What a day!
We started out at 10am and didn’t return until 7.30pm. We walked through the street side markets which were outside our front door and then headed off on a tour of the city.
We started at Wenceslas Square and saw huge monument, national museum, Grand Hotel Europa which was the place of the Velvet revolution, Lucerna Arcade which had a statue of an upside down horse hanging from the ceiling, Franciscan Garden, Mustek, Na Přikopě Street, Municipal House, Powder Tower, Celetna Street, Old Town Square – Old Town Hall, church of Our Lady and the Astronomical Clock which is a hive of activity on the hour when it displays mechanical show, Karlova Street, Charles IV Square, Charles Bridge. The streets were packed with tourists. As are most major cities in Europe.
We then headed on an off the beaten track tour. Always a bonus for us to leave the main stream tourist areas. We walked anout 4km to the start of the tour down the river from the bridge. We crossed the river and started at Letna Park which covers the Letna Plains all the way to the castle. The lawns alternate between grassed areas to flower beds with many picturesque views of the city from the high vantage points of the gardens. We passed the Letna Chateau which now serves as a restaurant, then the Metronome which occupies the symbolic spot where a gigantic statue of Joseph Stalin was prior to it being dynamited it 1962. This was intended to be a symbol of the new era. Then we passed the Havanesky Pavillion and walked through to the Chotkovy Gardens. This housed a monument for the author Julius Zeyer. Then through the fig garden, Jelení Příkop. Across the Prasny Bridge into the Prague Castle. This was amazing. We also saw a changing if the guards. The grounds and Castle were a formidable sight. We then went to Loreto Church which I explored for about an hour leaving DB in the street to explore. The church had frescoes on all the ceilings and had many little chapels. The museum housed many chalices and altar pieces, confessionals, crowns and much, much more. We then went to Petřín Lookout Tower which is a mini Eiffel Tower. By this stage it was about 5.30 and we had been walking with only a q0min lunch break for 7.5hrs so we cut the end of the tour a little short and caught the metro down the hill. Not something I handle very well but exhaustion ruled my brain this time. From here we walked past Church of Our Lady Victorious and St Nicholas Church. All very impressive.
We stopped near here for a treat. Mostly just to put our feet up for 10mins. We had an ice-cream in a cinnamon coated trdlo it is like a donut on the outside with flaky pastry like a croissant on the inside filled with ice-cream. Yummy. Looks like the diet went out the window today.on the way back we crossed the bridge and tried some Prague ham from a street stall. We then headed back home. Arrived at 7.30 to out our feet up before dinner.
Dinner time. We went to a traditional Czech restaurant shared a potato crusted camembert for entree and then DB had rabbit and I had deer ribs. Both were very nice but too much food for both of us.
After dinner at about 9.e0 we headed out for a short night tour of the city. Back to the Old Town Square and the Charles bridge. The streets were still filled with tourists, it was really busy even as we headed home at 11pm for a well deserved sleep.