17.08.2007

We decided to stay on another day in Prague. Apart from wandering around, we spent a lot of the day in an internet café updating the last few weeks of the blog and adding photos as this was all long overdue. It was good to slow down for a day.

That night we took a break from schedule and went out for dinner and a movie. Dinner was at a really nice restaurant in the ‘New Town’ (only new in comparison to ‘old town’). I had the biggest calzone I have ever seen, until I stuck the knife in and it literally deflated. It was too big anyway. The movie was another cultural experience; Transformers J

At about 12.30am we made sure to see what we were told we couldn’t miss; the Karlovy Bridge at night time. The bridge is lit up with the ornate street lamps and you can see all of Prague and Prague Castle lit up and reflecting off of the water.

16.08.2007

Today we took a day trip out into the countryside to visit the town of Kutna Hora. This town was a very powerful town some centuries ago due to a wealthy silver mine which supplied a great deal of Europe’s silver. It was nice to stroll around another, quieter city in Czech Republic. We finally found evidence of the famous cheap eating in Czech Republic, trick is you need to be out of the centre of Prague. Here we spent about $6 for 2 pizzas that were too big to finish and 2 soft drinks. The people here (or at least the few we spoke to) are very nice. Once we parked the car, we needed to get a map to see where things were and we couldn’t find the tourist centre. We stopped in a local trinket shop and I asked the lady to point out what direction the tourist office is. Instead of pointing, she called her daughter in to come and watch the shop and asked us to follow her out to the street. We kept expecting her to stop and give basic directions as to where to head, instead she actually walked us through about 500m of street right to the actual tourist centre. We were a little embarrassed at this but grateful.

On the outskirts of Kutna Hora there is the Sedlic Ossuary, better known as the bone church. It is a small chapel in the middle of a grave yard, but the inside is decorated with the remains of about 30,000 people, most of whom died from the plague. There are four bells, one in each corner of the room, about 4x4x4m in size, all made entirely of bone. There is even a chandelier that includes at least one of every bone in the human body. We cannot say that it was enjoyable, but this was something we wanted to see. It is a very strange place, made to feel even stranger when the tourist bus turns up and you see children playing tag next to the ‘décor’.

Given that we had access to a kitchen and to supermarkets, we took the rare opportunity of cooking pasta for ourselves tonight. It might not seem exciting but after such a long break it is nice to have a simple meal.

15.08.2007

We set out to explore Prague in daylight. We saw the old Astronomical clock perform its little show on the hour, a couple of doors open each side of the clock and you watch little models of the 12 apostles parade past while a small skeleton rings the bell. We toured through the streets of Stare Mesto (the old city). The old town of Prague is like no other city we have seen. With winding narrow streets weaving between old buildings, many of which have some sort of interesting theme, packed together into a strange fairtale like montage. It is hard to explain with words, unless you studied architecture through history I guess but the photos should explain some I hope.

We left the Stare Mesto for the west side of the river. We crossed via the Karlov Most (Charles Bridge), the most famous bridge in Prague. Everything about this bridge is ornate, starting with the towers at each end, the statues that line each side of the bridge the whole way across to the view all around that takes in the west façade of the old town, the river and the islands, including Kampa (see further down) and of course the spectacular Prague Castle up on the hill north west of the bridge. Street vendors are everywhere here.

There is a superstition that the rubbing of two particular spots at the base of one of the statues along the bridge brings good luck. As a result there is always a crowd of tourists (us included) who gather around to touch the dog and the lady for luck. There is so much of this that those parts of the statues are perfectly polished and smooth whereas everything else is a weatherworn brown like a new copper coin.

One the other side, the township is similar to the east side. We weaved through the streets and up a lot of stairs to reach the castle grounds. The palace is situated on an area that appears to be about half the size of Stare Mesto itself (though I could be mistaken). It is extensive, and quite stunning. In the centre of the grounds is a huge cathedral. The castle grounds are surrounded by small gardens and the best views of Prague below. After taking this in we made our way down the long stairs to the town below, on the way stopping to have a brew in what claims to be the oldest pub in Prague. I can’t recall the exact year but it was somewhere in the late 1400’s. It seems more people are happy enough to have their picture taken outside with the ‘Golem’ mannequin. We walked south along the west bank, and onto the small ‘Kampa’ island which is mainly taken up with parks and restaurants (they are everywhere).