Wandering This Golden City

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We woke around 8 to our amazing view. It was an overcast day, and the fog gave the castle and cathedral a foreboding silohuette against the town below. We both decided that that was where we'd be off to today. Kent and I headed downstairs for breakfast. The spread was quite impressive: lots of meats and cheeses, fruits and veggies, cereals, eggs, bacon, breads and spreads! Yum!! Needless to say, we filled up well before leaving for the castle.

We walked towards the Charles Bridge, and just as we reached the bridge tower we were approached by a man in full sailor garb offering a boat tour featuring Prague's "Little Venice". "Ummm... sure" we both said. We were planning on taking a river tour anyway, just a bit later in the trip. We hurried down to the dock underneath the arches of the bridge and were greeted by the lovely sounds of the accordian. So nautical! We hopped in the both, with three other people, and were served beer and hot wine along with some gingerbread. Before long, the ride began. Our tour guide was the perfect mix of funny and informative. He told us about the tumultuous history of Prague and gave us some neat facts. Most impressive was the fact that any gold seen on the buildings (which is alot) is all real, hence Prague's nickname, "The Golden City". Other little facts were just as interesting; A few times in Prague`s past, there has been flooding. To help inform the town of dangerous water levels, a plaque of a man`s face has been placed on the wall of the riverbank. If the water touches his beard, then it`s time to evacuate the city. Also told us that the large logs in the water near the base of the bridge were ice breakers, but due to recent climate changes, they are no longer used. Throughout the tour, he pointed out some interesting landmarks including the castle, the cathedral, Prague's university, the mini Eiffel Tower, and a gigantic functioning metronome (signifying the passage of time) that replaced the statue of Stalin.  He was also able to answer a question of mine. Prague was the least bombed of all major cities during the last World War. Becuase of this, the city has been fortunate enough to maintain all its original structures. I was wondering why they had been so lucky and our guide said it was simply because Prague was so submissive and never put up a fight when being overtaken. Interesting. The ride was nice, and the tour was quite educational. Even "Little Venice" (the small strip of water separating Kampa Island from the  mainland) didn't disappoint. We were definitely glad we took it. The tour lasted about an hour, and then we were back on track to the castle.

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Prague's western horizon is dominated by the spectacular gothic spires of St. Vitus's Cathedral that poke out from a large cluster of palaces, galleries and gardens. Although the cathedral is inside the castle walls, the actual castle is comprised of the building surrounding it. We started to follow the crowds up Nerudova (the main street leading up to the castle), but didn't make it far. Kent had been hoping to try a popular Czech dish he'd heard about, smazeny syr, and he had finally spotted it on a menu. The vegetarian dish, served with hranolky, was even something I didn't mind trying. We walked into The Three Fiddles, took a seat inside the small restaurant and placed our order. It seemed like forever until our traditional smazeny syr with hranolky came out, but it was worth the wait! The Czech version of mozzerella sticks and french fries was just the familiar fried taste we'd been hoping for! (Ha! I bet you thought it was going to be something fancy!) We finished our snack, and then started up the hill to walk it off. As we walked away from the restaurant, I looked back and noticed a plaque with three fiddles hanging about the door. I had read about these house signs, and I was excited to have just spotted my first one. From then on, I began noticing them on all the other shops and cafes lining the street. When the town was first established, instead of using a numerical system for addressing locations, a pictorial system was utilized. For example, if you had lived in Prague before 1770, you might have resided at The Red Lamb on Nerudova, or perhaps at The White Swan oe The Devil. Of course, all the building now have numbers, but many of the house signs still exist. Despite my new distraction of house sign spotting, we continued on our way to the castle.

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After a steep but picturesque climb, we finally reached the gates to the castle. The large iron gates were flanked by two sets of muscular men, each with one wearing a lion pelt and preparing to slaughter the other (one by bludgeoning and the other by beheading). So violent! We walked through the statues and onto the castle grounds, and soon found ourselves staring up at the gorgeous towering facade of St. Vitus's Cathedral. It was an awesome sight. We shouldn't have been shocked to find that this building that looms so prominently over the city and can be seen from just about anywhere was just as intimidating up close. Struggling to take our eyes off all its ornate statues, we slowly walked into the cathedral. Both Kent and I were immediately struck by the enormity of the interior. The ceiling stretched so high, and the colorful stained and painted glass windows dramatically lit the seemingly endless rows of crypts, portals and altars. We wandered through the crowds occasionally stopping to admire the statues, but not really knowing what we were looking at, we didn't stay too long.

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After leaving the cathedral, we walked along more of the castle grounds, past a toy museum (with a curious nude bronze boy in front), down through vineyards and parks all the while enjoying a constant view of Prague until we reached the river below. We grabbed a "eurodog" (a hot dog placed in a hollowed roll with ketchup, or whatever. Very portable.) before crossing the bridge and heading back to our hotel. There, we picked up some tickets for an orchestra being held at the Church of St. Nicholas in Old Town Square later that evening. After a bit of lounging, we left with just enough time to catch the performance. It was a great collection of pieces, including works by Mozart and Dvorak. We both thoroughly enjoyed the music, and I even surprised myself when I recognized some of the tunes!

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Afterwards, we chose a restaurant on the square and seated ourselves with a view of the astronomical clock. Surrounding the perimeter of Old Town Square are small restaurants with large outdoor seating areas. Because it gets so cold at night, these outdoor tables are equipped with plenty of heaters and have blankets draped over every chair. So, even though we were sitting outside, we were kept nice and toasty. While the service left plenty to be desired, we enjoyed the food and coversation with a neighboring table. Afterwards, we stopped at a nearby bar for an after dinner drink. We chatted a bit with the Czech bartender, and he gave us some ideas of what to see the next day. We also asked him about Cesky Krumlov. He gave us an odd look, and then explained in his broken English, "very pretty to look at, but too far away for you". We laughed politely, arguing that an hour wasn't so bad, especially when it involved a bear moat! The confused look remained on his face, and he added "it is 3 hours away, and the castle is closed in the winter". Our little American hearts sank at this news, but we hung onto the hope that maybe he was misinformed, or perhaps the winter season hadn't officially started yet. The facts were confirmed when we later asked the concierge about getting to the town and she claimed it would take closer to 4 hours! We were just not prepared to invest 8 hours of driving for a day trip. Guess our dream  of seeing a bear moat would just have to wait. Disappointed, we went to our room and cheered ourselves up with some hot tea and the realization that we now had an extra day in the city. Now we just had to figure out what to do with it.