On arrival at our hotel Norma and Frank went to get an early night and Nick and I headed out to Wenceslas Square to get some water - and a big sausage from one of the many street vendors of big sausages in Prague. This was also our first encounter with Prague night-life which is mostly made up of groups of British guys - with the cheap airfares and cheap beer (and cheap big sausages for late night snacks), Eastern Europe has become the destination of choice for many a stag weekend (although we did see a few hen's as well).
On Saturday morning we got up around 9am to a beautiful day and after breakfast headed towards the astronomical clock in Staromestske Nam (the Old Town Square). On the way we found a market that was full of the seemingly ubiquitous wooden toys and marionettes. We then made our way to the square which was packed with tourists to see the chiming of the clock (behind in the photo below) on the hour.
A stag weekend -
From the clock we headed across the famous Charles Bridge which dates back to 1342 -
and from there, up some steep streets to Prague Castle to watch the changing of the guard at midday - our third(?) in Europe. It was good, but I think our favourite is still the Greek one where the guards wear pom-poms around their knees.
On entering Prague Castle, the first thing you see is the spectacular St. Vitus Cathedral which can be seen from all over the city -
Inside the cathedral are many chapels featuring amazing stained glass windows by different Czech artists. This one is by Alphonse Mucha -
A close up of another window -
The building of the Cathedral began around 1344 but was not completed until 1929 - almost 600 years! Nick and I climbed to the top of one of the towers and got an amazing view of the city and Charles Bridge -
We walked around more of the Castle grounds and had some lunch before heading back towards our hotel. Some marionettes hanging outside a shop in Mala Strana -
After a siesta (with just enough time to see England lose - again! - on penalties to Portugal in the World Cup) we went out for dinner at one of the restarants in Staromestske Nam. Lots of meat and dumplings, as you might expect, but also quite tasty and cheap.
The following morning we woke to another beautiful day and the Sokol Slet - a parade of around 20,000 people which we think has a very culturally specific meaning with some oblique reference to Communism (or failure of)...or something. Frank with one of the participants -
After visiting the Mucha museum (the Czech artist famous for his Art Nouveau posters of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt) we had some lunch and Norma and Frank and Nick and I headed our separate ways to take in some more of Prague and do some shopping. After a few purchases, we met back at the hotel and then back to London.
