We awoke very early as our body clocks haven’t adjusted, got up but after an hour went back to bed and slept for 2 1/2 hours until 7.45am. Then breakfast in Hilton Executive Lounge on 8th floor. Unfortunately, the morning is very wet and the wind is blowing at gale force, so definitely a day for coats and umbrellas.
We were picked up by Francis and escorted to a small limo bus, where we were out of the wind and rain. We were taken to several hotels before being transferred to the Grayline ticket booth in the centre of the city. Our tour guide Tatiana, then joined our group and explained our lengthy itinerary before we commenced our drive for a Our an hour through the central city area of the old then the new city, before we began the steep climb out of the city to the Castle.
It is hard to describe the unbelievable weather with heavy storm like showers and wind gusting to 90-100 km per hour and it was bitterly cold.
But the 14 hardy souls and our guide agreed to have a great day. The first hour was a drive through the downtown areas of old and new Prague admiring the glorious architecture, stunning colours and beautiful buildings. You are reminded of the splendour of Vienna but with a classical approach to superb design as well as the preservation of the wonderful buildings which ar3 centuries old. The photos probably do not do justice to just how beautiful the preserved buildings are.
From here we cross the Vltava River and then begin our climb up t9 the historic Prague Castle area. Here we visit WC and then begin our walk through the beautiful grounds and after about 20 minutes we arrive expecting to watch the changing of the guard. However, with this dangerous weather all changing of the guard ceremonies have been cancelled for the day. But that is only a minor set back, and we walk through the castle grounds taking photos and listening to the multiple stories of the history over 1300years.
Lunch is at a restaurant beside the Castle and we enjoy a local lunch of chicken and salad followed by profiteroles and a glass of red wine and coffee.
We finish lunch , proceed back into the Castle grounds expecting to visit several rooms as well as the fountain and church. Fortunately, we are inside the security check point and go through several areas, before being notified that the Castle is being closed for the day due to safety concerns.
A change of plans follows as we walk down the 150 steps from the Castle precinct into the old town area. The rain has become torrential and several of our group decide to depart and return to Hotels whilst the weather is at its worst.
We continue on, but after 35 minutes, the weather begins to improve and as we walk through several areas and visit John Lennon’s Wall, there is sunshine. We continue and visit a stunning Catholic Church, then 2 amazingly beautiful Synagogues before we walk back towards the famous Charles Bridge. Again the weather has cleared and we have beautiful sunshine and blue skies. We walk across this bridge which embraces much of the rich history of the city. We are fascinated by Tatiana’s many stories and her detailed explanations. We take many photos. At the old town end we exit the bridge past the Powder tower and enter an area under the bridge where we commence our short 20 minute boat rise on the river, where we pass by many landmark buildings, then come close to the weir where the river rises and is held as part of the flood mitigation processes.
We enjoy this respite from the weather and particularly the wind, but as we alight and commence our walk back to the City Square, there are signs of yet another storm approaching. It has been a long hard day, but totally enjoyable.
We decide to say goodbye to the group, just as torrential rain returns and we have about a 10 minute walk to the Spanish Synagogue, where we are scheduled to attend a concert involving Bolero and Evita, but the music played by a small string group and a wonderful soprano. We thoroughly enjoyed this hour long concert . We get some 500 metres but the rain is just too heavy. We seek refuge in a restaurant but we are advised that it will be 20 minutes for a table. We accept this.
Jeanette ordered a hot drink, Ken red wine and we sat and talked with an American couple from Boston.
We left at 17.10pm and entered the Spanish Synagogue which is a stunningly beautiful building. The photos are indicative but don’t really do the opulent splendour real justice.
Following our enjoyable concert we leave and catch a taxi back to Hilton Prague then enjoy snacks in the Executive lounge.
It has been a spectacular day, albeit challenging with the terrible weather. Then we both fell into bed exhausted but exhilarated.
We woke at 3.45pm as our body clocks had still not adjusted. But following a 45 minute period we returned and slept well until 7.15am. At this time we see a glimmer of sunshine.
Breakfast is in the Executive lounge on 8th floor of Hilton Prague, where we enjoy a hearty breakfast.
The weather remains dodgy, but we decide to wait in the hotel for an hour, before we walk to the city square following walking through the square where the Republica MRT station is located. At the station area we walk through various small stores where there is delicious food offerings.
Following this we then walk to the famous city square, where we take in amazing scenes of architecture, various important churches as well as various stores. This is an impressive square.
Thevweather has improved, the sun is shining and the wind has diminished.
As we walk the stunning streets and squares, we decide to ride the “Ecoexpress” a small tourist train.
Our journey and drive begins on Old Town Square and this Square is just a brilliant historical perspective of this historical square. We then pass through the area of the former Jewish ghetto down to the Vitava River and then drive across the Svatopluk Czech Bridgeand drive to enter th3 Lesser Town of Prague on the left bank .
The train then takes us through th3 charming narrow streets to the Lesser Town Square and then climb up the narrow steep streets by the steep Neruda Street, part of the historical ancient “Royal route”.
During this drive up to the Castle we are shown the the Capuchin monastery with the famous Loretto shrine, and make a stop on Castle Square.
Subsequent to the stop at th3 Castle we pass through several romantic laneways of the picturesque New World, past the Renaissance summer residence of Queen Anne and then return to the Lesser Town.
We then returned across the art nouveau Svatopluk Czech Bridge, we came to Parizska Avenue, passing on the right side one of the oldest Jewish Synagogues In Central Europe. We return to Old Town Square after a terrific 65 minutes.
Lunch is calling, we are both cold and starving. We stop at Kings Court Brasserie where we enjoy a lunch of soup and sandwiches. We have hot drinks but we are very cold and tired.
Then we walk back to the Hilton Prague having enjoyed 2 wonderful days in this stunning city. There are 1.25million citizens here and they have 8 million plus tourists per year. We can understand why this is a stunning beautiful city, with great historical importance.
