Sunday and Monday in Prague

Sunday from Passau to Prague

Sunday morning, the last day of our Danube Cruise, went about as you would expect. Packing, going to breakfast, saying goodbyes, and being sure we got on the right bus for the next part of our trip. We had opted for a three-day stay in Prague following the cruise, but we had to get there first. Once everyone going to Prague was on board, and we had all checked several times to be sure our luggage was also on the bus, we spent the next three hours or so riding through some absolutely beautiful countryside. I really regret not being able to stop for photographs, especially when we crossed a little stream that would grow into the Moldau before it reached Prague. I had a little Smetana ear worm the rest of the ride!

We reached Prague and checked in to the Hotel Imperial just in time for lunch, and when we went into the hotel restaurant, we understood why the advance information we received always styled the name as the “Art Deco Hotel Imperial.” I don’t think I had ever seen quite so much tile work in one place. This photo shows just a small part of the ceiling of the restaurant, but the photo page for Prague shows much more. I must not have been paying attention when we entered the hotel itself, because the tiny little entrance (typical of older European hotels) has some truly striking tile work on the side walls. There are photos of that as well on the photo page.

After lunch we had a little bit of time to unpack, and then we were off with another excellent tour guide for our walking orientation to the city and our immediate environs. Our hotel was not far from Republic Square, so we headed in that direction, the group of us rubber-necking while trying to remember where we were from point to point so we could strike out on our own later. Prague is a beautiful city, and we all struggled to keep up and make mental notes while our cameras and phones were clicking away.

We moved on through the Square, around Municipal House, under the Powder Tower and along a street with really interesting looking shops and restaurants to arrive next in the Old Town Square. That’s where our official walking orientation tour ended, with frequent glances back the way we had come so we could find the hotel on our own. One of Prague’s “attractions” is attached to the Old Town Hall there — the medieval Astronomical Clock. I enjoyed the explanation of the two dials, the older one (early 15th century) showing the medieval perception of the universe, with the earth at the center. We waited with hundreds of other people to watch the clock strike the hour. Moving figures of the apostles passed by openings in the case above the upper dial while a moving figure of death rang a bell. I think it was something we were expected to enjoy as tourists, although the reality didn’t really live up to the expectation.

Judy and I didn’t dawdle but headed back to the hotel to prepare for the evening.

Before we left Birmingham we had gotten tickets to see a performance of Don Giovanni that night in the Estates Theatre. This was a double draw: it was the last performance of the summer run, and the theatre saw the premiere of the opera in 1787, with Mozart conducting. As visiting historical monuments goes, this might not have been on a par with some other possibilities, but we had a ball. We dressed up a little and had a car take us to the theatre. That kind of evening is not exactly common for us, and we had a good time all the way around. The performance was good, the refurbished theatre comfortable, and we even enjoyed walking back to the hotel following the performance. I know I said on another page that “selfies” were not going to be common in this journal, but I felt this one was justified.

Monday’s Uniworld Walking Tour

The evening was a great way to end our first day in Prague, and we had much more to look forward to, courtesy of Uniworld’s program of providing its guests with outstanding local guides. Monday morning, Judy decided to take the day off, so to speak, and stay in and around the hotel while I went with the group to the Prague Castle Complex. I know the usual designation doesn’t include “Complex,” but that’s what it really is. Churches, palaces, medieval halls, museums, gardens, and even some “tiny houses” are included within the walls and building of the castle. We started off walking past the guards (both ceremonial in blue and real ones in fatigues and green berets standing in the shadows) and into a courtyard for a little bit of orientation to this massive place. Then we moved on.

We first visited St. Vitus Cathedral, one of the important structures of the Castle. Large Gothic churches and cathedrals aren’t exactly uncommon in European capitals, but this one has a few unique elements that make it stand out. Like many others of its kind, it took centuries to build, but this was an extreme case. The last four bays were added in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, moving the west facade really close to an existing wall. Without the usual Cathedral Square to allow a distant view, the impressive front of the building, with its bas-relief of architects in business suits, can be seen only from an angle, shadowed by the other buildings so close to it. This photo was made from the east of the cathedral, where there is a square that allows a comprehensive view of the building. But the east end, with its flying buttresses holding things together might be impressive, but it isn’t “pretty.” Kind of a neat photo, though, don’t you think?

The tour we had of the interior was really good, as was to be expected. Also, we saw the usual elements of such buildings: internal chapels, elaborate tombs and side altars, beautiful sculptures, an organ, and stained glass windows. Those made this part of the tour stand out in my eyes, because the windows added in the new bays were just that — new. Take a close look at this photo. The colors, the design, and the incorporated images are not from the Middle Ages, that’s for sure. There are more on the photo page, and if I were a better “iPhone photographer,” there would be even more. In retrospect, I can tell how those windows struck me, because I didn’t even get a good photo of the organ. That’s unlike me.

I can’t begin to describe all the parts of the Castle Complex we saw. We moved on from the cathedral to the medieval halls, the original “castle on the hill” in Prague. Either I was so overcome by a history attack, or we weren’t allowed to take photographs inside. I really don’t remember. In spite of that, this was one of the best parts of the castle tour. Most important of all, and this was my history moment, we saw the window through which the Defenestration of Prague took place. (I hope David Higgenbotham sees this some day.)

After moving along some more and taking a short break for rest and refreshment, we moved on to see a section of “tiny houses,” not the ones popular on HGTV but some historic homes built along Golden Lane, along the inside of the wall of the castle. This was a little fun, seeing how compact they were and just how small they really are. Two of those dewllings have some lasting historic importance, one as the home of Franz Kafka. It’s the blue one in the photograph, and I really wanted to look inside. Just to see if there was a large roach around. I thought it was interesting to see that the display window had not only some publications of Kafka’s stories but also some books about Mozart. Strange combination.

After we left Golden Lane we moved on down the hill, along a walk between a vineyard and a restaurant, and through part of New Town to the west end of Charles Bridge. Crossing the bridge was a bit of a challenge. Even though it’s now a pedestrian-only structure, it was crowded to the extent that it was almost impossible for our group to stay together. In the middle of the bridge, we paused to look back at the castle, and I was amazed at how far we had come. We moved on into Old Town, enjoying a couple of buildings that were important to the formation of the Czech Republic.

Finally, we made our way to Old Town Square, almost two hours later than I was to meet Judy, the morning walking tour having gone well into the afternoon. We found each other after she had been standing under the clock for over an hour and had given up on our meeting at the appointed place. We found a place for lunch in the square and headed back to the hotel for a break. The only other thing we did that afternoon was validate our 24-hour transportation tickets and take a trolley ride through part of the city.

Dinner was in a nearby restaurant, where Judy and I both enjoyed local food.

Nice ending to the day.