I promised pictures from Prague. For people who take tons of pictures on a holiday, I’m sure you understand how long it takes. Download from source(camera/phone), upload to photostream, organize, label and then upload. And they said technology would make our lives easier. 🙄

I honestly think Kodak and film was still better. It’s funny how back in the old days we worried about the film. Then handed over the film and waited with excitement till our pictures came back from the photo shop. When they came, stuffed our pictures in an album and looked for the lost ones on the negatives. What fun!

My Prague photo gallery is simple. Nothing fancy. When we went to Prague it was winter but luckily we didn’t get snow. So these are pictures of Prague in winter. They have clouds and are dull. That was the weather and I still loved it.

Pictures from Prague: Winter

So my first impression is that Prague is a walking city. You walk everywhere on these cobblestone streets, because you can literally take in this city through a good walk or a bike ride. There’s no need of a cab or a taxi. You can take a tram but the streets are empty and with your most comfy sneakers you can get anywhere. However, early mornings are awesome, whether that’s Jewish Town or the Squares. Later the streets are clogged with tourists.

Prague works like clockwork. I mean everyone is punctual, trams and everything works on time. The city is obsessed with time. Clocks pepper the streets. You’re never going to be late here.

OLD TOWN SQUARE

There are unusual clocks here where the seconds hand is bigger than the minutes. Then there’s the astronomical clock. It’s the third oldest in the world built in 1410. The astronomical dial has a background representing the Earth, sky, and four main moving components: the zodiacal ring, an outer rotating ring, an icon representing the Sun, and an icon representing the Moon.

You won’t miss it as it’s at the entrance of Old Town Square which brings me to images of Old Town Square.

Here the main Christmas market was superb. You can buy the trdelnik, fried dough sprinkled with sugar. Of course, the inside is coated with chocolate. Yum! Honey mead, hot cocoa, fried potatoes and chocolates. Yes, with the exception of the wine, I bought and ate everything here, much to my brother’s horror.

Old Town Square is like a focal point from which every other tourist spot fans out. There’s the Hussite Cathedral with its spires piercing the sky. Prague is after all, “The City of a Thousand Spires.” The Hussite wars spanned many years in Prague splitting Hussites from Catholicism.

Then there’s the Black Madonna. Now the House of the Black Madonna is a cubist building. Cubism is a particular style of architecture. I still don’t understand much of architecture so cubism was new to me. However, only once I got home and did some research, I understood it. I found out it’s one of the most influential avant-garde styles of the 20th century. How very chic! 😉

A quick walk down the streets take you to the National Theatre. Art and music in Prague are serious business. People have an appreciation for creative work. Tell someone you’re a musician or an artist, and you’re likely to impress them. I’m not sure if it’s because Mozart lived here and influenced the scene or because people here tend to have refined tastes. We went to a musical performance lasting 45 minutes and I sat there riveted. The orchestra, the instruments, the emotions, it’s a feast for the senses. So I encourage you to go to a performance in Prague. It’s a stirring experience. As a fan of classical piano, I can’t stress enough, this is the one of the music capitals of the world.

WENCESLAUS SQUARE

Wenceslaus Square with all its quirky benches.

This Square dedicated to none other than King Wenceslaus sits right opposite the Museum. The Christmas market here is smaller compared to Old Town but if you’re into designer shopping, then go crazy here. Be careful though, prices are ridiculously expensive. I stepped into a Sephora here, to buy travel sized perfumes and they were all priced close to rates you’d pay for a full bottle elsewhere.

Speaking of Museum. The Narodni Museum opened after three years of renovation, in time for the 30th anniversary since the Velvet Revolution. We stood in line at 10 am and got to the door at 1 pm. The lines were soooooo long. But it was worth it. I love museums.In fact, I wished I could spend a day alone here. It would actually take you an entire day to see everything here.

There’s something at the Museum for everyone. For the dinosaur lovers, history lovers, art and music lovers, there’s something to pique everybody’s interests. Like this, an autograph of Bedrich Smetana’s symphonic poem. Ma Vlast is one of his masterpieces.

CHARLES BRIDGE

Charles Bridge is one of the major tourists hotspots. Statues dedicated to various saints line the Bridge. And the most famous of St. John Nepomuk who was drowned in the Vltava river for failing to reveal the confession of Queen Maria Theresa to King Wenceslaus. The quirky thing here, is they ask you to touch the brass on the sculpture and make a wish, kind of like asking the saint to intercede, which is a cute way of praying. 🤭

They used Powder Tower, a Gothic Tower for the storage of Gunpowder in the 17th century.

Dancing House was on my list. These two buildings were initially called Fred and Ginger. Doesn’t it look like they’re dancing? This is an Art Nouveau building and it’s quite jarring when you look at the Baroque style architecture of Prague. Most buildings in Prague are rarely more than 4 floors with Parisienne colors so it does stand out.

Infant Jesu

The Church of Our Lady Victorious which houses the Infant Jesus and to whom we made this pilgrimage was the best part of our trip. The priests are so helpful and they have masses in different languages. We had a chance to speak to the Spanish choir, Gareth, Irina, their pianist and Angie. It’s so wonderful to see such talented people in the Church.

PRAGUE CASTLE

Prague Castle is huge. This complex has the massive Baroque style St. Vitus Cathedral, President’s house, the royal palace and halls. The beautiful stained glass windows have intricate depictions from the Bible, the saints lives and you can spend an hour studying each window alone. I feel a day is not enough to take in this massive place. We didn’t get a chance to see the gallery or go into each of the smaller homes. There were huge lines and it’s very crowded. I would suggest starting early in the morning and wait till the Guard changes at 12 in an elaborate ceremony.

KUTNA HORA

Kutna Hora is half a day’s journey outside of Prague and I simply loved the long drive outside the city. Who doesn’t love long drives? Needless to say, this chapel in Kutna Hora called Sedlec ossuary is where the bones of 70,000 people are on display. The decorations are created from human bones. 🤨 The bones were found after the Hussite wars.

Kutna Hora also houses the former Jesuit Monastery and St. Barbara’s Church. The day we spent here was absolutely worth it, because you see Gothic and Baroque style architecture at its peak. Miners built this cathedral, since this was a mining town. There are several chapels within each nave. The beautiful church organ has angels painted with gold. So it’s a very expensive church and no wonder took a century to build. My favorite part of this visit was in the evening when the sun set. A Christmas tree and a roaring fire was set up in the town square. An unusued grand piano sat near a cafe. One of the tourists played a few classics including Mariage d’Amour. We drank hot chocolate, bought a huge slice of pizza and we sat in the Square taking in the beautiful blue sky. Finally, I waddled through the rest of the tour, sad that it was time to go back.

Vysehrad

Vysehrad was my favorite place to visit. Thanks to Fr. Agnelo we had the chance to go here. And I loved it. It’s outside the city but a city in itself. I was just thinking how lucky it is for people who live there. The place is quiet, peaceful, no cars on the street and you can do a lot of contemplative prayer here. It’s like doing a silent retreat. I’m not usually a rural person, but I loved the quaint, bucolic existence of this place. Are my tastes changing? Do I like the slowness of it all. I’d say yes. Or maybe it’s just a reminder that I do need to slow down. It gave me a chance to look and be. No worries, no anxieties.

You can also see all of Prague from across the river at the top. The ramparts of the earlier fortress still exist. There’s a map which shows you all the places you can see when you enter the town. St Peter and Paul Basilica is massive and has many replicas of modern art including the Pieta. We spent an entire day at this town and it was heavenly. If you look hard enough, you can catch a glimpse of the Zizkov TV tower in the distance.

PICTURES FROM PRAGUE: FOOD

Then there’s the food. 🤤 Prague eats venison, deer, rabbit, river fish and drinks lots of beer. In fact, they are the number one consumers of beer in the world. Yup, they beat the Irish. One of their main snacks; fried cheese, smeared with jam. When I first heard of it, I gagged 🤢 but it was delicious. The sharpness of the cheese and the tartness of the jam, fantastic. 👍

I did say in my New Year’s post that I’ll someday write Prague in to a story. Soon, I hope because I loved this place.

Let me know if you’re planning on visiting Prague soon and have questions. I’d be happy to help.