So first stop on the whirlwind tour was Prague. Quite a place. Although one of the things we missed that I wanted to see was the museum of Communism, one of the first things we did see was the balcony from which Havel addressed the crowd at the time of the
Velvet Revolution...just 16 short years ago.
The balcony from which Havel addressed the crowd during the Velvet Revolution
Prague is old and beautifully preserved. it's also a really cool place to hang out for a few days and we could have stayed longer. Plus the beer is good, leading to getting lost on the way back to the hotel several times, although Amanda thought it was the malevolent fault of this tower
Amanda thought this tower was "evil"The most famous thing in Prague in the main square is this old weird astronomical clock. It looks good but it's not quite so impressive when it rings as the horde of tourists looking at it would hope.
The Astronomical Clock
What is impressive is the trek up the hill to the Monastery above the Castle, including the beautiful library there.
Library at Monastery
And also the stained glass windows in St Vitus Cathederal, although the one I liked the best wasn't the famous one.
Not too famous stained glassOther cool things in Prague include crossing the river on the Charles Bridge, which must come near to collapsing under the weight of tourists.
The King Charles Bridge
We also enjoyed hanging out at the Castle (a window from which is from where the Prots "defenstrated" the Catholics starting the 30 Years War). If you go to the whole photo set you can see Amanda imitating a catholic nobleman by trying to leave via the window. You'll also see the crossbow target that between us we blitzed to pieces!
Matthew and Amanda oversee Prague
Other cool areas are the former Jewish Ghetto, which was the most vibrant in Europe before the Holocaust, and had a very funky graveyard--all the bodies kept on being buried on top of each other.
The Jewish CemetryAlso quite cool was the Lennon Wall, where every night after his death Lennon-inspired graffitti emerged until finally the Communists were no longer around to wipe it off.
Lennon Wall
But mostly Prague was about stumbling about town trying not to be enticed into the lapdancing clubs, eating sausages and accompanying them with many litres of Pilsner. Some of which we took on the train to Berlin and one or two of which might have inspired this photo. Many more photos of Prague are
here.
Digital photo by Turner