Vienna to Prague

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4/1 

Last night’s snow had frozen and turned into a slick carpet, so the walk down the hill to the train station wasn’t easy, especially for Yoram carrying our heavy duffle on his back! But we made it to the train on time, met Shiri and eventually wound up on the bus to Prague via Brno. The trip was so pretty—fields covered in white, little towns and villages dotting the hillsides, and many wind turbines along the way. The bus was very comfortable, and I caught up on some journaling during the ride. We stopped briefly in Brno (and raced madly to try to get a shot of the magnificent cathedral on the hill, and still have time for the bathrooms...), and arrived in Prague at around 1:30. We walked up to the place we were staying, a room in an apartment we found on Airbnb—turns out the owner is an American, living in Prague for a few years now. Armed with maps and a few suggestions, we set out to explore this exquisite city. 

What's with the snow? This is APRIL!!!

Unknown cathedral in Brno

Since it was still quite cold, we thought that Rick Steves’ tram orientation tour was a good idea. But only a few stops into it, after crossing the river and seeing the beautiful sights to be seen along the banks, we decided to hop off at the next stop and go up to a hill to view the city from above. After admiring the Monument to the Victims of Communism, we took the funicular up to the top—or that was our intention, anyway. When it stopped about ¾ of the way up, we thought we were there and got off, but no one else did; by the time we realized our mistake, it had closed the doors and moved on. No big deal—we walked up the paths the rest of the way, and actually, the view from there was better than the one from the top!  Here we discovered what was to become a pattern for the rest of our time in this exquisite city—the gorgeous panoramas of the city rooftops, church spires and steeples, castles and theatres and the river flowing through it just don’t translate into photos, at least not ours anyway! But we thoroughly enjoyed them!! 

The contrast between the old buildings and those built/restored during the Communist Era was always striking!

Memorial to the Victims of Communism

From the Funicular

We arrived at the top, walked around the park up there and admired the funny Petrin Tower, built for the Exposition in Prague and probably affording even better views, but it was getting darker and we decided to pass on the 400 step climb. 

Back at the bottom of the hill, we took the tram back to the river, walked along the banks to the famous Charles Bridge. We passed the National Theater (under renovations right now) some unknown monument of some sort, the Smetana Museum, and just admired the view of the river, the castle and St. Vitus on the hill, and the bridge from afar.

National Theater, reflected in the glass of a building across the street

View of the Castle and St. Vitus from below

National Theater

We loved these facades, and the way the buildings curved with the street

 

Smetana, with his museum in the background

Barca in marionettes!

The little man: Lionel Messi!

St. Francis, opposite the Charles Bridge

 

The tower at the entrance to the bridge

Back of the Smetana Museum

We made our way slowly across the bridge, following trusty Rick’s guidelines, and learning about the history of the bridge and the various statues that mark its sides. Near the far end, a man was playing music on filled glasses—he was incredible, and what a delicate sound it made!! 

St. John Nepomuk, thrown into the river for not telling the King the secrets the Queen had confessed to him!

Soccer Babushkas!

Liverpool!

On the far side of the bridge, we discovered a little square practically under the bridge with this picturesque water wheel, and a small market with little stalls, but much quieter than the hustle and bustle of the city. Prague is full of tourists (as you can see in the photos) and we enjoyed the respite from the crowds for a while. Finally, we headed back cross the bridge, through the Old Town Square and the market there, and back up to our place. We ate in a local restaurant recommended by our host, and I don’t know which we enjoyed more, the Panini or the crepes!!