We decided to start our day with breakfast at a cozy little cafe near the Staromestska Metro station ... Mistral Cafe ...
We then took a tram up to the Strahov Monastery Library ... the ride was pretty scenic ...
The Strahov Monastery Library is located near the Prague Castle ...
Views along the way ...
The Philosophical Hall ...
This was commissioned by Abbot Vaclav Mayer during the last quarter of the 18th century for numerous acquisitions. At the end of the 18th and 19th centuries, the library became famous throughout the European cultural environment. In 1812, Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria and wife of Napolean Bonaparte, visited the library. Today, the library contains nearly 34,000 works.
Baroque-style parquet flooring ...
Check out the ancient books!
I was so amazed at the beautiful illustrations in these ancient books! I never knew that they took so much pain in creating books in the olden days. I also never knew that the olden books were so beautiful!
Look at that cover!
A passageway linking the Philosophical Hall to the Theological Hall ...
Theological Hall ...
This hall was built during the office of abbot Jeronym Hirnhaim in the 17th century. On the left stands a book wheel from 1678 which was used for the study and compilation works. The planet mechanism, when the wheel was turned, enabled its shelves to remain at the same angle so that the books would not slide down.
One wall is filled exclusively with various editions of the Bible or its part, printed in many different languages.
Baroque-style parquet flooring ...
A bible in a box made of carved mother-of-pearl ...
Beautiful gold gilded illustrations ...
Nearby the Strahov Monastery Library was the Loreta ... this is the former church of the Lobkowitz family (the founders of the church) ...
An interesting building along the way ...
The famous Charles Bridge ... I believe it's the only bridge in Prague's old town that has statues lining it.
Took a break and had lunch at the "Bakeshop"...
Minestrone soup ...
Goat cheese and tomato quiche/tart ... delish!
Apricot Tart ...
Powder Gate ... one of the old city gates ...
Other beautiful facades of buildings in the old town of Prague ...
The Palladium Mall housing around 200 shops ... according to our guide, Prague has a very high ratio of shops to people, ever since the collapse of communism. Apparently, the Czechs are trying to make up for lost time.
It was interesting that the guide had mentioned that when she was living in Prague during the communist days, certain food/fruits like bananas were very rare. So the moment they knew a shipment of bananas was arriving, everyone would flock to the few shops that sold the bananas. She said that as she joined the long queues at the shops, she would pray that when it got to her turn, there would still be bananas left.
Located near the Palladium Mall is the Municipal House ... a grand old building which is now a beautiful site for concerts ....
We decided to attend a concert as they happened to be playing some Johann Strauss music ...
It wasn't a full orchestra, which I was expecting, so I was a tad disappointed ... but the beautiful concert hall more than made up for this. The accoustics were so good, I simply could not believe there were absolutely no microphones in the hall at all! And the musicians played so beautifully, I wished I could've had the opportunity to attend a performance by a full orchestra.
The beautiful concert hall ...
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