Prague, Czech Republic (Post #38)
Michele here….Today is Thursday, August 18th. We are now in Prague, Czech Republic and have been here since very late Tuesday night, August 16th. We had a bit of an adventure getting to Prague from Krakow, Poland on Tuesday. We took our first train from Krakow to Katowice, Poland with no problem. There we were supposed to change trains to go from Katowice, Poland to Prague. Well, there was confusion on the part of the train station as to which track our train would be arriving (and therefore leaving from). To make a long story short, we waited on platform 3 for the train and we learned from several sources that this was where the train was to arrive and leave from. However, it normally leaves from track 1 (but reportedly it had changed to track 3). We waited on track 3 for our train to arrive but it never did. After a while there were 6 English-speaking people standing there – me and Mike, plus a couple from England, and a couple from Tazmania. What did we all have in common? None of us spoke or understood Polish and all the annoucements were in Polish. We later learned that the train had in fact come through on track 1. We went downstairs to figure out what to do and none of the employees spoke English. A nice Polish man said he would interpret for us, although his English was somewhat limited. Anyway, we learned we could get to Prague but it wouldn’t be until midnight and we would have to travel south all the way to the Slovakia border quite a bit out of the waz. So that’s what we did. In some ways it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we met some great people waiting for the next Prague train and also while we were on the train. On the way to Prague we sat in a 6 seat booth next to two guys who were traveling for 6 months and had just finished their undergraduate degrees. The other two seats were taken by a couple who also quit their jobs but were only traveling for 6 months. We had a great time talking about life on the road, where we had been, and where we were going.
Anyway….we arrived in Prague after midnight and a very kind young man from the Czech Republic said he would negociate the price of our cab ride for us so that we would not get ripped off. We finally arrived at where we thought we would be staying but the managers told us we were staying in an apartment down the street. Hmm….apartment…this should be interesting. Well, it is sort of an apartment. It is a very large room in a run down building. Although it is spacious, it has a bit of a depressing feel to it because it is old and sort of falling apart, as is the building it is in. On the positive side, the location is excellent. It is close to everything you would ever want to see in Prague.
We have been on a site seeing rampage here the last two days. On Wednesday, we started by going to Stare Mesto, or the Old Town, with beautiful buildings, including the astronomical clock, and the gothic Tyn Church. Here is a picture
We also walked through Nove Mesto, New Town, walking up and down Wenceslas Square lined with shops, restaurants, and hotels. From Nove Mesto, we walked over to the Fred and Ginger Dancing Building and then north along the Vltava River. Here is a picture of Mike along side the river, with the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral in the background.
Today we walked all over the Prague Castle grounds and watched the changing of the guards before stopping off at a beach bar overlooking the city. I took off my shoes and put my toes in the cool sand, which was fun and unusual considering this bar was built into the side of a hill. Then we walked back over the Charles Bridge, lined by 30 statues, then went to a restaurant on the water for lunch. Next we went to the fabulous St. Nicholas Church. The inside was unlike anything we had ever seen. There were so many paintings, statues, and sculptures, with a lot of them looking as if they were dipped in pure gold. Our last stop was Josefov, once the Jewish Quarter of the city. This is the part of town where we are staying. We saw several beautiful synagogues and the Jewish Cemetary, which was another incredible site.
Tomorrow we are taking a day trip out of Prague to a town called Kutna Hora. I will let you know how that goes next time I blog. BYE
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Tags: Category #11: Czech Republic
Michele Harmon
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