View of Prague Castle from Charles Bridge
We arrived at our Bus Station on the east side of town and then we walked to a nearby street car and rode into the old city area after a 20 minute ride. It was then a 10 minute walk to our hotel Miss Sophie‘s Downtown Hotel. It was just across the street from the railway station.
The accommodations on the fifth floor were wonderful with a large room and view of the surrounding buildings, espresso machine, and a wonderful shower.
Crysthof gave us a short tour of the city which included a stopping for lunch. Doug and I picked the Banh Mi Restaurant run by Vietnamese. Turned out the Vietnamese was the second largest population in the Czech Republic. They first came here when the Czech Republic was part of Russia. Russia had an exchange with the Vietnamese so many ended up staying here, and later unable to return home because of the Vietnam war and the collapse of the Soviet Union patronage.
After lunch, we made our way past some towers and City Hall to the Astronomical Clocktower for its parade of characters as the astronomical clock struck the top of the hour. Massive crowds of tourist gathered to watch this event.
We were then free to explore on our own the old city. Many of us walked to the Charles Bridge to view the Castle on the hill across the Vitava River which is the same river that ran through Cesky Krumlov.
On the way, we were entertained by the Hare Krishna musicians later set up at the Charles Bridge.
It was fairly easy to navigate back to our hotel with all of the landmark towers that marked our way.
On Thursday, August 13th, I found a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham and bacon along with coffee and lemonade at the Cena Madonna Restaurant along the walking street toward the Charles Bridge.
After I crossed the bridge, I visited the nearby John Lennon wall, which was full of graffiti. Lennon represented a pacifist hero for many young Czechs and his image was painted on this wall, which is right across from the French embassy.
I then navigated my way up the hill, which included many, many stairs until I got to the castle area and came upon a wedding couple, and the Palace guards.
The ticket gave me access to seven different places on the Castle grounds. Here’s the Prague royal courtyard, where I got the tickets.
I started with the art museum, which had some interesting paintings dated in the 14th through the 17th century. They were kind of dark and foreboding.
The Saint Vitus Cathedral seemed to be the most popular venue here with a fairly long line and crowds inside. Here were some beautiful stained glass windows.
I then entered the old Royal Palace, which seems fairly plain compared to the castle we saw in Cesky Krumlov.
Next was the historical museum that provided the history of the Royal Palace.
The Basilica of St. George was a much smaller and simpler Church.
The castle guard exhibit included uniforms of the Palace guard as well as other military units.
I next walk down Golden Lane, which was comprised of a bunch of small cottages were built in the 16th century for sharp shooters of the Castle guard, but later used by Goldsmiths. Now they are mostly souvenir shops.
The blue.cottage number 22 was owned by Franz Kafka‘s sister and she allowed him to stay there from 1916 to 1917.
Behind these cottages were several rows of armor that soldiers wore. It looked like if they got knocked over and have a hard time getting up and also the advisors provided very limited vision.
The dungeon and torture chambers were below the Golden Lane.
The last place I visited was Rosenberg Palace, which is undergoing remodeling and currently contains gifts received by the President of the Czech Republic from other Heads of State and notables.
I made my way down the stairs at the north end of the castle, crossed the bridge, stopped for a mango lemonade by the bridge, passed by the Opera House, and then went to the Jewish neighborhood, which included the synagogue, museum, and cemetery.
The walls in the museum were filled with all of the names of those killed by the Nazis and otherwise it was a pretty stark Museum compared to the one I saw in Skopje, North Macedonia.
This is a row of vendors just outside the synagogue.
This synagogue is just around the corner from our hotel.
I filled out my day by visiting the railway station across from the hotel, and found a place to exchange Czech crowns for Polish Zlotys at a much better rate than that shown on my money exchange app.
For dinner, I returned to my favorite restaurant along the walking street toward the Charles Bridge called Cena Madonna, I had some delicious Wiener schnitzel with capers and potatoes, along with my favorite mango lemonade drink.
On August 14, we left early by trains and a minibus to Wroclaw, Poland.