Day 21 - Prague

We woke early this morning with the clanging and banging of shops opening in the busy market below our hotel window. We oriented ourselves with the narrow streets around our hotel and found a small shop for a cup of coffee and a roll for breakfast.

Then we grabbed our map and found our way, by foot, to the Jewish Quarter and the Old Square. We purchased tickets for a classical music performance in the old St. Nicholas Church for the following night.

By this time the reception desk at our hotel had opened, so we needed to swing by and pay for our room. Then we did some souvenir shopping in Wencelas Square before heading for the Charles Bridge.

The Karlov Most, Charles Bridge, and the Prazsky Hrad castle complex cover a large area and are full of beautiful attractions. We bought the full ticket and spent the rest of the day touring the complex.

Formal guards are stationed at the entrance to the castle complex and attract almost as much attention as those more famous guards at Buckingham Palace.

The Golden Lane is named for the upscale merchants that used to populate this once opulent section of town. The blue house is famous for being the one time residence of Franz Kafka.

After touring the castle and all the included attractions, I stumbled upon the Prague Lieca Gallery which was featuring an exhibit by Anton Corbijn. I've long admired the 'rock-n-roll' and celebrity portraits of this artist, so I was thrilled to get to see some of his original work. These were mostly large blue tinted photos of famous peoples - Bono, Johnny Cash, Jerard Depardeau and Keith Richards, to name a few.

My wife found a different distraction to keep her busy, while I was admiring Corbijn's photography. Next door to the Prague Lieca Gallery she discovered the Toy Museum with a special Barbie Doll exhibit (something near and dear to every little girl's heart).

We briefly walked through parts of the Mala Strana (Old Town). This part of the city sustained the greatest damage from the floods. Most of the frightening images seen on the nightly news, in the U.S., with high water running destroying shops, restaurants and homes came from the Mala Strana. Much had not recovered by the time we visited, just one month later.

On our way back to the center of town, we enjoyed the street vendors along the Charles Bridge - especially this very talented artist playing the rims of crystal wine glasses.

We had a lovely dinner in a restaurant right on the Old Square where I enjoyed a couple bottles of Urquell, the original pilsner beer.