Prague

Praha (Prague to the uninitiated!) is a lovely city. Easy to find your way around, and great transport system. We were lucky because after much anguish we managed to get a hotel very close to the main Old Town square (main tourist area)near the tube and virtually next door to the main shopping mall. Dont know how we did it, but it was a positively splendid location for us. We met up with boat friends the first night we were there, and had a late drink and dinner at one of the many bars and rest. nearby. They had been here for a day already so could point us in the right direction for things! First main day there we did a tour of the castle up on the hill and our guide showed us all the main points up there. It is a huge area (not very castle like! has a church and lots of buildings in it). the church is where dear old king Wencesles is buried (he was actually stabbed by his brother who wanted to take over)(guide told us they had never heard of the song until a few years ago after the place was opened up after communism and tourists started coming in h oardes). We also got to see the changing of the guards as well. You can see it all in the photos. After that we did a hopon hopoff bus trip around - this was entertaining as you had a guide talking to you on a mike and he was hiliarious - very scathing about the communists (they took over all the richies houses and threw them out on the street)so got a general idea of the place.

that afternoon we had an escorted tour of the Jewish District (right near the square) which covered a few blocks of buildings and synagogs. this was fascinating cause this area was locked up at night with huge gates at the entrances for over 400 years long before Hiltler decided he didnt like them much. they couldnt lend money to christians, could only go to schools in the Jewish district, etc. app. they didnt do too badly in the holocaust because they were already in this ghetto, 40% died! this is not too badly in the local eyes! the sad part was those who got out early with passports etc were the only ones allowed to come back and claim their buildings after the war, because the ones sent to concentration camps etc were without identification after the war and couldnt prove who they were to claim back their property. The last photo is of the old Jewish cemetry in the sector and was the only place they were allowed to bury their dead for hundreds of years. Therefore they had to layer their dead on top of each other, they reackon there are 200,000 buried in this small area. That is why there is a wall around it (see the gravestones up high?) to keep all the bodies in. Shocking eh?

Of course, once again like Hungary, then the commumists took over till 1989. the difference between here and Budapest is they have a strongish economy and have embraced the tourist trade with all bells on. The ammenities for tourists are great, lots of information areas, clean toilets, cheerful shopkeepers etc plus lots of police presence to make you feel safe. not many beggars or homeless people as a result as well. the buildings are well looked after, and restored carefully. After the Jewish sector tour we ended up by the river and had a little river cruise under the Charles Bridge, which is the main tourist walk bridge, So after all that we once again met up with our friends off the boat and had more beers and food! forgot to mention this weeked there is a 10,000 strong beer festival in town, so lots of wandering groups of drunken men everywhere! even stronger police presence than before on Sat. when it started. On Sat. we wandered into the square to see the famous 'Astronomical Clock' chime. There were literally thousands of people crammed around this bell tower of a large cathedral in the square waiting for the hour! What a let down! these figures pop in and out, and skeletons rang bells for a few seconds and that was it! dave climbed to the top of the tower to take a picture of the view of the main square.

Then we had to push our way through to find our way to the Charles Bridge by the river. This meant winding our way through little cobblestone streets, to come out to another mass of bodies trying to get on to the bridge! (Sat morning not a good time me thinks!) We decided to climb up this tower (137 steps)that starts the bridge. I was very good you'll be pleased to hear - great view of the area) On the other side of the bridge in some out of the way street, we found -... wait for it .... John Lennon's Wall! created after he died! can you pick me out amongst all the messages???

anyway - we managed to get on the bus and get back to our hotel to escape those tourists (how dare they want to do what we wanted to do!) had a lazy afternoon actually went into the mall to look around -no buying. a nice end to a busy few days.