Czech Republic - Prague

I am here in Prague on a short trip. This is by far one of the prettiest cities I have traveled to. Last night I met up with friends from FSU and went out for dinner and drings (yeah, that was an intentional misspelling. I saw that painted on the window of a cafe...actually it was hot drings but anyways I thought it was cute/funny).

Today I did Prague by myself. It was a cold cloudy day but that didn't do much to masque the beauty of this city. I walked around the "Old Town Square" and looked at the different churches with their amazing Gothic architecture. One of the churches looks just like Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Another had a beautiful astrological clock on the side of it. It is rumored (perhaps it's true) that the artist who built the clock was blinded promptly after completing it so that he wouldn't be able to build a more beautiful clock for anyone else.

I spent a little more time walking around the square. I happened upon a band performing in the square that was a "Dixieland band"... can you believe that? I came to Prague to hear the Czechs playing something that sounded a lot like what I would hear back home at a country western place. It was pretty cool though.

After the square I wandered down to the river and walked along the banks to the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge is one of the most famous landmarks in Prague. It is a several hundred year old bridge pedestrian bridge that leads to the other side of Prague. The side that holds the Prague Castle. The bridge lives up to it's famous reputation. It has some amazing Gothic status dotted along the sides and there are street performers and artists along the entire bridge. On the bridge I was once again treated to a Western/Eastern fusion of music. There were two men performing one had a steel guitar and the other a harmonica with a brass instrument, looked like a curly trumpet without a mouthpiece. He was singing into it and playing the harmonica into it. It was a sort of cajun/blues song. And had attracted quite a little crowd.

On the other side of the river I took the LONG STEEP walk to the Prague Castle. It took about 20 minutes to get to the top. There were about 140 stairs and the hills were long and steep too but I was not disappointed by the view from the top. You got a brilliant panoramic view of most of Prague and it was breathtaking. Inside the castle walls there is another Gothic church with beautiful architecture. I took quite a few pictures of the stained glass windows and also of the gargoyles which were all unique and interesting. I actually think this church was more impressive than Notre Dame was in Paris.

After the castle I did the Geer thing, I found the mall. It was back on the other side of the river about 15 minutes walk from the Old Town Square and it was very impressive. Apparently it is built in an grand old house or something like that and is at least 6 stories high inside and beautifully decorated. I didn't really do any shopping there (other than the window variety) but it was fun to check it out.

After that sadly I had to return to the hotel because I have a very early flight tomorrow morning and therefore need to get some sleep. So, as soon as I get the Picasa situation sorted out I will post some pictures from my day out.

Hope that everyone is doing well.

~Jenn