A Perambulation around Prague or Prague through a window Sat 16th Sept

Just a short time available today as we will have to be back at 1-30 to pick up the cases before tubes and bus take us to the airport. We head into town on the Metro making for Republic Square which is not only a transport hub, but also the site of the Municipal House. This is the principal building displaying the artistic talent of Alphonse Mucha. He is responsible for the exterior and interior decoration. His work has made a major impact on Art Nouveau Prague but he was mainly a commercial artist designing posters, postage stamps and bank notes for the fledgling Czechoslovakian Republic after WW1. Sadly his Jewish and Slavic roots led to his premature death at the hands of the Gestapo in 1939.

The entrance to the Municipal House. To the left is now a rather an upmarket restaurant which we visit for coffee and indulgent cakes.

Time to go back into the old town via the Powder tower, where the gunpowder was safely stored.

As you can see we didn't have far to walk. Just another 5 minutes and we were back in the old town square and here is the statute to Jan Huss. You remember, the first defenestration and the Hussite war?

The old Jewish quarter here is of immense historical significance to the Jews in Europe. They successively thrived and were expelled over the centuries. In the early 18th century Prague had the greatest population of Jews living together of anywhere in the world. The Romanesque architecture of the Ceremonial Hall gives a clue to its millennium of existence.

  

On our way back to collect our cases we saw this Spaldingesque
knitted statue. This is outside the National Theatre and I'm sure that you recognise the image, but who can tell me the film that it comes from? First correct answer via the comments box on the blog wins a free drink.

Sadly and too soon it's time to go home. They say that it is always best to leave a place wanting to do more and we have certainly done that. There are a couple of other points that I would like to make. You may know of the "thank you" slot on the radio 4 programme Saturday Live when people have the chance to thank strangers who have rendered assistance. We would like to acknowledge and thank two members of the railways staff.

The ticket office man at Cambridge station who, when we had two minutes to catch our train on platform 8 from platform 1, carried both of our cases up and over the bridges, wrestling against the outgoing tide of passengers, and secured a place for us on the departing train.

Next the lady Guard who insisted on finding us seats on the 17-00 Cambridge to Birmingham New Street train when there were more people standing than sitting. Two examples of superb customer service. Thank you both very much.

A Perambulation around Prague or Prague through a window. Fri 15th Sept

Today we have planned a cruise on the river, a visit round the Stare Mesto (old town), a look around Wenceslas Square and finally the climax of the whole journey The Marriage of Figaro performance this evening.
Actually we tried to ride the historic tram first only,  after waiting for a fair while,  to discover that it only runs on Saturdays and Sundays. The perils of the small print in a Czech tram timetable. So onto the boat, one hours worth of up and down the river. It was fine but with a tedious commentary in 8 languages. For example "Karluv most... Charles bridge... pont de Charles... Karlovbuch... etc... etc see what I mean? Why not have a look at some pictures instead.

Some signs are just plain unnecessary.

The Ministry of Industry, a memento of when communism kidnapped Czechoslovakia. Behind this building lies the old town. We head to the iconic square for a bit of lunch, rather like eating in St Marks square. We choose potato soup in a loaf, which I took to be the usual risible mistranslation of soup and a roll. It was in fact soup in a loaf. As the hour approached we, and half of the rest of the square, gather around the astronomical clock. This was first reported as being in the square in 1410 and still gives quite a performance on the hour.

The old town hall is currently being restored hence the scaffolding. The lower circle is a calender with the Prague coat of arms in the centre then the signs of the zodiac and the last ring is the months with the tasks that are to be done in them. On the hour the skeleton  (top right) pulls his chain  to open the doors above to reveal life size figures of the twelve apostles trundling round inside. See next picture.

After this uplifting experience, we explore further the delights of the square.

Talking of uplifting, here is a genie coming from his lamp. 

The Tyn church and the building in front is where the first of the three defenestrations of Prague took place. This one led to the Hussite war. In case you haven't studied European history, defenestration means being chucked out of a window (there's a clue in the blog title) and the second one led to the thirty years war. I'll tell you about the third one if you ask me. Next it was time to move on to Wenceslas square, the site of many a protest and was at the heart of the Velvet Revolution. On the way we were asked to donate to a special needs charity by painting a special brick. You know it's not easy just to come up with a painting on demand, but you can see our efforts.

And the finished product.

I think that I will have it printed on to a badge and issued to the 48% of the voters who rightly voted to remain. Right, having got that off my chest we head back to the apartment to change for the opera. This is what we have tickets for :

and this is the auditorium of the theatre.

As you can see it is grand but on an 18 century scale. It was in this theatre in 1788 that Mozart conducted his world premier of his new opera Don Giovanni. The year before this theatre heard The Marriage of Figaro for the first time with Mozart both conducting and playing the piano. The ceiling is quite magnificent.

You can see the proscenium arch in the bottom of the picture then the device that produces the surtitles, in Czech and English. Above these, the central chandelier and rococo ceiling.
No pictures of the performance, of course, but it was brilliant. Every character was very strong, obviously with the singing but especially with their acting, not something that you always associate with operatic performances. As well as some of the most moving arias, this opera has a lot of humour. There is plenty of farce and "carry on" style double entendre. All combined to make a wonderful and memorable night out. We finished with a night cap in the Ambassador Hotel in Wenceslas square.

A Perambulation around Prague or Prague through a window Thursday 14th Sept.

Getting to Prague is really rather easy. A train ride to Stansted, hop on the plane and in one hour twenty minutes later you are there. An hour twenty! Surely Ryanair have managed to shrink the map of Europe because in that time we should have flown over Holland, all of Germany never mind the North Sea and the rest of the Czech Republic. Time and relative distance in space, that's what the Tardis stood for and I think Mr O'Leary must now be investing in them.

Here you can see the TARDIS that we travelled in. We were accompanied by two Pret sandwiches which were ten times more delicious and half the price of anything available on board, so tip to aspiring Ryanaviators, buy your butties before boarding.

However I digress, after landing we secured our integrated public transport passes which are valid for three days and cost one tenth of £60 each. I have often wondered why every country in the world does public transport better than Britain. Is it because we invented it? (like sewers, they're about knackered too). Without further digression the bus took us to the metro which in turn took us nearly to our front door.

Have a little look inside :

As you can see the flat is mainly bed and nothing wrong with that but you can also see the dining room and kitchen in this shot. The shower room and toilet are just around to the right as you can see below

So now we are well set up to see what attracts over 6 and a half million people.

First thing we encounter next morning is this delightful group of local dancers. It transpires they are clog dancers. Have a close look, shades of Bill Tidy and the Cloggies. There is also a local market here, very different to the tourist markets we will see on the golden tourist trail.

I mentioned the public transport system earlier and now we're boarding  the tram following the one you can see in the next picture.

This takes us down the hill to the riverside then across the bridge to the bottom of the Petrin Hill. We can then ascend to this view point on the funicular (ticket part of the integrated system, of course).

Looking back on the river with the Stare Mesto (old town) on the other side. Next we go up the 62m Eiffel tower lookalike for some of the best panoramic views over Prague, which the following photos show. NB some are zoomed in.

St Vitus Cathedral surrounded by the Hradcany (Prague castle /palace)

The famous Charles Bridge built at the end of the 14th century by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor to replace the largely destroyed 12th century  Judith Bridge. Pretty well all you can see is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Time for coffee and indulgent cakes whilst we plan the next stage, visiting the Hradcany. Not only is this Prague's most popular attraction but it's also the largest ancient castle in the world at 570ms long and 128ms wide. It's history starts in the 9th century and the builders were still in during our visit. We were lucky enough to witness the changing of the guard (well it happens every hour, so it is a very slick operation) which I have recorded on video.You can't see it yet because I can't upload it. You will have to make do with a still.

You do have to go through security screening at the next gate performed by some cheerful policemen. The enormous St Vitus cathedral dominates the interior space of the third courtyard. This impressive Gothic structure was started in 1344 under the order of Emperor Charles IV. The West front triple doorway was completed only from 1948 to 53 and is  shown below.

Inside there are some impressive stained glass windows by the leading Czech artists of the early 20th century. This one is by Alfons Mucha, more of whom you will hear later.

We wandered gradually down through the castle courtyards with little surprises at every corner.

I really don't know what put the smile on Helen's face, but I notice she's keeping her legs crossed.  Despite the attractions of the Hrad we made our way down to the Charles Bridge.

The busy approach to the bridge.

Things are a bit quieter now that it is about 6pm. But the guide book says the following "Strolling across the Charles Bridge is everybody's favourite Prague activity. However by 9pm it's a 500m long fairground with an army of tourists squeezing through a gauntlet of hawkers and buskers (not to mention the prone beggars), beneath the impassive gaze of the Baroque statues that line the parapets. "

Tourists, statues and St Vitus cathedral in the glowering. Time to take the tram back to the apartment and prepare for dinner. We are heading to the highly recommended and very local (56 paces from our front door) Badjeff's Barbecue. It certainly lived up to its rave reviews, really tasty grub. We each had a rack of ribs with trimmings and a couple of drinks each. The total bill was half of £60.

One or two points of interest in this picture at Badjeffs, firstly the beer Bernard is one of many alcohol free beers available throughout Prague, secondly the white roll on a holder you can see behind the beer is kitchen roll to help you cope with the ribs. What a good idea. 

Finally have a look at the exterior of the apartment building that we are living in. 

A Perambulation around Prague or Prague through a window. The plan

Schools are back, prices are down and we've got itchy feet. It is a while since we have done a city break and since Helen has never been there, Prague is our  destination.
Prague is home to about 1.4 million souls and straddles the river Vltava. We shall not be alone in visiting the city. In 2014 it played host to 6.4 million international visitors and was the fifth most visited European city.

It was founded over a thousand years ago and has been ever since the political, cultural and economic hub of central Europe. The historic capital of Bohemia,  seat for many years of the Holy Roman Emperors, capital of Czechoslovakia and more recently, after the split, (or velvet divorce as some wags now call it) the Czech Republic.
The fact that the structure came through WW2 relatively unscathed (apart from some American bombing raids) has left a very rich architectural heritage, Romanesque Gothic, Baroque, Rococo, Neo Classical, Art Nouveau, Cubist and ultra modern. There are ten major museums and galleries, combining with a very rich scene in music, theatre and opera. Add to all this some of the best beer in the world and a hearty gastronomy and you can see why people flock here in their millions.

You might be interested in the cost and logistics of our short break. Remember the number 60. The cost of a return ticket on Ryanair was £60. Our apartment in central Prague is £60 per night. Tickets for the Marriage of Figaro in the front stalls at the famous Estates Theatre are £60 for 2.

So the plan is to tuck into Prague over the next four days and I will try to give you a flavour of events via this site in words and pictures. Images on this post are courtesy of Google images, all subsequent photos will be my own originals.