Day 1 Praha (Prague)

Pondělí 24 Srpnem  

Monday 24th August

These my photos but the arty ones are Penny's - she always looks for the angle without the tourists!

We arrived in Praha at 11.30 am, fortunately greeted at the airport by a transfer to the Intercontinental Hotel, very plush, which overlooks the Vltava River, the longest and most important river in the Czech Republic, and a short distance from the main attractions it seems.

At first sight, I found Prague city centre gorgeous but somewhat overwhelming, especially after the opulence of Paris - so many old and grand buildings, spires, domes, churches - but what did I expect?

View looking south over Prague from Prague Castle 

The rooftops are distinctly different from Paris 

with their perhaps typical Czech pitched terracotta-tiled roofs.

I imagined a vast open main town square right on the river, in front of the Prague Castle with the famous Charles Bridge, Karlùv most, leading to and from it.

But Prague is not  as I imagined -  it's less open, less clean up close, with many of its statues and buildings darkened by age and pollution perhaps. 

The gothic facade of St Vitus Cathedral, which looks over the third courtyard of Prague Castle.

sSveral of the religious statues on Charles Bridge.

You can see where people touch the statue-

Tower at the Stare Mesto or Old Town end of the bridge

Darkened spires of church in the Medieval Old Town square.

However,  everywhere there is much beauty - with gorgeous detail on doorways, windows, 

ceilings, balconies, roofs  and walls.

The beautiful detail on the door of  St Nicholas Church,  Mala Strana.

The decorative ceiling and chandelier of a trendy restaurant, restauraci, in Kampa, near the canal. 

In the Old Town Square.

Pretty plaster work and. pastel-coloured facades plus more dark statues!

The Charles Bridge, Karluv Most, was commissioned in 1357 by Charles IV to replace the original 12th Century Judith Bridge which had been washed away by floods in 1342.  The new bridge,  completed in 1400 and taking Charles' name only in the 1800s, withstood wheeled traffic for 600 years, until it was made pedestrian-only after WW2. 

The Charles Bridge, "everyone's favourite place for a stroll" according to Lonely Planet, where you can  to listen to busking musicians,

...... have your portrait done by a talented artist,  buy local jewellery - very folk arty - or simply just soak up the views!

A great place to catch some. late afternoon sunshine!  

We enjoyed the Vltava riverside walk many times - a cool and relaxing way of reaching Charles Bridge.

On the river-side walk.

Charles Bridge and the 15th Century Bridge Tower. 

From our hotel, we we walked for 5 - 10 minutes along the  Parisesque, Parizska, tree-lined boulevard to reach the Old Town Square to find masses of people crowding around the astronomical clock, waiting for the 1pm activity, so we joined them, and were bemused by the  skeleton and a few other moving parts, all over in a couple of minutes! 

Then the crowd dispersed as did we and , feeling hungry after our 5am breakfast leaving Paris, we succumbed to some typical Czech food - not sure if it was this or a bug I picked up somewhere, I woke the next morning with a stomach upset and spent the next day in bed and barely ate for 48 hours - oh well, plenty of reserves!


Franz Kafka - a famous Czech author who lived in Praha.

Franz Kafka bronze sculpture

The Kafka Museum beside the Vltava River


There's some quirky architecture too.