Exclamation Point, Post Cruise - Prague!

"Are we there yet?"
I know, this has been a long journey!
By far, the longest we have ever been away.
But we saved the best for last - well, at least, one of the very best.
Prague - Golden City of 100 Spires

We arrived in the afternoon, unpacked, then took a shuttle to Old Town 
to look around and find a place to eat dinner.

This beautiful city was actually four Separate towns:
Castle Quarter, Old Town, Little (Gardens) Quarter and New Town.

The 14th Century was Prague's Golden Age 
and the Holy Roman Empire ruled from Prague.

This is the famous Roman Catholic Tyn Church

in Old Town Square.

Jan Hus was a religious reformer 100 years before Martin Luther
 and he challenged the authority of the Catholic rule. 
He was burned at the stake. 

We wandered around, enjoying the gorgeous architecture.

St. Nicholas Church is in the background.

We were told to find a place to eat that is off the square, where we would pay half as much.

We came on to this wonderful little place. 

We told several other fellow travelers about it afterwards because we enjoyed the food and the ambiance 

so much (and they had clean restrooms!).

The main attraction in Old Town Square is the Astronomical Clock on Old Town Hall.
It was cool to see the Square all lit up at night.

The clock has several unique features, including moving figures, "the Walk of The Apostles," on the hour.

500 years ago, it was believed that everything revolved around the earth, so one of these features of this clock is the galaxy spinning around the earth.

We returned to this square two more times, so Roger also photographed it in the daylight.

Even more fun than watching the clock perform is watching the people watching the clock!

The now beautiful Art Nouveau Jewish Quarter was walled up as a ghetto for the Jews for centuries, 

until it was torn down after WW11.

Our guide walked us through the lovely renovated and historic neighborhood.

 National Jewish Museum

The lower clock used Hebrew letters instead of numbers.

I majored in English at USU and remember studying Franz Kafka, native of Prague.

The Metamorphisis, 

the tale of a traveling salesman waking to find he has been turned into a monstrous, fly-like creature, 

left a lasting impression!

During WW11, most of the Jews from here were wiped out by Hitler.

This is a poignant child's drawing from Terezin Concentration Camp 
of a little Jewish girl's memories 

of being together with her family.

This Jewish Synagogue is the oldest in Central Europe.

We walked through narrow streets on our way to cross the Charles Bridge.

 Trdelniks, Prague's traditional round, hollow pastry, are being made and sold here.

Famous, narrow Hotel Clementine

National Marionette Theatre

 Church of the Twelve Apostles

We passed under this arch on our way to Charles Bridge.

We took several pics crossing the famous Charles Bridge on the Voltava River, 

on our way to The Castle (Castle Hill).

Several religious statues are on the bridge.

It is believed that if you touch the two small statues 
on each bottom corner of this large statue of John of Nepomuk, 
you will have good luck.

Across the bridge, we saw a photo shoot of a wedding.

We passed a farmer's market . . .

. . . and this giant statue!

I told Roger he had to take a shot of this ad on a post of this museum -

a fitting pic of a Communist Matryoshka doll, don't you think?

Nazis built this huge stadium to show off to the world the Czechs performing dances 
(not optional whether they participated). 
It is unusable as a sports stadium because the seats are so far away from the field, 
you cannot see the plays.

What a picturesque city Prague is!

Then we entered Castle Hill, which is a complex of churches, palaces and towers. 

We saw a changing of the Guard.

This is the St. Vitus Cathedral, which was begun in the 1300s 

and finished in the 1920s. 

It is the most important cathedral of the Czechs, dedicated to St. Vitus and to Wenceslas, 

King of Christmas carol fame.

He is buried inside, as are many kings and saints.

Prague Castle

The Lobkowicz Palace

This was the highlight of our experience of The Castle complex.

Amazing musical instrument collection

Diego Rodriguez da Silva y Velazquez painting, done in the 16th century 

of Dona Margarita Teresa, 

infant of Spain, Archduchess of Austria

Out the terrace doors of this palace were these spectacular views of Prague.

Roger and I took an optional tour of this amazing Lobkowicz Palace, 

which included a lovely luncheon in the dining room and a concert afterwards.

 We enjoyed a beautiful concert with excellent musicians from the Orchestra of Prague.

That evening, we walked around the area where our large modern hotel, The Corinthia, was located, 

took pics at the overlooks of the river . . .

 . . . then ate a tasty dinner at this restaurant.

The last day of our 3-day extension was free to explore on our own.

We shuttled back to Old Town,

 took some more pics, shopped and explored.

 We saw the famous Municipal House, Prague's largest concert hall.

This was the funnest candy store, with barrels full of unique (and delicious!) European candies.

We tasted the trdelniks . . .

. . . and checked out the delicious-smelling street food.

We had lunch in the cutest bakery/cafe.

It was one of those places you would go back to - yum!

I was thrilled to find this shop, which had a Nativity Matryoshka, which I have always wanted, 

to add to my collection.

And I had saved a little birthday money to look for a garnet and moldavite ring when we reached Prague.

I found this one.

So, Viking, we did so enjoy "coming away" with you

"to the heart of where many of our stories and legends began."

We loved "sailing through the heart of cities and landscapes with you, 

seeing things differently, 

getting closer to iconic landmarks,

 local life 

and cultural treasures."

It truly was "a feeling only a river can give you."