Snow Road Trip to Czech & Saxony, Germany - Day 3: Prague
I didn't see any traditional Czech pastries, so I chose my favorite form of croissant - an almond croissant! It was still warm and tasty! J had mushroom quiche, which looked nice. He also had a side salad. Good for him!
We crossed Čech Bridge over the Vltava River. Built in the early 20th century, the bridge the only Art Nouveau style bridge in the country and it was named after a Czech writer, Svatopluk Čech.
Our destination was a large park called Letna Oark on the other side of the river. The park was located on Letná hill. We successfully climbed up the long icy staircase. The prize was splendid views of the park and the city of Prague.
Passing through the park, we walked into an old neighborhood called Malá Strana, where that many historical buildings gathered. The old-fashioned trams looked cute by the way.
We visited St. Nicholas Church, a superb example of High Baroque architecture, built on the site that a 13th century Gothic parish church consecrated by Prague Bishop Tobiáš used to stand on.
The district of Malá Strana is clustered around the foothills of Prague Castle. I saw a part of Prague Castle from the entrance of the church. We were getting there later.
The decorations of St. Nicholas Church were purely Baroque. I missed checking the church's famous Baroque organs. There were originally three organs but two of them are still in the church. The main organ was played by Mozart in 1787 while he stayed in Prague. According to the church website, the main organ is currently out of service, but the smaller one is in a very good condition and is used mainly for concerts.
When we were exploring around the area, we found an chocolate shop, Prague Chocolate Factory Store, by chance. The gentleman there claimed that they make the best hot chocolate in Prague. We should confirm the truth, of course.
The hot chocolate was very thick, rich and lovely deep chocolate-y without being sour or chalky. I couldn't say it was the best because it was our first hot chocolate in Prague and we didn't have any other during the trip, but it was pretty good. I liked it very much.
The little cup of hot chocolate gave me a lot of energy to climb up the frozen stairs to the top of the castle hill.
We arrived at the main entrance of Prague Castle. The gateway was heavily guarded by two colossal giants (statues), two of the official castle guards (humans) and at least one armed police officer.
Prague Castle was most likely founded in around 880 by Prince Bořivoj of the Premyslids, the Bohemian royal dynasty. It's the largest coherent castle complex in the world and today several historical buildings at Prague Castle are open for public. Those historical buildings are usually open at 9 am, but St. Vitus Cathedral is open at 12 pm on Sunday. It was Sunday. St. Vitus Cathedral was supposed to be the highlight of Prague Castle. We decided to come back to the Castle complex around 12 pm after visiting other places around the area.
We visited Strahov Monastery, located on the hill, slightly higher than the castle complex. What we were interested in the 12th century monastery was their famous Baroque library.
The library consists of two halls: the Theological Hall, built in the 17th century, and the Philosophical Hall, built in the 18th century. In the basic library tour, it is only possible to see the historical halls from the door in order to protect the books that need a special microclimate, according to the monastery. We had to admire the beautiful halls by standing at the doors that were widely open and feeling the microclimate air. Actually there is a way to get in the halls. You need to contact with the monastery by email and arrange a special tour to join in advance.
The main reason why we was interested in seeing the library was that the Philosophical Hall was a filming location of Casino Royal. The hall turned into House of Commons Committee Room in the Palace of Westminster in London in the film, where M and Villiers were walking through.
Next we went to Loreto, another Baroque historic monument and a place of pilgrimage in Prague. It mainly consists of Church of the Nativity of Our Lord, a replica of the Holy House (Santa Casa), a cloister and a clock tower. Unfortunately the place was closed for a sort of filming.
Instead we checked an outdoor food court out that we found near Loreto. J tried potato dumplings with cabbage and spicy sausage. They sold the dish by weight. The gentleman filled a bowl with a couple of scoops and asked J if that was good. J's answer was "More!" The dish was pretty good according to J. He probably have wanted it more.
We finally entered Prague Castle before noon. We ran into the marching guards in the courtyard. I believe they were for the ceremonial changing of the guard. which carries out at 12 pm everyday. Meanwhile snow started blowing. Where has the beautiful morning sun gone?
St. Vitus Cathedral, the biggest cathedral in the Czech Republic was clearly the centerpiece of the castle complex.
We still had some time until St. Vitus Cathedral was open. We quickly walked around the Cathedral and visited Old Royal Palace to escape from the snow storm. The photo below didn't tell it well but many rooms in the building were very crowded with visitors. It was difficult to stop and read the plaques about the rooms and objects although there weren't many things displayed.
Anyway, one of the impressive rooms in the palace was the Vladislav Hall, which has served particularly royal state purposes since the 16th century, from coronation festivities and banquets, to knights' tournaments and in recent years the elections of the president of the Czech Republic.
Next we visited St. George's Basilica. The 10th century church has gone through many renovations while the current Romanesque appearance has been kept since the 12th century. The inside was uncomfortably packed with visitors and we didn't want to stay there more than five minutes. Therefor we couldn't appreciate anything unfortunately.
It looked like more people coming in the castle. It was still 15 minutes or so left to noon while a waiting line was growing in front of the cathedral. We joined the line. Standing in the snowy wind wasn't enjoyable, but we were able to enter the cathedral smoothly at noon. When we came out from the cathedral later, we saw the waiting line became much longer.
In the mid-14th century the construction of the cathedral began on the site that a Romanesque rotunda was built in the 10th century, which was converted into a basilica around the late 11th century. It took nearly six centuries until the cathedral was consecrated in 1929. As a result, its architectural style is a mix of Gothic and Neo-Gothic. In any case, the cathedral looked magnificent.
The large stained window glasses were beautiful. One of them (below) was designed by Alphonse Maria Mucha, a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist. It was installed a few years after the consecration.
The high altar was facing the Royal Mausoleum in the chancel, below which there is the royal crypt. Several Bohemian kings and queens rest there.
After the cathedral visit, we passed through the area of the northern bailey, called the Golden Lane. It was a narrow street between small houses that used to be inhabited by the castle's defenders, servants, goldsmiths, and so on. Again the street was packed with visitors. We headed for the exit as quickly as possible to get away from the crowd. We briefly stopped at the viewing platform outside of the exit before going down toward the Old Town.
We crossed Charles Bridge to go back to the Old Town. The stone arch bridge is the oldest bridge in Prague, originally constructed in the mid 14th century, commissioned by King Charles IV who was the first King of Bohemia to be crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. There are 30 statues of saints to decorated the bridge, which had been carved from 1683 to 1928. The bridge was very busy when we were on it.
We walked around the Old Town, checking smaller Christmas markets here and there.
For late lunch J picked an unique restaurant. Restaurant Zvonice was located in Jindřišská Tower. The late Gothic tower is part of the Church of St Henry and St Kunhuta and the highest freestanding bell tower in Prague. The current stone belfry was built at the end of the 1570s. Although the tower was used as an army watch tower in the 17th century, it appears that the tower was always a clock/bell tower. The tower had been damaged in fire and wars over some centuries but a series of reconstruction and repair works have kept the tower standing. Today there are ten stories inside the tower, housing a museum, a gallery, a restaurant and an observation floor. The dining rooms of the restaurant was on the 7th floors, which was connected with the 8th floor via the iron staircase. It was a small but intimate space, surrounded with authentic wooden beams, oak floors and original walls. We were seated between a window and a large square hole. In the hole we found a giant bell! It was Bell of St. Maria, cast in 1518.
We were also able to look over the outside through the shuttered large window. I felt I became a pigeon. The setting and the atmosphere were very unique and exciting.
The menu included Czech and European dishes. Our friendly waiter brought amuse-bouche. It was a kind of fish spread canapé, I think.
I had Kulajda for starter. It's a traditional South Bohemian soup, usually made with mushrooms, egg, dill, potatoes, cream and spices, but this version also had bacon or a kind of cured meat. The soup was ok but I would like it without meat. I don't remember whether J also had the same soup or something else...
My main was trout. It was wonderful. Fish was beautifully baked. The side vegetables and mashed potato were nicely seasoned.
J had a half duck. I guess he enjoyed it.
After the lovely dinner we went up to the observation deck on the 10th floor. We enjoyed watching the different face of Prague when the night began.
To be continued...
