Prague Day 3

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We woke to another beautiful day with bright sunshine. After breakfast we met Soma in the lobby for a walking tour to Lesser Town. We walked down cobblestone streets past shops and restaurants and stopped once again at the Powder Tower which was used to store gunpowder in the 17th century. It is one of the original city gates dating back to the 11th century. It separates Old Town from New Town. Our destination was the Charles Bridge which crosses the Vitava River, but on the way, we stopped while Soma explained the different types of architecture of some of the buildings, we passed opera houses, shops, coffee shops, museums and were given tips on places to enjoy a view, a snack, or a meal. We reached the Charles Bridge and it was already bustling with people. It is now a pedestrian bridge, although wasn't always so. It is pretty wide so there was plenty of room for vehicles when they were allowed on the bridge. Today it is a huge tourist attraction judging by the number of people already gathered on the bridge. It is also popular with Czech artists, musicians and souvenir vendors whose stands line both sides of the bridge year round. Once on the other side we went down some stairs and were on Kampa Island. Since it is at the lowest point near the river it is susceptible to floods, the latest one in 2013. They devised a system to save some of the buildings, but there are a few that won't be so lucky next time.

We walked a short distance and came to John Lennon Pub but the real attraction was the John Lennon Wall. Since the 1980s the wall has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs. Now John Lennon never visited Prague and Western music was banned by the Communists. After his murder in 1980 John Lennon became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. The wall has been whitewashed many times, but the secret police never could keep it clean for very long.

We then moved on and made stops at 2 churches, the first St. Nicholas which is run by the Jesuits and Church of Our Lady Victorious. This church houses the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague. Claims of blessings, favors and miraculous healings have been made by many who prayed before the Infant Jesus.

This marked the end of our tour with Soma who was leaving us. After asking directions back to the hotel, John and I decided to ride the funicular so we could get a view of the city. We were joined by another couple, Dan and Sharon and Lynn. We managed to find the entrance and stood in line for about 15 minutes, bought our tickets and went up halfway where we got off and had a light lunch and enjoyed the view which was spectacular. Lynn decided to go back down and take a bus to an art museum while we went up to the top where we thought we would have an even better view. There was a lovely rose garden and people riding horses, but we couldn't find a place with a view so we went back down and were seriously thinking about getting a taxi, but decided we wanted to cross the Charles Bridge one more time. It was now the middle of the afternoon and it was getting more crowded with people by the minute. There were many sidewalk cafés along the way so we stopped to rest, have a little treat before making our way to the hotel. By now, we were all feeling sore and tired, feet and knees aching from walking on all the cobblestone streets. John and I were very happy that we had made reservations for dinner in the hotel. We got back to the hotel and had a nap before it was time to go down to dinner.

Tomorrow we leave for Regensburg where we will board our ship.

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Photos

John Lennon Wall
Blending in.

St. Vitus Cathedral
From inside the funicular on our way down.

Comments

[Deborah]

Interesting
Love your blog and photos, really interesting