dusk headed back across the river. This is the oldest bridge in Prague, open to foot traffic only. There are statues of saints lining the bridge and it is almost impossible to move through the crowds of tourists. We went back to the Old Town Hall to catch the clock doing its "performance" at the top of the hour. Then we grabbed dinner at a cafe on the way back to the hotel. I wish I had a pedometer with me to see how far we walked today. We couldn't have had better weather - cool enough to enjoy the walking, and sunshine for pictures.
I have tried putting some pictures in, but I can't pull from my camera so these are taken on my tablet. One is the view of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn on the Old Town Square taken from the Old Town Hall Tower. The other picture is a panoramic shot of the city from Petrin Park.
