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| John Lennon Wall |
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| John Lennon Wall |
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| St. Vitus Cathedral |
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| Inside St. Vitus Cathedral |
What a weekend! As some of you may know, I traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic. The weekend spent in beautiful, historic Prague took us north over the Austrian Alps, through Bavaria, and into the Czech Republic. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and stands as the center of the Czech state. The trip departed Florence at around 9 PM and we traveled for 12 hours overnight in order to reach Prague by morning. Although it was a long bus ride, I was thankfully able to sleep for the majority of the journey. Upon arrival on Friday morning we checked in to the Czech Inn hostel. The Czech Inn is one of Prague’s best-rated hostels with a modern, chic design. It is a tram/metro ride away from the city center and offered easy access to the main attractions in Prague.
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| Old Town Square |
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| Astronomical Clock |
Friday morning, after some breakfast and time to freshen up, we met up with one of the best walking tours in the city, Sandemans New Prague Walking Tour. The 3 hour tour covered all the main sites and stories of Prague’s fascinating history. First stop, Old Town Square. Prague’s Old Town Square features various architectural styles including the gothic Tyn Cathedral and baroque St. Nicholas Church. Among the many churches, you can find the Astronomical Clock in this square. It is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall and is a popular tourist attraction. Our tour guide explained that the clock itself has three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details, and a calendar dial with medallions representing months.
We then broke for lunch at a restaurant/café called Bohemia Bagel. Bohemia Bagel is not just a bagel store; they have the broadest choices of familiar and eclectic bagel sandwiches, plus 10 types of soup and 6 types of desserts. It is one of the most popular lunch destinations and Prague’s favorite bagel shop.
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| Rudolfinum |
Next stop was Prague’s New Town, which is twice as large as Old Town. In the past tradesmen and craftsmen mainly inhabited it; during the 19
th century its outer fortification was demolished and redeveloped to its present appearance. Today, however, it is not particularly attractive because of its moderness. We weaved in and out of the streets and ended up in the Jewish Quarter where we learned about the history of the largest Jewish area in Europe. The moving story embraced the traditions, customs and legends of the Jewish people in Prague. The stories unfolded as we explored the synagogues and the cemetery where people were buried up to 12 deep. We also discovered why, despite terrible purges, Adolf Hitler actually wanted to preserve the Jewish Quarter in Prague. This area forms an important part of history of Prague and I gained insight into the life and times of the people who have lived there.
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| John Lennon Wall |
At the end of our tour we landed right near the Charles Bridge, a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava River. It connects the Prague Castel and the city’s Old Town as well as adjacent areas. Near the bridge stands the Rudolfinum, one of the most representative Neo-Renaissance buildings in Prague. It was originally designed as an art gallery and then became the seat of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Although time did not allow for us to experience a musical performance, I am sure it would have been outstanding. For the remainder of the day we explored Prague at our own pace and browsed through various shops. Friday night our trip leaders took us out for a night on the town with the Clocktower Bar Crawl, which is one of the biggest bar crawls in Prague! Enjoying the Prague nightlife was definitely an experience!
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| Prague Castle |
Saturday morning we met our trip leader who took us to see the John Lennon Wall. The Lennon Wall, once a normal wall, has been filled with John Lennon inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles songs. The wall itself continuously undergoes change and the original portrait of Lennon is long lost under layers of new paint but it was a fascinating modern piece of art that draws various tourist crowds. I couldn’t resist adding my own words to the wall! I wrote: “Krista 2011 Love the Life you Live”. After a quick stop at the Franz Kafka Museum we stumbled upon a waterfront alcove and proceeded to snap photos of the Prague landscape from the river perspective.
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| Beer Factory |
As if those views were not sufficient enough, we hurried along to our Prague Castle tour! The Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world! It consists of a large-scale composition of palaces and ecclesiastical buildings of various architectural styles, from Roman-style buildings form the 10th century through Gothic modifications in the 14th century. The walking tour explored the Prague Castle itself and took us to the beautiful Lesser Town (Mala Strana) side of the city, which nestles around the foothills of the castle. Beginning the walk through the grounds, we visited the St. Vitus Cathedral. Interestingly enough, this magnificent structure was the actual coronation and burial place of the once mighty Czech kings. To me, the St. Vitus Cathedral is the very symbol of Prague Castle, however the complex covers much more. We explored the vast area and learned about the fine palaces, ancient churches, viewing towers and other fine buildings. By the end of the tour, we were able to experience the spectacular panoramic view over the whole of Prague! This tour was by far my favorite of all.
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| St. Vitus Cathedral |
At night we met up with the rest of our group at a Beer Factory. It was a basement sports bar that has beer taps on the tables where we could pour our own pint! Later on the entire group headed out to Lucerna, an 80s/90s Video Dance Bar/Club. It was fun to listen to 80s/90s music instead of the typical pop tunes playing in other venues.
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