More from Prague

The first morning in Prague we were scheduled for a walking tour of the city with a local guide.  The guide was a czech woman that had an interesting accent.  Czech is in the same family as Russian but to me it always sounded oddly french. 

The walking tour started in Jan Hus the center of Old Town Prague, Praha as its known in Czech.  Jan Hus is a huge square with lots of tourist-y shops but it also contains the Astronomical Clock.  The basic clock was built in 1410 with additions added later.  Its an amazing feat of engineering and it tracks the movement of the sun and moon and shows the time in several different formats.  On the hour a skeleton rings a bell ("For us all the bell must toll") while several other figures shake there head ("No it does not toll for us"). 

We also saw the Prague castle. Its the biggest castle in the world and overlooks the Old Town.  The views from the castle were amazing.  There were a number of other tours available in the castle that I would have liked to check out if I'd had more time.

After the walking tour we ended up by the Vlatava River for a lunch time cruise.  The cruise was relaxing and a nice way to see more of the city.  We spotted the Dancing House, designed by Frank Gehry is loosely based on figures of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  In the airport in Germany we saw a college student wearing a shirt that said "Fuck Frank Gehry" which seemed like a very strong opinion to have.  I wish I would've asked the kid if he was an architecture major.

The lunch was nice, though it included lots of alcohol.  Its traditional to start a meal with a drink called an Apatif.  Its schnapps with 35% alcohol.  Its supposed to stimulate the appetite.  It didn't taste bad but I had two on an empty stomach.  (I'm not a big drinker)

After that spent time exploring the city some more.  I did some shopping.  I bought a nice sketch of the Charles Bridge which is now sitting on my mantle place waiting for a frame. ;-).

Prague is a very relaxing place.  Maybe its the river flowing through and the age of the sights but it feels like life moves slower and at more natural pace.  I enjoyed just wandering around or laying by the river the rest of the day.

For dinner that night we met up with some people to go to Wenceslas Square.  Its an area of town that has lots of history and perhaps the center of modern day Prague.  There are massive stores and lots of places to spend money.  We had dinner at a little restaurant, sitting outside the weather was beautiful.  The waiter was a rude, but it was kind of a trend.  I had spaghetti Prague Style which consisted of spaghetti with Ham and sausage and lots of cheese. 

Later that night we ended up at a bar across from the hotel that featured a live band.  It was fun just having a beer with a bunch of people.  We hung out listening to the band (Brazilian fusion) until really late.  The beer was cheap ($1.50 a pint) and the company was good.  I remember some really funny conversations with Luc (from Quebec) and James (from Australia).

Looking at the pictures I realized I took more pictures that day than any other (94 pictures).  Here are a few more: