Well, before I move to its many virtues, let's get my single complaint out of the road - too many tourists. Yes, of course I count myself among that number but really, it was ridiculous and we were there in the low season! I suppose it makes sense when you hear that Prague is as high as 2nd or 3rd on the list of Europe's most popular tourist destinations.
The main square in the Old Town:
There would have been 200 tour groups in that square at any one time. Each led by a guide brandishing anything from an umbrella to a stuffed animal to shepard their group along. It all looked quite ridiculous (and no, we didn't have one).One of, or perhaps the main attraction of the town square is the astronomical clock which has been ticking along more or less from about 1410.
Quick story: the King who commissioned the clock so valued its unique design that he ordered the designer's eyes be cut out so he couldn't replicate the clock - nice.Anyway, now to all the special bits of Prague. Having had such a great time in Vienna exploring on the pushie, I decided to do the same in Prague. I managed to find a bike tour group which offered, among other more intense rides, the cultural option: the pub-bike-crawl. Neither the bikes nor the beer disappointed, it was great. Our guide was an American who had been in Prague for 8 years (I suspect hiding from something) and led an excellent tour.
We probably covered a good 40kms and in that time managed to get to all the lookouts and other points of interest (as well as 5 pubs). I have a few photos below of some of the main sights, which included:The Charles Bridge (the middle one). Most tourists are taken to the main square and then led straight down the road to the Charles Bridge before returning to their hotels.
The Lennon wall. The communists wanted to rip it down but as the wall is actually part of the Turkish Embassy's compound, they couldn't touch it. It took its name from the various messages left on it from the time of the Beatles but most of the originals have now been covered with messages to newer artists...basically, the wall has lost its significance.
The mechanical pendulum.
Not surprisingly, this was a monument commissioned by Stalin (to himself, of course). More precisely, the pendulum was installed in the about 1990 or so and replaced a 200ft high stone monument of the man himselfi - from that position he would have 'watched' over the city for years.
Just near the Lennon wall we came across interesting markings on a wall (below):
Over its long history Prague has flooded a number of time. The most recent and catastrophic of which was as recent as 2004. You may be able to see on the photo that the highest watermark represents the height of the waters in 2004.
The tour also passed a few lookouts...
The tower at in the picture is radio tower. Towers of this kind are a familiar sight in many of these older Euro cities as they don't tend to have any high-rise office buildings which in Aust/US/UK serves a dual purpose of providing a platform to emit the radio/television signals.You may not know this but Prague also boasts a small scale Eiffel Tower:
A breathtaking view from the top:
Final shot of a boat leaving heading up the Vltava river:
Next, Templice
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