Prague Day 2

20,000 steps. That says it all. It was a LONG day.

The Grey Team did well to survive with bad backs, bad knees, bad lungs and tired legs! Our "stroll" started along the Vltava River and crossing the historic 14th century Charles Bridge. King Charles the 4th certainly was busy! Martin dotted our arduous uphill trek towards Prague Castle with many "interest points" which aided the ailing bodies to forget their woes. Once there, we were confronted again with something we were not used to...crowds. The extra time we took meant that big tourist buses had arrived to deposit their loads. The line for security to enter the Castle was seemingly never ending. Once inside, there was an equally long line to buy tickets! To our relief Martin was able to buy tickets from a special "guides" office which only took 5 minutes.

Prague Castle, one of the largest in the world, was actually a complex of buildings, gardens and squares. The first buildings were founded in the 9th century and it has been a seat for Czech Royalty for centuries. It is now the office for the Czech president. We had entry to four of the attractions, of which two had decent lines for entry, namely St Vitus Cathedral and the Old Royal Palace. The 10th century St George Basilica and the narrow Golden Lane rounded up our 5 hour visit. Yes...5 HOURS!!!

St Vitus Cathedral is the imposing structure that marks the skyline in postcards of Prague. It a place where coronations occured as well as resting places for several patron saints, sovereigns, and archbishops. Being a catholic cathedral, the structure and look was more "familiar" to us compared to the othodox churhes we had seen earlier, as was the ornate grandeur of the interior. The part that took our fancy however, was the royal box. It was a balcony directed connected to the palace so the royals could come to church without walking outside! Well, we could do with that...

In contrast, St George's Basilica which was founded around 920, was beautiful in a simple way. Unfortunately the baroque facade was a little out of the place with the interior of the romanesque church. It was much more serene inside with significantly less tourist traffic.

It was now a battle between the stomach and the brain. The brain wanted to see and learn, the stomach didn't and was protesting loudly. The crowds did not help. In the end, the FOMO won. We had paid for the tickets, we had a guide and we were here! So push on we did and went through The Royal Palace & Golden Lane, a small "village" built between 2 walls of the castle, as quickly as we could.

Prague National Theatre. Unfortunately no time for a concert in Prague :( You can see to the left the cube that is the "new" theatre, one of the few communist buildings that crept into Prague

Our approach along the Vltava gave us a magnificent view of the bridge and the castle complex in the background

We didn't appreciate being able to take a family photo at the time

Bridge was relatively empty in the morning...

By mid afternoon, the scene had turned theme-park-esque with bodies everywhere!

Kabourek, the beer loving vodnik. Martin informed us that folklore has it that he pulls at children's legs as they swim. This story was told to children to discourage them from swimming in rivers and streams as most could not swim well

John Lennon Wall

Another stop on the way up. Chocolate beer?!?!

The group couldn't resist sampling these

Thick hot chocolate for sustenance to keep the legs going!

What is this?! A line?!?! It didn't look as bad as it could have as the square was SO big!

We were fortunate to arrive right at the changing of the guards

St Vitus Cathedral

The recently restored Last Judgement Mosaic (1371) on the south wall of St Vitus Cathedral

Cavernous ornate interior

Considered the most treaured of all the stained glass windows in the Cathedral is this piece designed by Alphonse Mucha in 1930

A carving depicting Pragaue in 1620 with the Castle Complex on the right leading to the town on the left crossing the Charles Bridge

Tomb of St John of Nepomuk. A statue of him is visible on all bridges as he is the prtector against floods and drownings. He earnt this title by refusing to break the seal of the Queen's confession. The suspicious King threatened John with drowning if he didn't reveal the Queen's secrets... he drowned.

Royal box. Directly connected to the palace. They can go to church in pyjamas if they wanted to!

St Wenceslas Chapel inside St Vitus. Walls decorated with murals and semi precious stones

A tiny door inside would lead to the crown jewels. Several keys are needed to open the door and each is held by a separate person!

Vladislav Hall in the Old Royal Palace. In medieval times, jousting tournaments were held here indoors!

2 men were thrown out this window which was one of the earliest events leading to the thirty years war in the 17th century

The replica crown jewels on display

St George Basilica

Clean lines

Much simpler inside but just as beautiful

Golden Lane

The houses were TINY. Bedroom at the front

Living space at the back. That's it! This one belonged to a herbalist

The olds managed the descent down to our very late lunch but took a taxi back to our hotel after that. The able bodied continued for a little longer before retiring for some rest. The city was now packed presumbly for New Year's Eve celebrations. Our dinner tonight was a new and popular restaurant recommended by our guides, Červený Jelen (Red Stag).

We had mostly been avoiding grilled beef throughout Romania and Bulgaria as we were advised by our guide that there are better local offerings. Our iron intake had increased a little with the odd ghoulash and Czech sirloin dish, but today our red blood cells would rejoice. Red Stag is a newish, funky, multilevel, concrete-floored steakhouse complete with the classic feature of all cool restaurants - indecipherable toilet door symbols. Fortunately, the food more than lived up to the vibe. There was an open charcoal flame pit upon which classic low-and-slow rib eyes, brisket, porchetta and the like were cooked and served with Czech sides and, importantly, beer. It all worked out at around $AUD30 per head for an absolutely first class meat dish that was better than Sydney offerings such as Rockpool. We had the share plate of rib eye, porchetta and a super-juicy local meat offering of beef and veal which was a bit like an upmarket hamburger patty. I recommend this. Someone else, ordered the straight rib eye, but it didn't come with the chilli sauce so have a light lunch and get the combo! This easily served three big eaters and was probably better than the brisket which we were told was tasty, but a bit dry. Somehow, a few of us managed to squeeze in a shared dessert and then rolled home. With all that meat, beer and chilli to digest there would be no fireworks for us tonight.. except perhaps in the bathroom.

Two men with animatronic appendages displaying their thoughts about the Czech nation upon which they are standing

Pedestrian and unicycle access only!

12th century Rotunda of the Finding of the Holy Cross

Reservations are vital

Red stags everywhere

Multilevel eating areas

Last day of 2019!

Pick of the bunch

He didn't inhale

Prague

Today was day 1 of two full days in Prague. We would explore the old town side of the river today and cross the VlatavaRriver to explore the castle and its surrounds tomorrow. Prague is raved about as a beautiful city and it was finally a chance for us to see it for ourselves. "The city of a hundred spires" didn't disappoint.

Like many European capitals, Prague turned to Paris as its inspiration. Unlike other capitals, Prague had a powerful, inspired leader in Charles the Fourth who was committed to recreating the city. Large boulevardes, ornate "modern" buildings, beautiful facades and thoughtful alignment feature heavily across the many blocks that make up the Old Town. Fortunately, unlike many other former Communist cities, the many medieval and baroque structures survived relatively intact and were spared demolition. The Communist era saw few 20th century additions and UNESCO came in time to preserve the rest.

Martin lived in Prague for five years. Apparently there isn't really a decline in tourist numbers in winter as people from all over the world continue to flock here. There is certainly something for everyone here in terms of sights, good food, cheap quality beer (in the right places!) and a lively atmosphere everywhere. Sydney had this vibe around 2000, but lost it along the way. I don't think Prague has ever lost its mojo. Maybe this was why it was also known as the heart of Europe?!

There are guidebooks galore out there on Prague. For this one I'll let the pictures do the talking. As we walked everywhere, we can't really comment on public transportation but there are trams and we saw many taxis

Estates Theatre. Famous for being the venue where Mozart's Don Giovanni premiered  

Charles University. Founded in 1348

We are always drawn to beautiful wooden doors. 

This building was the store for the city's gun powder stocks.

Blue skies, blue clothes, but fortunately no blue toes today.

Oranges apparently a common Christmas decoration here!

Warm apple drinks (laced and virgin)

Church of our lady before Tyn in the background at the Old Town Square. Christmas markets still on!

The much hyped astronomical clock with moving characters draws massive crowds on the hour. We were warned not to expect much. It was rated as one of the most underwhelming experiences by Lonely Planet, but the lack of action and short duration was still a surprise. At least it was on time. And I suppose we should consider the fact that it was probably a big feat 600 years ago!! Hundreds of tourists all squished together and looking up. Cover your pockets!

This was what we came to see...

A change is as good as a holiday so we took a gastronomic journey to Italy. Delissimo!

The location is amazing, but surely this old communist block that is now the Intercontinental Hotel must be the ugliest building in Prague. I'm sure it is very different on the inside!

And, yes. That is a giant blue monkey with golden balls. The site of many russian tourists posing with duck faces and fancy model positions...

Our blue monkeys, but no gold to be seen. Vltava River and Prague Castle in the background

This synagogue (the oldest in Prague) attic reportedly housed the golem that was modelled from river clay and controlled with an oral scroll. It protected the Jewish section of town until its master forgot the golden rule of not leaving the scroll in for more than 12 hours. It then went on a wild rampage before somehow ending up in the attic. The few locals who ventured in to have a look apparently went into shock and their hair turned grey. We didn't want to risk it.

The chimney cakes continue to shrink as we head west. If we'd headed one block further west out of the market square they would've been 10% cheaper too. Grrr.

Chimney cake with ice-cream overrated said the children

At least they were of high quality. Elliot rated his the best of the trip so far.

St Nicholas Cathedral