Germany, Austria and Prague (28 Oct - 4 Nov) - Day 6

Today was our day to explore Prague - we were up and out of the house by about 10am and we decided the best way to do the trip would be to walk between some of the key sights and see what we could along the way.

We caught the subway from just outside our apartment into the city center and started from there.  The first thing the kids commented on was how steep the escalators to and from the subway were - and not only were they steep, they were fast..

Escalator in Prague

We traveled from our station (Křižíkova) to Náměstí Republiky (Republic Square).

Our first views of Prague

Our first landmark was the Praha Prašná brán (Prague Powder Tower), which was built in the 11th century and served as one of the 13 entrances into the Old Town.  The current building was started in 1475 and was known as 'New Tower', changing to Powder Tower in 1715 as it was used to store gunpowder.

Powder Tower

Next was the Prague Municipal House - a concert venue.  It was originally the site of the Royal Palace (1383-1485), but the palace was demolished in the 20th century and the new building was started in 1905.  It was the site of the Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence (From the Austro-Hungarian Empire).

Municipal House

Municipal House and Powder Gate

 Our next stop was Wenceslas Square, but only the way we saw a familiar sight:

"The Fat Koala" English style pub

We also came across the Jindrisska (Henry's) Tower.  The tower is part of the Church of St Henry and St Kunhuta and is the highest freestanding bell tower in Prague. It also houses Prague's oldest bell (named Maria) from 1518.

Jindrisska Tower

We also discovered something interesting along the way - while smoking cannabis is illegal in the Czech Republic, the citizens often ignore this rule - it's often said that they have a rebellious streak against authority since the days of the oppressive communist rule.  It is legal to sell cannabis items with less than 0.3% THC, so there are plenty of strange combinations available - we saw cannabis body cream, condoms (I'm not sure what the plan on that one was), lollypops, and of course:

Cannabis Ice-cream

and Cannabis beer, tea, chocolate, crisps...

A really cool facade on a building above a bookshop

We finally came to Wenceslas Square (and no we didn't have to stop to satisfy any munchies - although the boys never stopped eating or asking about food)..

The square is famous in Prague and the site of most demonstrations and public events. It was founded in 1348 as Horse Market (Koňský trh) but was renamed after Saint Wenceslas in 1848.

Čelakovského sady at the end of the square

Čelakovského sady and the Wenceslas Monument

The square is lined with benches, each with an inspirational quote:

Quote

Statue of Wenceslas

Another impressive Facade

After leaving the square we came across a traditional Czech souvenir shop with a giant painted egg:

The egg

Then we stopped for a treat - a Tunnel Cake:

Ordering

Tom liked his

Cam pulled his apart

Alana

Kris got an apple and cream filled one

and I had Strawberries and cream

After a quick break, we continued on again, this time coming to the Estates Theatre (Stavovské divadlo):

Stavovské divadlo

Complete with a dementor (it's actually a statue in memorial of Mozart's Dom Giovanni, which premiered here in 1787)

Stavovské divadlo

After the few stop-offs, we finally made it to the central square of Old Town, where there were three impressive buildings:

360 from the square

In the panoramic above the building with all the scaffolding on the far left is the Old Town Hall, which houses an astronomical clock, the next big building is the St Nicholas Church and finally, the two towered building just right of the middle is the Church of Our Lady before Týn (Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem - the direct translation is Church of Mother of God before Týn)

The Church of Our Lady before Týnwas built in the 14th century and has spired towers 80m high.  The church also houses the tomb of Tycho Brahe who died in 1601 in Prague after attending a banquet - no it wasn't the food, it's believed he didn't want to leave the table to relieve himself as it would have been bad manners so he may have died of a burst bladder and subsequent infection.  Ouch.

First view of the Church Spires

Church of Our Lady before Týn

Looking up at the spires

Church door

Saint Nicholas Church (Kostel svatého Mikuláše) was built in 1732 and is the main church of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

St Nicholas Church

The Old Town Hall is constructed of several small houses, some from 1338 or earlier.  The building also houses The Horologe, built in 1410.  The Horologe functions as an astronomical clock, with moving figures, astronomical dial and calendar dial:

The Horologe

As well as the three main buildings, there were some very nice facades

Facade of the National Gallery

National Gallery

Statue to religious reformer Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake in Constance in 1415, leading to the Hussite wars

By now the kids were getting a little tired of churches, so we decided to treat them to a visit to the Lego museum.  I didn't expect much, but it was pretty cool - they had a bunch of old lego sets, including the pirate and castles ones I used to collect.  I managed to embarrass the kids (its pretty easy these days) by standing in front of the pirate ships and saying "got that one, got that one, got that one..".  When we arrived, the foyer was busy with people buying things, and the turnstile was open so we just walked in.  When we left I saw an entry price list, turns out it was paid admission, and you needed to pay extra to take photos... whoops

First display

Car sets

Lego city display in the main room

Basketball game in Lego City

Lego Statue of Liberty

Contents of one of the old Lego Castle Advent Calendars

Some of the very first Lego sets

Lego Powder Gate

Compared with the Real Powder Gate

The Prague National Theatre

The real National Theatre

Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Real Charles Bridge

National Museum

St Basil's Cathedral

Pirate Ships

Lego Starwars

It was starting to get late (well 4pm, but it gets dark early), and we had one more place to go - to the castle!

Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) and Katedrála Sv. Víta (St Vitus Cathedral)

Charles Bridge

I was a little confused putting the blog together and sorting the photos, as there is another Church of St Nicholas near the castle, with very similar design.  this one was building in 1704 and is a Roman Catholic Church (the other one was Czechoslovak Hussite):

St Nicholas Church

St Nicholas Church

Column of the Holy Trinity outside St Nicholas Church

St Nicholas Church

Doors of the Italian Embassy

Rear wall of the Schwarzenberský palác - Art Museum on castle hill (that's all painting on flat wall, no texture)

Statue on the road just before heading up to the castle

By the time we reached the tower we were pretty tired - it had been a long day exploring and there were lots of steps and sloping roads, but it was worth it. The view of Prague was amazing, particularly just as the sun was starting to set.  We took about 50 photos, below are some of the best ones:

Saint Nicholas Church (I managed this shot with my crappy $80 camera)

The other Saint Nicholas Church and Our Lady Before Tyn (centre of the photo)

Us at the top - Tomas' slightly worried face is him trying not to blink (he blinked accidentally in the previous shot)

Having a rest at the top

Gates of the castle

Pretty sure that's not how you play baseball...

Whoops, I seem to have slipped with my knife.  Whoops, and again.. I'm so clumsy!

Castle gates

An amazing view from the castle gates

Spires over the castle

We walked down from the castle and then back along the famous Charles bridge over the Vltava River.  It was started in 1357 and finished in the 1400s:

Bridge tower

Tomas stands on the bridge, while the world rushes around him (our art shot)

The bridge was a little busy...

The bridge is lined with statues - below are photos of some of them:

Lifting his skirt to show the lions?

Looking down the Vltava (south)

Looking down the Vltava (north)

"Hello, we'd like to talk to you about Jesus."

Are these guys wearing propeller hats?

This one was popular to rub the plaques below for luck

The plaques

Tomas patting the dog

Son, why do you have a bird on your head?  You know it's going to poop right..

This looked like the cool Jesus

Heyyyyyyyyy!

There's that bird again..

"Please can I hold the baby", "Nope, you're going to drop it again!"

The roof inside the bridge tower

Statue in the courtyard of Church of St Salvator

Looking back at the castle and church

It was pretty dark by the time we got home, but it had been a  great trip exploring Prague.  The next day we were off to Berlin, so we had an early(ish) night.

No driving today, so no total km traveled.