Tues, July 22: walking tour of Praha

Prague's history is long and complicated. The name of the city itself reappeared innumerable times in my ap history class. Most notably, the so called defenestration of Prague set off the 30 years war (1618-1648) and the Prague spring in 1968 initiated growing unrest behind the iron curtain. While I am sure to learn a lot about Prague while I am here, it's fair to say I will only be scratching the surface of Prague's deep and long history. Guidebooks and tours can only say so much. I will certainly however be able to see a lot of history. Prague's history will be visible, tangible, and within my reach. 

My introduction to Prague came in the form of a bridge. Our day started with a walk across the Charles bridge. Our hotel is located on the west bank of the river, the quieter but equally beautiful side. The bridge is lined with religious statues of countless saints and figures. Some are shiny in spots where it is believed to be lucky if you touch (the statue of St. John Nepomuk for example is supposed to grant you a wish if you touch it). 

At the end of the bridge on the east bank was the old town bridge tower (Staroměstská Mostecká věž). We climbed to see the 360 view of Prague. Although we were surprised at the few stairs we had to climb (we've been up many towers in our sightseeing summers), the view did not dissapoint. 

The Charles bridge and the west bank

View from the tower, east bank

We continued by walking to the old town square, one of my favorite parts of Praha. We admired the square, the astronomical clock (Prague was the last major european city to have a clock, but by the look of it it seems well worth the wait), the beautiful facades, and the Tyn church peeking out from behind. We sat at a cafe to rest and replenish, and to plan the rest of our day. 

The square 

We decided to walk across the square and eat lunch standing at an outdoor lunch location. The attraction was the huge hams roasting. We ordered a sausage, two portions of ham and some potatos and cabbage to share among ourselves. The parents ordered beers, and like the rest of the meal, they were huge. It was a fun lunch. 

La familia dining in the old town square, featuring tyn church. 

We walked back across the square to get a look inside Týn church. The gothic church is relatively small but astounding, and it houses the tomb of mathematician Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). 

We ventured further to Wenceslas square to see the infamous Hotel Europa and the square itself with the great statue of king Wenceslas and the National Museum. The square is in fact not square, and more of a rectangle that stretches out for half a mile. Wenceslas, both king and saint, is remembered as a Bohemian national hero and good Christian. We took a good look at the Grand Hotel Evropa, an art nouveau hotel where the parents had stayed in 1996 (it was actually so spartan and reminiscent of the iron curtain era that they changed hotels after a night). 

Exhausted, thirsty, and hot, the troops marched all the way back to the other side of the bridge and rested in the hotel for a couple hours before venturing back out onto the streets of Prague. We ate dinner in our bank of the river, at a cute and delicious typical czech restaurant. Our full and exhausting day was concluded by  with a walk along kampa island. We crawled under our duvets and fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of painted facades and looming statues. A full day indeed.