Here we go ~ round 5 of Alphabe- Thursday hosted by Jenny Matlock. If you have a moment please visit her website and check out her ‘terrific tangents’.
This week’s letter is ‘P‘ for ~ Prague ~
Today’s journey actually takes us back a few years, because David and I visited this great city in 2007. To be precise early in April, for one of those wonderful long holiday weekends in Germany. We could have gone by car, but since we wanted to spend most of our time in the city, a car would have been useless and so we traveled there by plane instead. Or was it by train? Oh, my Swiss cheese memory. Later on we figured that it would have been nice to have a car after all, because there are quite a few things to see in the country surrounding Prague. However, we had no problem at all filling our three full days just wandering around.
Right on the first day, we arrived in the afternoon, we left our hotel to explore the city immediately around us. Our hotel was just around the corner from – a lot of attractions. The first one we saw was the Wenceslas Square with the equestrian statue of St. Wenceslas. There were lots and lots of people out and about including us, enjoying the first warm days of spring.
We just kept wandering the sometimes very narrow roads, taking in all the old architecture, which sometimes can be seen right next to a very modern one. All over the old town there are squares surrounded by beautiful buildings and often times filled with markets, like this art market. During our days in Prague we came across, sometimes multiple times, the Municipal House, the Old Town Square with the astronomical clock, the Powder Gate Tower and, of course, Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. You would not believe how crowded Prague can be. I am certain there are times, when it is not. But when we were there it was bustling. Just look at all the people on the Charles Bridge. If you ever see a photo of it without any people then it was either taken in the wee hours or it was cordoned off for some reason or someone had too much time to spend with photoshop. In some places the crowds were almost too much for us, but we survived and actually enjoyed our weekend very much.
Prague is truly a very beautiful city with so much flair and old world architecture from hundreds of years ago, it is fascinating. To escape the crowds for a while we took a little city tour with an antique car. These cars are really pretty tiny, but that makes them perfect for driving in the sometimes extremely narrow streets of Prague’s old town. During our drive all around old town and including the castle hill, our chauffeur told us lots of interesting facts and stories and was very eager to answer David’s questions, before droping us off at our starting point.
After having seen more of the castle surroundings from the car we obviously also had to walk up there. So, we took it upon us and walked over the Charles Bridge, made it through the zillions of other tourists and were soon enough on top of the hill,and within the castle walls, in front of St. Vitus Cathedral. For some reason we did not feel like going inside to visit any of the museums or galleries, but instead kept on strolling the streets of Prague. But first we enjoyed the wonderful views of Prague that you have from up the Castle.
When we headed back we took a different route so that we crossed the river on a different bridge and thus we saw some more of the old architecture still present. Now what would a Prague visit be for a photographer without at least one night shot of the castle and/or Charles Bridge?! Right, so on our last evening I convinced David to accompany me to a spot I had previously found via the internet. Being early April, and night, it was very, very cold. Not really good for taking long exposure pictures, but I had my tripod with me and was able to shoot a few nighttime pictures of Prague, too.
I hope you enjoyed your short trip to Prague with me this Thursday and, if you ever get a chance, go and visit. If possible for more than just three days, because it is a beautiful city.
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