Before we met our nephews in Vienna, Carol and I visited Prague. We have heard a lot about it from friends who have visited there in the last ten years, and were anxious to see part of it ourselves. We flew in via Munich, and found a shuttle service to our hotel with the help of a very nice visitor's kiosk attendant. It was a great start to the visit.
Our hotel was close to downtown, so we could walk to all the sites without having to decipher the language on this short visit. Everyone spoke English around the the tourist sites. The first surprise was at our hotel. The faucet was placed high on the wall, so the water always splashed. I still can't figure out why it was mounted so high.
The most-visited part of Prague is the Castle, see here across the river by the Charles Bridge. We were here early enough in the morning (about 9am) so that there were no crowds, yet. It was a warm, beautiful day for a long walk to the castle and surrounding sites.
One of the pleasures of visiting Europe is to enter the cathedrals, and St. Vitus here was spectacular. It dominates the skyline of Prague.
Nearly of the windows were covered in stained glass, filled with colorful panels.
Another main attraction in the Old Town is the Astronomical Clock. Its right on the main square, and I expected it to be higher off the ground. The tower was used as a background for this group of 10 Japanese bride and groom models, but they seemed to be taking close-ups of the gowns, so the clock could not be in the photos. I guess the blocks background was good enough, but they sometimes blocked the good views during the hourly show. The church in the background is where Tycho Brahe is buried.
I bought a detailed pamphlet that explains every little detail in the clock. I wish I had studied before arriving, rather than on the plane ride home. But, I don't think that pamphlet is widely available in the USA.
The hourly show only lasts a few minutes, and consists of a series of moving figures, ending with the cock crowing in the center top window. Everyone seemed to crowd around to watch it, but it wasn't that spectacular. I'm sure everyone in the tour groups was simply told to watch it. Knowing that it was already 100 years old when Kepler and Brahe were living here, and they watched it, made it special to me.
There is a Kepler Museum just a few steps away from the clock, but it only consisted of a few posters, no artifacts. It was only this single room, but only cost about $2 to enter and read the displays. This is the place where I purchased the detailed pamphlet for the clock.
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn is rather plain, but does contain the grave of Tycho Brahe. No photos were allowed, so I bough this postcard as a memento. The church is so closely surrounded by other buildings that it is not possible to get a good photo of the outside.
The only concert we attended in Prague was at the Estates Theatre, a little off the beaten path, and seemed to be attended by locals instead of tourists. It was a little difficult to find the box office and purchase the tickets (only $7 each!) for a student ballet performance. Carol wanted to see the place, because this is where Mozart's "Don Giovanni" premiered. The auditorium had only 17 rows with about 14 seats per row, plus room for about 200 more people in the balconies. No seat was very far from the stage.
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