Elegant Elbe: Day 7
Day 7: Saturday, November 04, 2023 - Prague, Czech Republic
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 60s, overcast then raining
- Steps: 21,502 Linda; 20,776 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 21
Though we are in Prague, Czech Republic - again - we are at a different hotel than we were less than a week prioer as last week
we were at the Hilton and this week we're at the Marriott.
Breakfast was a full buffet at the hotel.
Today's first excursion was "Panaramic Prague" and began at 8:30 - so we took everything we needed for it with us to breakfast.
We gathered in the Viking reception area, met our local guide Irena, put on our QuietVoices®, and our group - which consisted of
other travelers that were also doing the optional Lobkowicz Palace excursion - headed out.
We were headed to the market square - market squares are very popular in Europe as that was a primary location of business - but had
a bit of a walk through the city before we got there.
During the pandemic, a bakery created and sold "COVID cakes". They were so popular that they continue to sell them even after the
pandemic is essentially over.
We arrived at the square and saw a church or three, and some statues.
The statue below - zoomed in on just the very top of it - is unedited. It was captured at just the right time where
the sun was illuminating the halo, and just the halo.
We walked along the square and found ourselves at the world famous astronomical clock, running since 1410. It will ring on the
hour and it was about ten minutes before, so we hung around unti it rang.
While we waited, we also took a selfie.
It was only 9:00 in the morning and there was already a crowd gathered to see it (this crowd is gathering for the 10:00, and it was 9:52).
On the hour, the clock chimes and figurines move.
The clock tower and a couple other sights by the clock.
We walked back toward the square, and down the sidwalk in front of the clock tower a little near a small park.
There were also some crosses on the sidwalk symbolizing a mass hanging of 27 individuals associated to the great battle on White Mountain in 1620.
In order to access the church on the other side of the square, one has to walk through the house attached to the front of it.
Some other sights around the square.
Linda took a fashion photo (of her, not him...).
We walked down some streets, in a big loop, and ended back at the astronomical clock.
The two towers on the first church are called the Adam and Eve towers - the larger one on the right "protects" the other.
One sight we came across was an opera house - one where Mozart premiered the opera Don Giovanni.
In the corner on one street we came across a small duck shop. These are starting to become a thing now.
A store or two down was a shop selling beer-infused products, which are a Czech Republic thing.
A shop sold Becherovka - which is a "cure all" herbal tea liquor (not pictured).
Some rather seemingly expensive glassware. For an idea, the small white figurine in the front is $300, and the larger cat in the far right front
corner is $650.
And back where we started our short walk of a little more than a half hour.
It was about 9:45 and we were given an hour of free time to shop, and or get something to eat and or drink.
We chose to visit the three story Starbucks® that was just off the square. I got in line to order a coffee to
share, while Linda went upstairs to save a table - it was fairly busy.
Like the golden arches at the rest stop a few days prior, they put the foreign exchange rate right there by the register -
in an easy-to-update fashion.
A spiral staircase, with an elevator in the middle, provided access to the upper floors.
Our seat, on the second floor, overlooking the astronomical clock and square.
It appeared that the couple at the table next to us were either breaking up, or establishing ground rules for continuing their existing relationship.
We hung out after our coffee was finished, until it was a couple minutes before our meeting time. Then we headed down to the clock area.
I've heard of a vegetable garden, flower garden, even a beer garden - but this is the first steak garden I've ever seen.
Where does someone get steak seeds from anyway?!!?
After everyone gathered, we walked across the square, and made our way to the Charles Bridge.
A traditional treat in the Czech Republic is a dough wrapped around a spindal, and spun in oil so it is fried like a donut, and then
covered in a sugar and spice mizture, called Trdelnik.
Right after crossing the street, a Ferrari passed behind me - one of the exotics in the tally.
There were a total of 32 statues on the bridge and I got good / decent / acceptable shots of 22 of them. We didn't pass by them all
as we got off the bridge before we reached the end.
There was a plaque on the base of the first statue below that "people touch for good luck" as it was below Saint Benezet, the Patron Saint of Bridges.
As we exited the bridge, here are the last 9 or so that I could see. I accounted for 31 of the 32, so there must have been one at the beginning
that was missed (I'm guessing). The crowd can also be seen in this shot too.
The castle was easily visible from the middle of the bridge.
There were a lot of people on the bridge too.
Where we turned off the bridge, we entered a small, up-and-coming a-bit-of-a-wealthy neighborhood.
Sort of underneath the Charles Bridge, we came across a 9/11 Memorial. Yes, the Czechs created a memorial to the NYFD 9/11 firefighters.
Around the corner a little, still under the Charles Bridge was what they call "Little Venice". (The guys in the sailors' suits are actually
tour boat operators.)
We continued to walk into the neighborhood, and in a small plaza was this David Čherný sculpture thing of two guys peeing in a pond.
It isn't much unlike the cherubs peeing at numeroous fountains - these men are just full grown.
Our walk continued on.
We stepped onto a sidewalk of a main street, and found ourselves walking past the tram stop where we switched from the
#15 to the #22 less than a week before on our way to the Monastery.
We continued on, and through a small park, as our bus was just a little further down the road.
The bus brought us up the hill to the castle grounds - this was the previous stop the tram stopped at before the monastery.
We entered the royal grounds - though we weren't inside the fortified gates yet.
We passed a guard at the entry wall.
We started in a courtyard.
We passed through another entryway and came upon the church, and then walked around to the right side. Unfortunately we did
not actually go inside the church as much as we would like to have. Incidentally, the walking tour we had scheduled separately would
have brought us into the church, but alas, that was canceled. Again, this is one of the minor benefits of this sort of trip - but
our schedule as it was didn't permit a tour (we do get to go inside most churches...).
This WWI Memorial obelisk is one piece - though it was a little bigger before the very top broke of during transportation.
Some of the artwork on the side of the church - and it looks like mosaics.
We turned around and went down a small flight of stairs in the corner that brought us to an overlook sort of location.
There was a lower level, but we didn't get down do it. There was also a building through the trees off to the right.
When we came back up the stairs, off to the left there was a couple taking some wedding photos. They were almost done when we
saw them, and Linda said "Take their picture." By the time I did, their shoot was over. And she saw me taking her picture...
We walked ahead toward the church, turned right, and passed through another wall gateway.
We saw a building that had a large ballroom in it.
The pathway came to another square, we crossed it to the far right corner, and continued on.
We eventually turned into the Lobkowicz Palace Café.
We passed through the entry, down a couple hallways, and arrived at the dining rooms - there were 2 - reserved for Viking travelers.
There were about 40 of us in all.
Each place setting had a soft covered book about the palace and family, a menu, and a concert program.
We sat with Joya and Brian from South Carolina, Max (whose wife was absent due to not feeling well) from Salt Lake City, Cathy and Kress from
Wisconsin, and Janet and Frank from Massachusets.
We had mixed green salad with aceto balsamico and cherry tomatoes; I had the Lobkowicz-style Czech goulash served with dumplings,
and Linda had the vegetarian lasagna; homemade cheesecake with wild berry sauce; and red wine.
After our meal and some chatting, we were gathered together to walk up to the concert hall. We
proceeded back down the hallway we came, but turned left and went up stairs.
We then entered a large empty hall, with paintings on the ceiling.
Before we entered the next room, an usher made sure they were ready. The doors were opened and we made our way to seats, and awaited
the arrival of the performers.
I tried to sit in front in order to video the performance - admittedly the pianist is frequently obscured by the cellist,
but if I sat too close to the middle, there probably / possibly would have been a width issue.
After the great performance, we made a quick stop at the balcony - on the other side of the empty hall - overlooking the city.
We returned to the concert hall and we were giving Audio Tour Guide devices - enter a number into the device to hear about key pieces
around the palace - to take self-guided tours in the palace. We were given an hour to tour and or visit the gift shop, before we were
to meet in the dining room to collect any belongings (we were able to leave our jackets) before heading out.
We began down the hallway off the concert hall, and proceeded, generally, in a square pattern.
Artifacts: some dating back to the late 1500's or early 1600s, including a replica of the Prague Jesus Child, aka the Infant of Prague,
some china, and artwork such as the The Virgin and CHild with Saint Barbara and Saint Catherine of Alexandria.
There was a room dedicated to music - the Musical Heritage Room - with mostly song books - one from 1620 - and instruments.
This is a panel from a collection called Seasons from 1565. This panel, called Haymaking, is one of five of six panels
created by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. This is the "first time that a landscape painting is simply that and no longer a setting in which
religious or biblical subjects are placed".
A collection of six panels by Carl Robert Croll from the 1840s.
This work, London: The River Thames on Lord Mayor's Day by Giovanni Antonio Canal in 1748, was probably
2.4 to 3 meters tall (8 to 10 feet) by 4 to 6 meters (12 to 18 feet) wide.
This work, London: The River Thames Looking towards Westminster from Lambeth, also by Canal, is from 1746, and is as large as the one above.
A few more artifacts.
Our tour of the palace was over.
We met in the dining room, gathered our belongings, and headed out.
The group stepped out of the palace, turned right, and proceeded down a long staired-ramp to the street.
We crossed and went around the corner and boarded the bus.
Our trip to the hotel didn't take that long. We got off the bus about 4:30.
Today was a busy day, and we actually had another excursion tonight.
But the excursion - Prague By Night - wasn't scheduled until 7:00.
Linda wanted to take it easy and rest until the excursion. I wanted to run to the mall as another traveler mentioned how nice it
was decorated for the holidays. I grabbed the camera and coat, and headed out.
The mall was merely three or so blocks away. I just exited the hotel, turned left, walked less than two blocks, crossed the street,
and in the middle of the next block was the mall.
Right at the entrance was this nativity with figures that were two meters (six feet) tall.
I took the escalators up to the third floor of five - there was also a basement / lower level - for overhead shots.
The top floor had a food court. What country were we in exactly?!!?
The mall map was a lot like a regular map - stores were identified by row and column coordinates (A5), not just a floor and number (second floor #5).
I was in the mall for less than fifteen minutes. I then returned to the hotel.
A little before 7:00, we made our way to the Viking gathering location. There were about a dozen of us on the excursion. Our guide was George.
We boarded the bus and headed out. En route to our first stop, George told us a few jokes. First, he said that during COVID, the country experienced
COVID-munism, restrictions similar to what was experienced under Communism. Also, on TV at night, the news would broadcast reports about the toilet
paper shortage that the US was complaining about - for forty days. He said "During Communism, we were without toilet paper for forty YEARS!"
Our bus ride took us to the other side of the river and near the end of the Charles Bridge. We drove over cobblestoned roads. As we jiggled about,
George told us that an advantage of these roads is that your kidneys get a massage every day. Lastly, kindergarten is a lot like a beer garten -
you are welcome to stay until you wet yourself. Much laughter was had by all.
I usually enjoy taking night photos. It can be frustrating if the camera isn't quite set right because the images can so easily blur in low light.
It is also challenging when in a bus or walking on a tour because of the "I really need a bit of time or even a tripod to get a good shot", but those
instances aren't usually possible. But I still find it enjoyable.
Some of the nighttime shots during our tour.
George told us that guides usually try to make sure they don't duplicate landmarks / sights, and they usually do a pretty good job of that.
However, we obviously saw this memorial earlier in the day - though it was nice to see it illuminated at night too.
There were anchor holes embedded in the ground near the river so barriers can be put into place if flooding is coming again.
Four flood lines. The plaque on the bottom is from 4 September, 1890; the two in the middle area legible; and the top plaque is 14.8.2002.
We were near the stairs that we descended earlier in the day. These stairs also made an appearance in the movie Mission Impossible.
Some views across the river.
We walked a little further and came across what is called the [John] Lennon Wall. These are edited for color balance and brightness.
Better pictures can most certainly be taken during the day.
The wall used to be "vandalized" / tagged / decorated, then the city would paint over it, repeat. Eventually the city gave up on
painting over the wall, and it just grew into this.
We boarded the bus again and headed to our next stop.
After about fifteen minutes, we found ourselves back at the Strahov Monastery.
Tonight's visit was going to be far different than our visit from a week ago.
After entering the monastery grounds, we passed the church, and turned left into a café. The monastery
has its own brewery. Most travelers had a complemntary beer, while some of us had wine instead.
We sat with Steve and Beth. After a total of about a half hour, we headed out.
But we weren't leaving the monastery yet.
We turned left, walked a short path,, and headed to an overlook where we got to see the city all lit up
(this would be to the left and a little lower than the overlook we had on our Monastery tour with Father Henry).
After a few minutes admiring the view, we headed back through the monastery grounds, to the bus, and then to the hotel.
It was yet another busy and very long day - we don't do three excursions all the time.
We relaxed, washed up, and went to bed.