Prague

Day 1 – 26 August

Prague is glorious.  We have arrived late August in Prague and while the night has a certain chill to it, the days are long and still relatively summery.  Jan greets us at the airport and we have been whisked away on a Czech adventure.  First stop is a late breakfast and then a walking tour in the old town.  Despite this uni reunion I’m pretty keen, as always, to begin the sightseeing.  Jan certainly has a great deal to show and tell us we walk the streets of Prague’s historic old town and soak up the culture, the history and most of all the sheer picture perfect beauty of this Central European city.

The old town, with the Old Town Square at its heart is filled with colorful baroque buildings and Gothic churches.  It certainly lives up to its nickname of ‘the City of a Hundred Spires’ which is clear whilst looking out over the rooftops from one of the many vantage points.

One of the main attractions in the cobblestone hub of the old town is the medieval Astronomical Clock on the side of the town hall, with an hourly show during which the clock mechanisms come alive.  There is an astronomical dial with sun and moon and statues of saints all around.  During the ‘Walk of the Apostles’ show the statues come alive with death himself striking the time.  The clock’s dial dates back to 1410.

Charles Bridge is another famous landmark, completed in 1402, it is a pedestrian bridge lined with statues of saints.  Today there are tourists, locals and lovers, buskers, bikes and babies.  The saints look down on us wearing various expressions.  On the other side of Charles Bridge is the Lesser Town  is  Malá StranaVrtbovská zahrada (Vrtba Gardens).  These beautiful High Baroque  gardens are the grounds of the Vrtba Palace.  While the palace has undergone radical changes since its construction around 1720, the garden has recently been opened to the public after reconstructions.  On the site of a former vineyard there is nothing gently sloping about the steps and I stop along the way, each new terrace a chance to breathe in the ever expanding views of the city as we ascend the hill behind the gardens to Petřín Park and the Petřín Tower lookout.

The Petrin Observation Tower was built for the General Land Centennial Exhibition in 1891 having taken inspiration from Paris’s Eiffel Tower.  It is set atop Petrin Hill in the park and gardens of the same name and is a delightful recreational spot on such a beautiful day.

Day 2 – 27 August

The next day we return to the old town and enjoy the walk across Charles Bridge again and up along Nerudova to Prague Castle.  This stunning UNESCO complex contains more than 1000 years of history and tradition, with the castle thought to have been founded in 880 by Prince Bořivoj.  The Old Royal Palace began with a wooden structure while the stone Romanesque palace was built in the 12th Century.  Various reconstructions and additions over the centuries make it what we see today.

Another important part of the Castle complex is St. Virus Cathedral.  It is a soaring cathedral where coronations took place and saints and sovereigns are buried here.  I marvel at the decorations, the paintings, sculptures and tombs in the niches and the St Wenceslas Chapel.

The Golden Lane originated after the construction of a new northern wall of the Castle and the area of the northern bailey was used for the building of dwellings which were inhabited by defenders of the castle, goldsmiths and servants.   The houses here were inhabited up until WWII but the character remains unchanged and the small street is now the last remainder of the small-scale architecture of Prague Castle.

The rest of the castle complex is also fascinating.  St Vitrus has a treasury full of, well, treasures. There is St George’s Basilica and the story of Prague Castle told through the museum exhibits.  A picture gallery completes the official guide though there are other, smaller details to take in as you follow the map or one of the guided tours.

After a long day out exploring it’s tempting to stay in once we’re back at Jan’s.  But we dig deep and find the energy to refresh and change and head out again to enjoy the delights of the Vltava on a dinner jazz cruise.  The city is even more breathtaking at night as we drift along the seemingly still water.  Only when we come to a bridge and some shallow areas in the river is it apparent that the river is rushing.

Day 3 – 28 August

The next day is my birthday.  Jan takes us to the Louvre Cafe for breakfast and then has lent us his car to go exploring, Jason has a surprise in store for me…

Would I Return?

Yes.  And soon, please.