Prague

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The second stop of our 2015 “Round the World” trip was the beautiful and amazingly well-preserved city of Prague. We spent four nights there using The Hilton Prague Old Town as our base. From The Hilton, we could walk to almost all historical sites in the city. We did choose to take two trams to reach Prague Castle. The trams were fun plus they were very inexpensive. Also, we wanted to spend as much time as possible exploring the enormous Castle rather than being tired getting to/from it as the castle sits above the city.

In a nutshell, Prague is a wonderful city and we highly recommend it for visits. In fact, we’ll definitely be returning. To make sure, we touched the famous plaque on Charles Bridge (legend has it if you touch the plaque, you will return). Highlights of our explorations of this walk-able town included:

Powder Tower: The Powder Tower is an ornate tower that used to be a gate to the city during the Middle Ages. The tower is called the Powder Tower as it was used to store gun powder through the 18^th century. It’s a great landmark and helps make navigation easier in the Old Town.

Old Town: The center of the Old Town is Old Town Square. It began being called Old Town after a carefully laid-out New Town was established by King Charles IV in 1348. Old Town Square can be reached by many different avenues/pedways (which sometimes makes it a bit confusing). Celetna Street is a pedway that connects Old Town Square to the Powder Tower.

When you get to the Square, it’s huge and dominated by many massive and beautiful buildings. You can’t miss the Church of Our Lady before Tyn. This Gothic church was built in 1365. Its beautiful steeples which are 80 meters high dominate the Square. Kinsky Palace was built between 1755 and 1765. It is the most beautiful Rococo building (an 18^th century building style that began in Paris) in Prague. In the square there is a large monument dedicated to Jan Hus. Hus was a Hussite reformist who was killed for breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church. Another church on the Old Town Square is the Church of St. Nicholas. Originally completed in 1735 as a church of the Benedictine Monastery, it now belongs to the Czech Hussite Church. The Old Town Hall is another massive building that was established in 1338 and eventually expanded into nearby buildings. Of course, when visiting Old Town Square you can’t miss the nearby astronomical clock.

The Towers of the Church of our Lady before Tyn with the House of
Stone Bell in the foreground (thought to be originally built for royalty)

Kinsky Palace (with our Lady before Tyn behind it)

Church of St. Nicholas

Town Hall

Monument to Jon Hus

The Astronomical Clock in Old Town

Charles Bridge & Kampa Island: Charles Bridge is a Gothic stone bridge that connects Old Town and Lesser Town by crossing the Vltava River. Each side of the bridge is capped with a tall stone tower. The bridge is now a pedway and it was jammed during our visits. There are numerous Baroque statutes on both sides of the bridge. The most popular is the statute of St. John of Nepornuk. St. John was executed by being thrown from the bridge into the Vltava River. Touching the plaque near the statue is supposed to bring luck as well as ensure you will return to Prague. Obviously, we both added to the plaque’s polish by rubbing it. Charles Bridge crosses Kampa Island on its northern tip. It’s an easy walk down to the island and from there you can walk along the river and explore parts of Lesser Town.

The Old Town entry to Charles Bridge

A closer view of the Old Town entry to Charles Bridge

View from Charles Bridge including Prague Castle on the top of the hill

The Two-Towered Gate on the Kampa Island side of Charles Bridge

View of Charles Bridge from Kampa Island

Shooters Island: Shooters Island sits in the Vltava River to the south of Charles Bridge. It’s a piece of paradise as it’s a lovely park and mostly visited by locals with children and/or dogs. It’s a nice place to relax. The island gets its name from summer fireworks festivals held there starting in the 19^th century. From the island you can get great views of the Bridge of the Legions (Most Legii) and the National Theatre.

Prague Castle (and all it entails): How do you describe this magnificent castle and its buildings? Magnificent! The castle was founded near 880AD and is the largest medieval castle in Europe. It’s especially huge when you’re walking through its buildings and gardens. Prague Castle sits above the city and is its most recognizable landmark. It deserves at least a full day’s visit and it’s definitely worthwhile to pay to enter many of the historic buildings.

The entry into the Castle complex

The upper front of St. Vitus, the Roman Catholic
Cathedral in the Castle complex and its largest building

The lower front of St. Vitus, including the entry doors

A side view of this enormous Cathedral

The rear view of the massive St. Vitus Cathedral

The interior of St. Vitus

Statues made from silver

The solid silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk

A closer view of the ornate tomb of St. John of Nepomuk

St. George's Basilica, the oldest church building in Prague Castle

The interior of St. George's Basilica

A view of the cupola

The interesting construction/roof lines of a building close to St. George's

More views looking up

The top of a gate guarding the Palace

"Golden Lane" is a 15th century lane within Prague Castle
that is framed by a collection of 11 historic houses

A view of Old Town & the Vlata River from the Castle
(it was a dreary day so no stunning photography
was possible but its still an amazing sight!)

[ T O P ]

READ THE DAILY DIARY THAT FOLLOWS (SOMETIMES YOU'LL FIND SOME EXTRA SNAPS)
OR RETURN TO MADRID OR CONTINUE TO AFRICA (by clicking on a red link)

Saturday, 24 October: We arrived at the Prague Airport, obtained some local currency (Czech Koruna) and then took a shuttle that had a drop off almost immediately in front of The Hilton Prague Old Town. On the drive in we were amazed at the beautiful architecture and amazing setting. We arrived at the hotel at 2:00PM and with the assistance of the Executive Club staff, we planned our first day of touring for Sunday.

Sunday, 25 October: We spent the day walking, walking and walking to see the nearby historic sites. We first walked to the historic Powder Tower. Afterwards we continued to the huge Old Town Square. From there we wandered along the narrow (and sometimes cobbled streets) before reaching Charles Bridge. The bridge – now a pedway – has many beautiful statutes adorning both sides of the bridge. Of course we had to touch the plaque by St. John to ensure we’ll return to Prague. We got off the bridge on the opposite side (“Lesser Town”) and walked along Kampa Island. We continued to walk along the Vltava River and went south to Shooter’s Island. While there we enjoyed time relaxing on the island away from the crowds. From the island, we enjoyed a great view of the National Theatre and Legion Bridge. We walked across Legion Bridge and then made our way back to the Powder Tower and ultimately to the Hilton.

Lovely buildings en route to Old Town

The Powder Tower

Municipal House - This ornate building houses
Smetana Hall, a popular concert venue

Celetna Street is a pedway that connects Old Town to the Powder Tower

Wow, check out this amazing building with its figurines!

One of the many cobbled lanes leading into Old Town

An interesting building near Charles Bridge

The Old Town Entry to Charles Bridge

A closer view of the entry to Charles Bridge

A view of Prague Castle from Charles Bridge

The Two-Tiered Entry at the Kampa Island side of Charles Bridge

A view of Charles Bridge from Kampa Island

Lindy on Shooter's Island, a short walk down the Vlata River

View across the Vlatava River

Ed on Shooter's Island

The Bridge of Legions and the National Theatre

A view of Old Town and Charles Bridge from Shooter's Island

[ T O P ]

Monday, 26 October: After stopping at the hotel’s front desk and exchanging larger bills for smaller, we walked to a nearby tobacco kiosk to purchase tram tickets. We took tram nos. 5 and 22 to reach the top of the grounds above Prague Castle. We spent the entire day wandering around this amazing and huge castle (purported to be the largest castle in Europe). After we finished touring the castle, we walked down stairs on the opposite side of the castle where we picked up tram no. 5 to return to The Hilton. It was a wonderful and amazing day despite it being a bit cool & cloudy.

Tuesday, 27 October: We woke up to a very gray, windy and cold morning. After having a leisurely breakfast, we walked to the Powder Tower and then went up a different route to reach Wenceslas Square. We walked around the upscale stores but didn’t reach the National Museum at the end of the square because it was too cold. So, something for our next visit to Prague. We returned back to The Hilton and prepared for next day’s departure to Cape Town via London Heathrow.