August 7, 2013
August 7, 2013
We are up early to catch the morning train from Bratislava to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is a long but pleasant journey. We arrive at our hotel before check in time so we have the fixed lunch menu in the hotel restaurant. It is delicious.
After getting our room we decide to take a short stroll through New Town to Wenceslas Square. The weather is finally cooler. I am full and not sweating. At this point I can't ask for more. Wenceslas Square turns out to be a very long rectangular mall lined with shops and food stands. We stroll checking out the merchandise. We find lots of unique items. We are liking Prague a lot. I can't pinpoint why, but I am sure the weather is a big factor.
The square (and Christmas carol) is named after a famous tenth century Duke of Bohemia (who never was a king, but he was good) who was later canonized a saint. Wenceslas Square has been the traditional site for historic demonstrations of Czech independence.
Wenceslas Square leads into the narrow streets of Old Town Prague. I can tell immediately from the uniform and well maintained architecture that this is one of the nicer Old Towns in Europe. But I am not prepared for entering the main square. It is exquisite. In every direction is a beautiful building, church or tower. This is why all other Eastern Europe cities want to be the new Prague. Unfortunately Prague is not a secret and it is jam packed. In the center of the Square is a monument to Jan Hus. Hus was a Church reformer long before Martin Luther. He was ex-communicated and burned at the stake as a heretic, but the Czech people continued to follow his beliefs for a century. The pope even sent several crusades here trying to restore Catholicism and Papal supremacy.
Prague's Old Town is huge. We stroll for the rest of the evening through the narrow streets and I am amazed at the extent and beauty of the architecture. Clearly Prague was a rich city for a long time and it fortunately escaped the WWII damage that razed most other large cities. The town fathers also deserve credit for renovating every building and preventing the intrusion of modern structures.
Eventually our stroll takes us over one of the bridges spanning the Valtava River. There we run into more than sixty White Swans congregating by the shore. They are huge and very comfortable with all the people. It is rare to see more than a half dozen swans together.
We cross back over the Valtava on the medieval Charles Bridge. It deserves its fame. This pedestrian span is lined with dozens of statues and has a guard tower on each end. It would make a great photo if only I could lose the thousand people walking it with us.
We make our way back to Wenceslas Square where we have a Bratwurst for dinner. This is my first sausage meal and it is delicious. For some reason I assumed sausage would be a part of every meal in Eastern Europe. It has rarely been on the menu.
We are up early to catch the morning train from Bratislava to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is a long but pleasant journey. We arrive at our hotel before check in time so we have the fixed lunch menu in the hotel restaurant. It is delicious.
After getting our room we decide to take a short stroll through New Town to Wenceslas Square. The weather is finally cooler. I am full and not sweating. At this point I can't ask for more. Wenceslas Square turns out to be a very long rectangular mall lined with shops and food stands. We stroll checking out the merchandise. We find lots of unique items. We are liking Prague a lot. I can't pinpoint why, but I am sure the weather is a big factor.
The square (and Christmas carol) is named after a famous tenth century Duke of Bohemia (who never was a king, but he was good) who was later canonized a saint. Wenceslas Square has been the traditional site for historic demonstrations of Czech independence.
Wenceslas Square leads into the narrow streets of Old Town Prague. I can tell immediately from the uniform and well maintained architecture that this is one of the nicer Old Towns in Europe. But I am not prepared for entering the main square. It is exquisite. In every direction is a beautiful building, church or tower. This is why all other Eastern Europe cities want to be the new Prague. Unfortunately Prague is not a secret and it is jam packed. In the center of the Square is a monument to Jan Hus. Hus was a Church reformer long before Martin Luther. He was ex-communicated and burned at the stake as a heretic, but the Czech people continued to follow his beliefs for a century. The pope even sent several crusades here trying to restore Catholicism and Papal supremacy.Prague's Old Town is huge. We stroll for the rest of the evening through the narrow streets and I am amazed at the extent and beauty of the architecture. Clearly Prague was a rich city for a long time and it fortunately escaped the WWII damage that razed most other large cities. The town fathers also deserve credit for renovating every building and preventing the intrusion of modern structures.
Eventually our stroll takes us over one of the bridges spanning the Valtava River. There we run into more than sixty White Swans congregating by the shore. They are huge and very comfortable with all the people. It is rare to see more than a half dozen swans together.
We cross back over the Valtava on the medieval Charles Bridge. It deserves its fame. This pedestrian span is lined with dozens of statues and has a guard tower on each end. It would make a great photo if only I could lose the thousand people walking it with us.We make our way back to Wenceslas Square where we have a Bratwurst for dinner. This is my first sausage meal and it is delicious. For some reason I assumed sausage would be a part of every meal in Eastern Europe. It has rarely been on the menu.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 8:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home