Prague - a brief visit

Why Prague?

Well, you might ask.  Whilst we did originally harbour a plan to drive from Split to Budapest, then Krakow and on to Prague in the 10 days following the Croatia sailing week, sanity and a better grasp of the distances involved prevailed, and we only planned the itinerary ending in Dubrovnik.  That was quite enough driving around for me.  Our next date was to catch up with David and Barbara for another week sailing on their boat in the Mediterranian, so we needed to get to Corfu from Croatia.  

On a map that looks easy -  drive or bus or train. For goodness sakes, its only 500km if you are a crow.  But, not so fast!  Albania is bandit country.  Road network is terrible. Cannot use hire car.  No southern rail link. A ferry is possible - via Bari in Italy, and then back across to Greece mainland, but not direct to Corfu, - peak season is over. It would have taken days, and was pricey.

A quick consult of my favourite flights web search engine, Skyscanner, showed our quickest and cheapest choice was via either Prague or Barcelona! So we do get to go to Prague - another First! At last.

So in the blog timeline it is Sunday 21st September - we fly to Prague for 4 days!

Prague - City of Beer and Meat

Trivia Fact. Only two countries drink more beer per head of population than the Czech Republic, Germany and  ........ Australia. Not sure if that includes sheilas in the headcount in Australia, would not be surprised if it did mate! (for our Aussi readers).

Jane looking good, and my beer looking ready to drink!

 We had booked an AirBnB apartment in the heart of the Prague Old Town. As usual, an excellent choice by Jane had us in a well equipped flat on the 6th floor of a refurbished block, right in the heart of the city.  A easy express bus ride from the Airport, just 30 minutes, and within an hour of arrival we were out shopping in the neighbourhood for our dinner.  We found a great deli that did all sorts of salads and cold meats and had a fabulous meal before tumbling into bed.  Great start.  

The next day we woke up, opened the windows and - boy, was it cold - about 12C, after Croatia's hot and sunny days.  At 50 degrees N it's on the same latitude as London, but continentally cold in winter.  

We started with a "free walking tour" with a very dramatic guide who insisted in recreating moments in history for us.  He took us around the Old Town on a swift orientation of the sights on the right bank (far bank, in picture below) of the river Viltava.  After a pretty average goulash and good beer for lunch, Jane and I went to revisit the more interesting sights.

Prague, castle on left, Old Town across the river.

We set off to investigate the old Jewish Quarter, which includes the oldest functional synagogue in Europe, the Old New Synagogue.  Nearby is the old Jewish Cemetry, thought to hold over 100,000 burials, from the 1300 onwards when the Jews were arriving in Prague after being expelled from all over the Holy Roman Empire.

Jewish Cemetery with no room for more.

The whole quarter was fascinating and steeped in history.  The Jews were originally put on marshy land near the river that regularly flooded, and it was only in the 18C that the precinct was rebuilt and raised above flood level.  So now when you visit the older building you go DOWN eight or ten steps to the original floor level!

Baroque madness - Pulpit in St Nic's. Where is the way up?

Then we walked around the old town.  We saw all the favourite sights and buildings on this side of the river.  Wenseslas Square, where the Prague Spring uprising was started, and then crushed in 1968. The old Town Hall with its wonderful 1495 clock that does historically amazing things when it chimes each hour.  It also tells the time in Babylon as well as the phases of the moon and astrological signs.  The view from the top of the Town Hall tower was pretty good too, especially the Church of our Lady before Tyn opposite.  

Lady of Tyn church from the Town Square.

We looked into the church of St Nicholas, with a dull exterior that belies the fabulous Rococo Baroque interior.  

Someone famous - cannot remember who?

The hollow cloaked statue is outside the State Theatre where Mozart premiered one of his operas. 

Prague was the centre of European cultural life for 1000 years and there are few events in European history that did not involve it in some way, from the Protestant reformation to the Thirty Years War and the rise and fall of the Hapsburg Empire, although this was mostly focused on the other side of the river in the Castle precinct, which includes the Cathedral, which was our sightseeing on day two.

The Castle precinct is huge, set on a hill on the left bank, and is really a collection of medieval and more recent buildings inside a fortified perimeter.  Inside are the usual castle buildings and the huge St Vitus Cathedral, as well other churches and cranky old buildings and the current Presidential offices and Apartments.

Beautiful St Vitus Cathedral

To get there you have to walk over the famous 14C Charles Bridge, now just pedestrianised, which has lots of historical connections.  The wonder is that much of the city was not destroyed by the Germans during the war, but it seems that Hitler was particularly fond of Prague, and planned to move there when he retired.  In particular there is a collection of many ancient Jewish religious artefacts in the synagogue collections, which were gathered from the many synagogues that were closed down when the Jews were being deported to concentration camps. Apparently Hitler planned some sort of a “Museum of the Culture of the Degenerate Peoples” for when Germany had won the war?? Madness……

Clothing in the Decorative Arts museum.

The last day included a visit to the Decorative Arts museum.  This is like a mini V&A museum, for those that remember that fabulous London museum.  It holds textiles, glassware, china and a room full of old and not so old clocks and watches. 

Tom joined us for the last day too and we had a great Czech meal the last evening, with goose, duck and various potatoes, sauerkraut and red cabbage dishes, and lots of beer!

More dead animals and beer! Delicious.

By the time we left Jane and I were almost getting used to the chillier conditions, but the weather forecasts for Corfu were for lots of sun and good sailing winds.  

So once again we packed our bags, headed off to the airport and were on our way to Greece.  See you there in the next post.