May 12

Today was another one of those quick visits which turned out to be an all day outing. We wanted to go to Venceslas Square to get a new map of Prague because the first one was getting pretty ratty. We found the information kiosk and got the new map. 

W continued walking and noticed the tower at the end of Jindrizska Ulice (St. Henry Street). I knew that the tower was accessible to public and in fact had a modern elevator inside so a visitor could ride all the way to the top where there is a beautiful bird's eye view of the Old Town. The tower was founded in 1472.

All wooden internal structures have been removed leaving only the exterior stone walls. A complete concrete tower was built inside the original walls totally separate and not connected with the old stone walls. This is where the modern elevator, gift shop and a two storey restaurant are located.

A view from the tower of Old Town

After the visit of the tower we decided to jump on a tram and ride it to the very end of its line. We came to a place called Divoka Sarka (Wild Sarah) which is another nature preserve and a very nice park located in a natural ravine with some very interesting rock formations.

Naturally, to complete the day's outing, we wanted to sit down a spell and enjoy a cup of coffee and something sweet. The nearest place that would offer this was a McDonalds at the tram terminal so that is where we wound up and got this.

Hmmm, not quite the same as McDonalds at home.

Paris on Wednesday!

May 11

Today was a perfect day to take a river cruise on the Vltava. We booked our passage on one of Prague's river boats. The trip was down the river from the Rasinovo Nabreri (Rasin's Bank) all the way down to Troja where the Prague zoo is.

Our ship

We cruised along some of the most famous of Prague's landmarks including the National Theatre and Charles Bridge

To make the river navigable by boats a series of locks was build along the course of the river

The total elevation difference from star to finish is about five and a half meters. Without the locks and weirs the river would be fairly quick and a great deal of bank erosion would occur.

Tomorrow Jidrizska Vez (St. Henry's Tower)

May 9

If it's Saturday it must be Dresden, Germany. Dresden is an easy two hour drive from Prague. It straddles the river Labe (Elbe) which flows on to Hamburg before emptying into the North Sea.

Dresden was pretty much wiped of the face of the world by Allied fire bombing toward the end of the second war.

Many of the historic building were meticulously rebuild which is evident by the lighter colour of stones used on the buildings.

A lot of the new (post 1945) buildings were actually built in the old baroque style so as not to clash with the historic structures.

Statue of Martin Luther who taught at the university there for some time.

Photo-bombed in Dresden

Those two guys behind the four of us do not belong. I guess they noticed the self timer and joined in.

One interesting fact about crossing international borders within the European Union. As we traveled via the freeway system the only way we noticed that we crossed into Germany was because the roadside signs changed from Czech to German and back to Czech on our way back. The highway system seems to have been standardized so all traffic and highway signs are the same including the roadside attraction signs. The only thing different is the language on them. 

On wednesday we are going to Paris and will be crossing two sets of borders. We will ride a tour coach overnight but, hopefully, we will be able to see something before it gets too dark.

Tomorrow we go and do some grocery shopping and then take the rest of the day off to rest.

  

 

May 8

Today we journeyed to another old town called Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora is an old mining town. There was silver in them there hills. In fact they used the silver and minted money there. The word Dollar was invented near by. It was derived from the word Tolar which was a name for a Czech coin minted in the 1600s in Jachymov.

Kutna Hora is also known for two more interesting landmarks. One is the gothic cathedral of Saint Barbara nestled next to the Jesuit College (on the right in the picture below)

Inside of the cathedral

And the Sedlec Ossuary located in a small Catholic Chapel in the lower town. We did not go in as I get creeped out by the sight of so many human skulls and bones. It is said that there are skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people. more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary

On the way back my cousin dropped us off in Radotin where we met up with another friend from Canada. She was a long time family friend and my mother considered her a daughter. She is here visiting her mother.

Tomorrow Dresden!

May 6

Today we went to another of the seven hill Prague is built on. The part is called Zizkov and is home to one famous and one not so famous landmarks of Prague.

The famous one is a monument to the unknown soldier. This memorial dominates the highest point in Žižkov  and is a memorial to all the unknown soldiers that lost their lives in the Second World War.

The monument is "guarded" by a statue of Jan Žižka who was one of the main figures in the Hussite Wars in the early fifteenth century.

The other, not so famous, landmark is the Žižkov TV tower. This was one of the last communist era blights on the skyline of prague and was actually named as the second ugliest building in the world. 

There is an observation deck in the tower and we will visit it on a clear day and watch the sun go down and city lights come on.

Check out the following Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDi%C5%BEkov_Television_Tower for more information. To soften the look of the tower and make it more interesting Czech artist David Černý installed a bunch of statues of babies crawling up and down the towers. Kind of creepy and interesting at the same time considering that the "babies" are as big as a house.

May 5

Yesterday was Cathie's birthday. To celebrate I took Cathie to Radotin for lunch. This was also a bit of a sentimental journey because the restaurant I picked was one I used to go to to fetch beer for my dad in an old earthen jug that would hold exactly one litre of beer.

Much to my surprise the place has not change too much in the 48 years since I went there for the last time. The food was excellent. On our way back to the train station to catch the commuter back to Prague we stopped at a patisserie (sweet bakery shop) for some incredible deserts and coffee.

Later we met up with my cousin at the Smichov metro station and he picked us up and drove us to the tennis club where we were to watch Canada play the Czech Republic in the IIHF hockey tournament. As a surprise to Cathie I have arranged for a cake and some open face sandwiches.

Here is Cathie blowing out the candles on a tray rather than the cake as the candles would not fit on the cake.

The room was full of some very interesting character and every one of them joined in singing Happy Birthday to Cathie. The hockey game was also very enjoyable as just about everyone had some interesting and funny comment about the plays. Canada won by the way.

Today we are taking it easy. Time to regroup and rest the legs.

May 1

Today we went with my cousins to a town of Mĕlník. This town is located about 35km north of Prague and overlooks the confluence of Vltava and Labe rivers forming the Labe (Elbe) river which then flows through Hamburg, Germany into the North Sea

The town is known for its Wine (lots of vineyards on the south slopes) and the Chateau which is now back in the original owner's hands. The family name of the owner and the chateau is Lobkovicz. There is also a beer brewery of the same name.

This is the town square

This is the Chateau

The confluence

In the distance there is visible a set of locks to allow shipping from Vltava all the way to Hamburg.

This is another view of the Chateau.

After visiting Mĕlník my cousins took us for a bit of a drive through an area called Cesky Raj  which is a place of some interesting rock formations and you guessed it, another castle.

This one just sort of popped into view as we were driving. Its name is Kokořín and it was founded in 1320.

One thing is for sure; this would have been a very expensive vacation if I still used film in my cameras! So far I have taken just over a thousand pictures. What is posted on the blog is a pick of the most meaningful shots.

After we got home we rested for a bit and then we were picked up by my cousin and driven to their tennis club to watch the Czechs vs Sweden hockey game. Czechs lost that one 😥