Upon joining a free walking tour, we were brought to Tynska lane and to the same courtyard in which Botanicus was located. Our humorous guide regaled us with some old Prague tales - most of which were pretty gory, and that just reinforced my view that beneath Pragues pretty facade lay a dark history/past.
The House with the Golden Ring
Some beautiful buildings along the way ...
A Kafka Statue
One of the souvenirs oft-found in the shops in Prague is miniatures of the beautiful colourful buildings in the city resembling this ...
A Spanish Synagogue
A couple other synagogues ...
Kafka Cafe ... housed in a beautiful building ...
We broke for a short lunch at the Public Library,
and had some nice hot cauliflower soup to warm us up ...
I have no idea what this is called, but our guide recommended it, and I believe it's ham with pickles and egg on a slice of bread ... whatever it was, it was pretty good!
Again, the mystery name of this escapes me (everything was in Czech) ... but it was also pretty yummy ... I believe this was pickles, onions and tomato on fried egg, on toast ...
This was crepe with a light creamy cheese filling ...
To round off the meal with something sweet, we had a dark chocolate cookie and a meringue thingy ...
With our bellies full, we then proceeded on to the Klementinum, which is basically an old university area in Prague ...
To embody the vast intellect within this campus, this little figure of a girl reading a book was perched on the campus wall ...
A sun dial ...
Finally, we reached Charles Bridge ... the most famous bridge in Prague, which is lined with statues ...
A couple getting their pics taken on the bridge ...
Beautiful views from the bridge ...
Probably the most famous and most touched statue on the bridge ... St. John of Nepomuk, a Czech matyr saint. Legend has it that he was thrown off the bridge for not revealing confessional secrets of the King's wife. People today apparently touch it on the left, believing they would be blessed with a child if they did so, while others touch it on the right, believing they would be prosperous.
It seems that in Europe, there is a common belief that by putting a padlock around a grill, they would be able to "lock" up their love and they would be together forever. Guess that explains all these locks ...
The John Lennon Wall ...
If you were wondering why there were these stone stumps at the base of the gates, our guide explained that during the medieval age, these were designed to prevent the horse carriages from hitting the walls and sides of buildings ...
An unfinished church built to honor the knights of Malta ...
The Cross of Malta ...
One of the many passageways in Prague ...
Many buildings had such elaborate facades ...
The path leading up to the Prague Castle ...
Entrance to Prague Castle ...
Entry to the inner court in the Prague Castle ...
St Vitus Cathedral ...
The church was very gothic in design, so there were all these gargoyles everywhere. At first, I thought it was just the design, then when I saw water coming out from the gargoyles' mouths, I realised they were actually functional ...
The various types of window designs mark the different types of styles at that time ...
Changing guards ...
Views from the Prague Castle ...
We ended our day at a traditional Czech dinner at "The Blue Duckling" ...
Bread basket ...
The famous Czech speciality - Crispy Duck ... I really liked this!
Roast pork with bread dumplings ...
