Monday 1st December

Prague

Still getting the body clock synchronised meaning lots of early morning wake ups and fiddling with phones and other things. Found the room temperature a little warm before finding the heat controller and the handle to open window for some fresh air which helped.

A pretty spectacular breakfast where some caution had to be exercised without offending the Chef who was doing the rounds of the dining area.

The day was all about seeing the sights of town, firstly by ourselves and later in the day on a free walking tour that cost 50E.

Started day with a run to bank as Czechia has its own currency except where the equivalent of ‘cashie’s” occurs and Euros are welcomed. Used the new Wise  card on this trip and it works well with low fees and conversion costs.

Cashed up we crossed one of the 17 bridges that span the river(a bit Budapest like only bigger). As we meandered along the river passed some unique statues, including a string of penguins overlooking a boathouse and the spillway and lock on the river. Penguins in Northern Hemisphete seemed a bit odd, but the area was littered with odd statues.

Further along found a few brass kids with their arses in the air and the best of all was adjacent to Kafka Museum with two guys pussing onto a metal pool in the shape of Czechia . Apparently it was the artists impression of how the rest of Europe had treated the country.

Not many tourists but great clumps of kids heading to Charles University, which is one of the oldest in Europe having been established by Charles 4th. The kids were followed by a plume of smoke or whatever it is that gets emitted by vapes. Interesting not many of the older generation smoke or vape openly.

Some cute little Xmas markets were still being built one with a particularly nifty Nativity scene.

The cleanliness of Prague is amazing and it’s probably attributed to the guys in orange who take their Orange Dogs for a walk.

Reached our first major port of call Prague Castle which was a long step filled climb giving you a wonderful view of the city. Even on a Monday the place was packed with tourists and lots of police and armed servicemen.

Seems a lot of the people in customer service positions missed courtesy 101 at the training school and service was regimented without a smile.

Armed with our tour ticket we joined the processions of people to wander through the various exhibits. St Vitus Chapel was enormous with its usual display of church wealth. Just on wealth the Crown Jewels are secreted in the chapel where it’s protected by 7 locks whose keys are held by 7 different civil and religious dignatories across the city. There will be no repetition  of the recent Louvre heist unless they are happy to pinch the replicas which are on display.

Whilst most of the crypts and tombs were sealed the last display in St George’s display was the bones of a nun.

Like many chapels the building was built,modified, burnt down and rebuilt over centuries and it’s a mix off many architectural styles. The centrepiece outside was the ornate tower and clock.

We shuffled off with the ever increasing crowd and visited the palace which featured an amazing great hall as big as a football field and a library area where landholder records dating back centuries were stored. 

The ceilings were covered with family crests and a working ceramic heater took pride of place .

Outside again we visited the Golden Lane which was a collection of houses and shops built into the wall of the castle and were only a few metres wide.

The trip through history took a very modern twist on the way out with Starbucks operating two outlets- guess upkeeping history takes funding from all sources!

Out the gate past the Czechian version of Grenadier Guards and followed a cobbled route back down the hill that took us towards the university quarter where we grabbed a bit of traditional fare before wandering through the streets taking in the history. 

Food is important here and the desire to sate hunger was best illustrated by the 200 metre long queue to get into Pork’s which is as the name suggests is famous for its pork knuckle and other porcine offerings.

Alcohol is also important and as travellers we have other needs like keeping the clothes clean. Both requirements satisfied in one spot at our next stop Sip and Spin- a laundromat with a wine bar- reckon we will be visiting there on the last day.

Wend our way through the Embassy area which was protected by a mix of military and civilian guards. The Polish Embassy was simply stunning with grand buildings and manicured lawns. Two International schools abutted the Embassy and a United Nations tribe of kids flowed into the streets to jump into a cavalcade of swish European cars. 

Soon arrived at the meeting point for our ‘free’ tour. Met our guide a Dutch multilingual teacher now living in Prague and after waiting 15 minutes for the other guests, we 3 set off – guess it’s easy to book a free tour and not turn up.

We visited Kafka Museum, narrowest street in Prague before joining thousands of people on the famous Charles Bridge to witness the lighting of the gas lamps ( it’s supposedly the only bridge still lit by gas powered lamps and the city has refused pushes to electrify them). It’s a pedestrian bridge now but was up until 1968 used by cars and trams.

Meant to mention the visit to the Little Venice spot which has now become both a popular boating spot and location for movie shoots.

Made our way through town to Clementium with its Astronomical Tower and Baroque Library. We got the history but won’t be visiting till Wednesday.

An interesting sculpture was a little girl perched on a ledge who supposedly thought the best way to share books was to make them into paper planes – un urban myth perhaps!

The library theme continued as we visited the Municipal Library with its book cone- a conical structure made from 8000 books. You could join the 309 metre queue and wait 1.5 hours to take a selfie or walk up the adjacent library stairs and get an equally good view. No guessing what option we took.

Across the road was a fabulous little Xmas market where some lovely replicas of paintings by Josef Lada captured the spirit of Xmas. Another great reminder of the joy Xmas brings to kids was the booth with a scroll where they recorded their Xmas wishes.

Went from small to big and revisited the main Xmas Market and watched the lighting of the tree which is now repeated daily rather than at the start of the season. Pardon the poor man”s time lapse photos

We crossed into the New Town where the difference is very apparent and far less charming, though the backstreets did have some great bars and restaurants – most full by 500. 

We finished the tour early. Paid our ‘free’ fee and wandered back through the OldTown taking in the spirit of Xmas that was enveloping the city. 

After the big lunch our dinner was a chimney cake and some mulled wine.

On our first non hiking holiday in 13 years we succumbed to 8 hours of city hiking and dragged our weary  bones up the stairs to have an early night and hopefully sleep off the lag.