Sewell Travels: Prague, Czechoslovakia 1st July to 3rd July

We travelled by train to Prague for something completely different. Various commentary recommended the journey for scenic value. We did see many hectares of sunflowers but not a lot else. Topography basically flat.

Staff on the train were unhelpful to say the least. I asked for our coffees from the buffet car not to be served in glasses and the reply was " this is not Starbucks" as best we could make out from his Czech/ English. Left Budapest at 9am to arrive Prague 4.15pm but in fact arrived at 5.30pm, no annoucement etc to advise delay. Weirdly the train passes through the country of Slovakia when wifi is not available.

Made our way to our accommodation in the Old Town near the Astronomical clock. To our dismay found that our apartment had no airconditioning and was on the 5th floor with no elevator. 30C inside the apartment and two pitiful fans. Thankfully we had booked 2 x 3 days. Left the next day having found an apartment in the New Town, €20 cheaper per night with all one would expect. Cancelled the second 3 days and refunded. Given all the bookings made so far on this trip there is inevitably one stumble.

Went for a lovely long walk next morning. Prague is similar to Budapest in so far as a river divides the city. River is called the Vltava, the longest in the Czech Republic, with 18 bridges crossing it in Prague with Old/New town on one side and Lesser town/Prague castle on the other. Like Budapest the east side is flatter and richer whereas the westside not so and hilly. Some 8 million tourist visit each year, mostly Old/New town as this is where the majority of historic sites and landmarks are.

Clever art, made from shoes if one looks closely.

The Charles bridge built in 1357, still going strong

To the right is a weir

Everywhere you look are stunning buildings Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance. Can be overwhelming

Vltava River with the inevitable river cruise boat

We had booked a cycle tour in the afternoon for 3 hours of Prague. Plenty of chat/hot tips from the Belgium guide. Another 35C day but it is not like we are not used to this by now. Cycled past 10th, 13th, 17th/18th century buildings, just astounding how they have survived all these centuries given wars, floods, fires and the Nazis.

Note the graffiti lower left, if not in the UNESCO area it is not removed by the council

These statues of crawling babies had barcode faces to reflect communism (everyone is the same and faceless), from a Czech sculptor, who also put 10 on a television tower overlooking Prague. A reminder of what they escaped in 1989.

These are Coypu (river rats) imported from South America, now residents of the Vltava River

These loonies were on a 3D tour of Prague, reality was fine with us

Went Italian for dinner, well underground so you had to know where it was. Excellent meal (Czech cuisine similar to Hungarian - goulash, onions and potato!) hence we steer clear or cook in the apartment. The waiter in the family restuarant was really helpful and when we told him we were in Prague for longer than the usual 2 or 3 days he recommended a couple of in the countryside trips.

Next morning after a visit to the Artic bakery (real baguette) and Tesco supermarket to stock up for the next few days (thank god for Tesco as not having to constantly be using google translate) and the Czech supermarkets called Billa are rubbish, deafens you with music with a limited range.

In the afternoon we took the metro to the Royal gardens behind Prague castle. Gardens were pleasant enough and well maintained. The castle is the largest ancient castle in the world at 70,000 sqm, built from the 9th century with constant rebuilding over the centuries. We were only allowed access via ticket inside the cathedral, a banquet hall, throne room being miniscle options realtive to the size of the place.

Royal gardens fountain. To their credit each large tree is named in Czech and English

St Vitus cathedral in the castle complex

Multiple religious murals adorn the inside as one sees everywhere in the world

One of the giant doors on the cathedral

Next stop was the Prague Astronomical Clock back by metro to the Old town side of the river. Installed in 1410 it is the oldest clock in operation in the world. It tells the 24hr time, position of the sun / moon in the sky, astrological figures plus on the hour every hour the 12 apostles make an appearance. Quite the thing so hundreds of tourists wait patiently for the magical hour. A skeleton rings a bell while this is all happening.