Things to see in Prague

...using the Euro until 2020. Things are pretty cheap in Prague-well a good excuse for me to go back. I only paid less than 1 pound/1euro for a pint of the famous local beer, Pilsner Urquell. Prague is THE place for beer-why? This is because the Czech is the nation with the largest beer annual consumption, followed by the Irish(second place) and the Germans(third place). Surprised isn’t it? After a few pints of beer, we headed back to the hotel.
.../> Berlin/Prague/Vienna tour Day 5

We began the day with a walking tour with the local guide. Our first stop was the Prague castle. It is located in the hilltop area of Hradcany overlooking the River and is the official residence of the President of Czech Republic. We visited the St Vitus Catheral.It is one of the landmarks of Prague and was built in 1344 but more work or decoration was added to it during the course of history. Therefore, ... more

This is part of my travel diary on a tour from Contiki.

Berlin/Prague/Vienna tour Day 4

We arrived at the manificant city in early evening. After having some dinner, our guide took us out for a city walk. We stayed close to the Wenceslas Square and all the major sights are within walkable distance. We finished the evening at the local pub. English is widely used in here and you can see a lot of influence of UK. We walked passed a big Tesco store and Marks and Spencer in the city centre-I believe this is the first time that I came across these two typical UK brand in a city in Europe. Even though Czech is now part of the EU, similar to the UK, they have not adopted Euro yet. Their local currency is called Crown and apparently they will not start using the Euro until 2020. Things are pretty cheap in Prague-well a good excuse for me to go back. I only paid less than 1 pound/1euro for a pint of the famous local beer, Pilsner Urquell. Prague is THE place for beer-why? This is because the Czech is the nation with the largest beer annual consumption, followed by the Irish(second place) and the Germans(third place). Surprised isn’t it? After a few pints of beer, we headed back to the hotel.

Berlin/Prague/Vienna tour Day 5

We began the day with a walking tour with the local guide. Our first stop was the Prague castle. It is located in the hilltop area of Hradcany overlooking the River and is the official residence of the President of Czech Republic. We visited the St Vitus Catheral.It is one of the landmarks of Prague and was built in 1344 but more work or decoration was added to it during the course of history. Therefore, inside the church, you can see a variety of styles, gothic, renaissance etc. It also contains the tomb of Czech patron saint St Wenceslas. After that, we took a walk in the courtyard of the castle and we went downhill, passing the St Nicholas Church. It is one of the best examples of buildings from the Baroque period in the city. Mozart played the organ there during his stay at Prague. On top of the cupola of the church, you can see a small golden globe. This globe believed to contain the plan of the building and can be used to rebuild the church after it’s being destroyed by fire.

A short walk from there takes us to the Lesser Town Bridge Tower and the Charles Bridge. The tower dates back to 12th century and it leads to the beautiful Charles Bridge (it was featured in the movie Misson Impossible 1). It is the oldest and most famous bridge of the city, founded by Charles IV in 1357. The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. It is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side. It is covered with stalls on both sides. You can also see statues of patron saints on both sides of the bridge and the most famous one is definitely the statue of St John of Jan Nepomuk. Do remember to rub the shiny part for good luck(well I did it myself), kind of like the fountain thing in Rome.

Crossing the bridge and a short walk took us back to the Old Town Square and our tour finished under the Astronomical Clock. Many important events of the city took place in the Old Town Square which originated in the 12th Century. One of the major spot in the square is the Astronomical Clock which dated back to 1490. It is like a giant story book with a procession of Apostles, a crowing rooster with sesonal and zodiac dials showing the movement of the Earth. One thing which is quite interesting in Czech is that each day in the calender is the day for a particular name or saint such as John, Mary etc. The local people celebrate their birthdays twice a year, one their official birthdays and the birthday of their names. According to local legend the city will suffer if the clock is neglected. Another one is about the clock and its maker. Apparently, the maker was made blind after the clock was made to prevent him from making anything as beautiful as the the Astronomical Clock. He became very frustrated for the rest of his life. As his last wish, he was taken to touch and examine the clock for the last time and when he touched it, the clock stopped and he also died at that moment. There was a very close connection between the clock and its maker.

After the tour finished, we went to get some lunch. The Czechs are meat lovers and similar to the Germans, sausage sandwiches can be found everywhere in the city. We had some lunch and started walking around the city. We first went to the Church of Our Lady before Tyn. It does not look impression on the outside but inside, it’s definitely magnificant. It is one of the most impressive gothic sacral building in Prague. The building work started in Mid 14th century and did not finish until the early 16th century. In the late 17th century, the interior decoration was changed to the Baroque style. After that, we had some snacks in the nearby market. I had the tradtional czech cake which is a circular cone coated with a thick layer of sugar.

Our next stop was the Power Tower which used to be a monumental entrance to the Old Town built in 1475. It also served as a storage place for gunpowder. Next to it is the Municipal House, with its rich interior, serves as the venue for the international music festival Prague Spring.

A short walk from there we arrived at the St Henry tower which was built in the late gothic style. After the big fire of 1745, it was modified in to the Baroque style and in 1870, it was again converted into Neo-Gothic style. The clock on the tower dated back to 1577.

After taking a few pictures, we headed back to the Old Town Square where we went up the Old Town Hall to get a bird’s eye view of the nearby areas-no wonder it is one of the most beautiful city!!

We did some souvenir shopping for the rest of the day and crystal is a must-have when you are there. Prague, being located in the state of Bohemia, is the best place to get the Bohemia crystal. You can find numerious designs from rings to pendant etc. It is relatively cheap to get crystal here. Also some of the items have the labels “made of components of Swaroski crystals” and I have to admit, given that I purchased a few items myself, the quality is not bad compared to Swaroski!!

Berlin/Prague/Vienna tour Day 6

We had more time to explore the city this day. We got on the tram to go up to the hilltop on the opposite side of the river. I was expecting a ticket machine to be at the station but none was found-so we got kind of like a free ride. Finally, when we reached our destination, a machine was there and I got some tickets for us-just to make myself feeling less guilty!!

Our first stop was the Strahov Monastery. It is a Premonstratensian Order monastery founded in 1140 by Vladislav II. The Baroque shape was added to the architecture in the 17th and 18th century. Inside the monastery, there is the Church of the Assumption, the Strahov Library with a massive collection of medieval manuscripts, maps etc.

A short walk away from the monastery is the Loretto of Prague. It is a Maryan pilgrimage place with a copy of the Italian Santa Casa. It contains a collection of 270 loretto bells which play the Maryan song “We greet you a thousand times” every hour from 9-6.

Then we got back onto the tram again for a short journey to the Prague Castle for a more detailed visit. It dated back to the 9th century and has been the historical and political centre for the city and country for years.

We walked passed the St Vitus Cathedral and reached the Basilica of St George. It is older than the St Vitus Cathedral and it’s considered one of the best preserved Romanesque churches in Prague.

We then headed to the Golden Lane which takes its name from the alchemists who were believed to be able to make gold. The street is full of many small colourful houses and the famous Czech author Franz Kafka lived at number 22.

A short walk from there is the powder tower. The original tower was built in 1496 as a cannon bastion but was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt afterwards and became a laboratory for alchemists during the 16th and 17th centuries. It has become a museum for alchemy and the Sigismund bell of St Vitus.

After this nice visit, we headed back to town and for lunch near to the Wenceslas Square. It is located in the New Town area and was originally created as a market place by King Charles IV. It was renamed as St Wenceslas Square, the patron saint of Bohemia, in 1848. Many important events happened in this place. On October 28, 1918, the proclamation of independence of Czechoslovakia was read in front of the Saint Wenceslas statue. And during the Nazi occupation, similar to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, it was used as a place for demonstrations.
The square houses a monument to St Wenceslas and a monument to the Victims of Communism. On January 16, 1969, student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. In November 1989, the square was the starting point for the protest rally that marked the Velvet Revolution and the overthrow of Communism.

A traditional Czech dinner ended this fantastic day.

 

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