Prague? Czech!

Cameron finally got a 4 day weekend, so we hopped in our Opel and headed for Prague (thank God for GPS!).  We were both looking forward to getting a new stamp in our passports, buuuut there was no check point, not even a sign saying "Welcome to the Czech Republic!"; we were rather disappointed.  Prague was very tourist oriented and there were crowds of people everywhere. All the menus and museum exhibits were translated into several different languages, and we didn't meet a single person who didn't speak English. Our hotel concierge spoke at least 3 languages that I over heard- Czech, English, and Italian. McDonalds and KFC were also all over the city and along the highways. The Czech currency, koruna, is a pain. A beer is about 45, a meal in the 200 range, etc. Thus, holding a 2,000 note is not as exciting to the Czech as it is to us.

This is the Astronomical Clock Tower in the center of Prague. I'm not sure how to read the face, but there are skeleton figurines on both sides of the tower. Every hour those figurines pull ropes that open the two little doors above the large face, and disciples parade around in a circle. Every time we were there around an hour mark, there was a crowd of people craning their necks to get a glimpse. 

These are views from the top of the Clock Tower. Unfortunately, it was raining and cloudy for the majority of our trip. Off in the distance is the Prague Castle and surrounding buildings. There is even an imitation Eiffel Tower, but it was too foggy to see. The fog gave an even more creepy atmosphere to the historic city.

On Sunday we walked up to the Prague Castle with St. George's Basilica and the surrounding Palaces. The Castle had historic rooms open to visitors with information about the Castle's historic past and the kings that inhabited it. The Castle is guarded by soldiers much like London's beefeaters, only without the funny hats. These guards have to fight through the tourists to change positions hourly, and we saw one woman get whacked by a guards' arm when she didn't get out of the way fast enough. The guard cracked a smile but quickly resumed his stone-faced expression.

And this is why Europeans are not obese. We walked up a steep street to get to the Castle complex, but took these stairs down. I was pooped!

The famous Golden Lane is also located within the Castle complex. This mini street and the houses (shops now, of course) date back to the 15 century. The houses are very small, and Cameron had to watch his head in several of them. Walking down the Golden Lane presented a good image of how neighborhoods must have looked centuries ago (just not the goods being sold!).

This is a view from the Charles Bridge at night. The bridge was built in 1357 and over the years has had thirty six Baroque saints added to its architecture. This foot bridge is obviously very popular with tourists and is undergoing some renovations, so we couldn't get a picture good enough to grace this fantastic blog.