This morning we took a bus the long way around (avoiding the narrowest streets) to arrive at Prague Castle. It isn't a fortress like a Welsh Castle would be, but a collection of palaces around several courtyards, dominated by St. Vitus Cathedral.
We stopped briefly in the gardens that date from the early 16th c, one of the first pleasure gardens in Europe, i.e. flowers rather than vegetables, but there was no time to explore. At the hour we arrived, it was hard to get a shot of St. Vitus Cathedral from this direction that wasn't spoiled by the sun. (Note the painted wall of the medieval building on the right.)
The moat was inviting with the autumn colors. I could see a path at the bottom. No time.
St. Vitus is approached through an arched gateway.
The east end is Gothic begun in 1344 and added to over the centuries. The west end is neo-Gothic from the second half of the 19th c, but there is a sense of continuity.
Inside was jammed with tourists. We were using an electronic "whisper" system with earphones so we could hear our guide as she talked quietly, but reception in the church was terrible. "Probably someone else is using the same frequency," she explained. No time to explore everything. Unfortunately, none of the stained-glass windows is original.
The best way to shoot and not have mostly tourists in the picture was up, but as one of our colleagues pointed out, anywhere you point the camera there is something interesting. I loved the wolf gargoyles here. (There are three.)
We came out to this glorious view of the city. (The corner of a wall to the right is a rooftop Starbucks.)
Then we descended Nerudova Street, lined with 18th c houses, many of which have been turned into boutique hotels. (Note to self: when you return to explore all those places there was no time for today, stay on this street!)
All the way down to the approach to the Charles Bridge.
It was very hard to get any pictures on the Charles Bridge that weren't primarily of tourists.
If the canal house with the pink flowers in a roof garden (center) is a hotel, that would be a great place to stay too. (Bella, I'm thin king of your wanderlust.)
At the other end of the bridge we emerged at this church, expressing its support of Ukraine. The banner says, "Hands off Ukraine, Putin!"
We turned right and went down to the restaurant where we had lunch. This was the view.
And this was the menu. Melt in your mouth.
The restaurant is normally closed on Mondays, but they came in for us. I guess guaranteed 100 meals was worth it.
Tonight we have another concert in another historic hall.
No comments:
Post a Comment