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| View down the main promenade toward the Frantiskovy Spring Pavilion all with a dusting of newly fallen snow |
So with a somewhat lighter body and a much quicker more lively skip in my step I left the Bohemian Spa Triangle on the 9:55am bus to Prague. It was so easy and inexpensive. For about 15 dollars I was able to get a direct bus from the stop about a 5 minute walk from my hotel. It was comfortable and warm and I enjoyed the scenery as I listened to a book on tape.
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| Street signs with Little Frankie sculpture at the top (they have them all throughout the city.) |
We passed the towns Cheb, Sokolov, Loket (you'll remember I visited that hillside town with the castle a few weeks ago with my friend Nicola,) Karlovy Vary (yes, I got to say one last goodbye to that beautiful city or at least the outskirts of it where the bus station is) and Lubenec.
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| View of Loket Castle from the bus |
It was just over 3 hours and the bus let us off at Florenc bus terminal here in Prague and I had a very quick 5 minute walk to the Opera Hotel which is directly across the main two lane road from the Hilton hotel where we stayed on my first visit before the river cruise 5 years ago. In fact I'm looking out at the Hilton's main entrance from my window right now.
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| Loket lake from the bus |
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| Loket on the hill from the bus |
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| Last view of Karlovy Vary |
The Opera Hotel is fantastic with more traditional furniture and spacious rooms. Once I settled in here I took a walk around the city I have grown to love and just enjoyed a day of strolling and observing details I hadn't notice before or had but got to spend even more time admiring them. I ended up walking about 4 hours in total which was incredible considering it is freezing outside.
There was a dusting of snow in across the Czech Republic last night and there is a light covering still visible but the temperature is where the most dramatic changes occurred in just 24 hours. But still there is so much to see here that it takes your mind of your chilled limbs most of the time.
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| Municipal House Theatre |
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| Palladium Shopping Center, packed for a Tuesday afternoon |
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| Walkway from Municipal House to Powder Tower |
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| Black Madonna and Child on the Kubist Museum building |
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| Kubist Museum Shop (great place for unique household treasures) |
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| Rocco Building in Old Town Square |
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| Architectural details on the main Tourist Information building |
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| View of Tyn Church and Astronomical Clock |
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| Astronomical Clock details (see man at the bottom peek up from under the clock.) |
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| Astronomical Clock details (see man at the bottom right napping under the clock.) |
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| Small door under the Astronomical Clock |
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| Intricate door and threshold in the building next to the Astronomical clock |
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| Easter Tree Decorations in Old Town Square (odd they're taking it down before Easter Day.) |
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| Astronomical Clock details with another view of resting man |
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| Tyn church from the street below |
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| Beautiful building across from Old Town Square |
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| I love this picture of the municipality having a car towed away but it was parked between two other cars so they called in a tow truck with a crane and just lifted it up and put it on the flat bed behind. The young Italian groups were across the street cheering them on and the meter cop and another man in a uniform were hysterical at their chants and cheers |
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise |
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| Interior of the canal boat |
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise |
I made my way to the Charles Bridge after stopping for a quick bite to eat at Alphonso's Pizzeria (I was famished by the time I got here) but ended up not crossing it today because I saw that the canal boat tours have resumed (they closed for the winter hiatus when I was here in late January) so I went right up to one of the brokers who stands near the entrance of the bridge in a white sailors costume and bought my ticket, only 16 dollars and off I went to the pier below where the attendant got me spring water (there is tea, coffee and beer available as well) and a ginger bread sweet treat and I enjoyed gazing up at the buildings near the docks and at the ducks and swans paddling themselves around sticking their heads in the water looking, I presume, for dinner.
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise. Take a look at the white mark in the middle of the upper wall. It's drain spout that froze. |
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise |
I thought I was going to be the only passenger but fortunately a group of 5 joined last minute (a Russian man, a Spanish couple and a couple from Romania.) The cruise was exactly how I had remembered it from 5 years ago and very relaxing and enjoyable as well as informative. I hadn't realized the enormity of Charles University and the sheer number of students that attend each year. Albert Einstein even taught there at one time. They have several impressive buildings along the river and I couldn't help but wonder how hard it must be to concentrate on a lecture when you have the beauty of Prague's Castle District to gaze at.
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise |
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| Canal from boat |
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| Canal from boat. This used to be the worst area in the city many, many years ago but now it's the most expensive |
The river, although temps were at freezing was as fluid as ever and the tour guide told us that in the early 1900's they built a damn and it has electrical conductors of some sort that heats the water so it no longer freezes. He had pictures of the last time the river froze and people were ice skating on it. That would be a remarkable sight. He also had pictures of what the Charles Bridge looked like in 2002 when they had a devastating flood. Hopefully they have taken precautions to prevent it from ever happening again. I do remember seeing news footage of it at the time.
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| Canal Bridge from b |
So then I walked and walked and walked but did stop to eat at a Chinese restaurant for some hot and sour soup as I was starting to feel a tickle in my throat but thankfully after the soup and some noodles I feel back to my normal self. I think my body was protesting at being taken away from all that fabulous curing water but since I knew I was coming to Prague for a few days and only had to take the one bus I managed to carry with me, while dragging my suitcase, 4 liters or so of the water so for the next few days I will continue the cure so my body doesn't rebel too much. I will miss the healing water most of all, even more than the treatments. Well maybe I'll miss the walking as well but the good thing is the rest of the cities I visit require lots of walking as well so that's a huge plus.
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise |
The city is about as full as it was when I was here in January but oddly enough there are hundreds and hundreds of Italian teenagers traveling in packs around the city. I've seen a few chaperons as well but for the most part they are in these groups and they make so much noise and I've noticed when they see another pack across the street or in one of the plazas near them they start singing and calling out so that the other then responds in kind. It's a little crazy and other tourists just stop and stare but they're young and hopefully will grow out of all this.
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| Charles bridge from the boat cruise |
So it's nice to be back in Prague and nice to have a few final days in the Czech Republic.
