Easter 2006: Prague - Part 1

Continuing on.....

Prague is one of the only cities in Europe to escape bombs from both World Wars. Originally it was four different towns with four town squares separated by walls. The four towns were; Castle Quarter, Little Quarter, Old Town and New Town. Behind me here is the Castle Quarter.

After I parted ways with the "Blast from the Past" I found my hostel and set off to wonder the rainy streets of Prague. Becoming very disoreinted (which lasted most of the day) I found the Easter Markets that I had heard so much about. Much like the Christmas Markets in Germany, it was fun to look at the different (and same) types of "stuff" for sale.




















My favorite - Easter Eggs made from real eggs and creatively decorated, which I bought a few days later in my trip.















It was also necessary to try a traditional delicacy which was dough browned over an open flame and sprinkled with vanilla, almonds, nutmeg and sugar (I think those were the indgredients). It looked like this:
















Another common cooking method I saw was roasting a pig over an open fire. This one had already been cooked and part way eaten:
















I got my bearings and headed back to my hostel to rest and dry off. I forgot to mention that it rained all afternoon to the point where I bought an umbrella. Yes - I didn't have one. Used to have one, but Ted broke it in Berlin (Ted didn't break it, but he was holding it when the wind took it).

After an hour, I headed back out to find dinner. Wanting to get away from all of the tourists. Upon my search, I finally found the castle and Charles Bridge. I think I actually said to myself, "Oh, how pretty" when I came upon it from a small side street.
















I found a little restaurant near the Bethlehem Church(By the way, there are so many churches that it's just easier to use them as landmarks.) I sometimes feel funny eating at restaurants by myself and I guess that is why I don't do it very often. However, I walked in and was seated in a room where a guy was playing the piano and he played most of the night. I ordered myself some wine and pasta and enjoyed the evening listening to the sounds that came frm teh magical fingers sitting in front of me. For dessert, I ordered lemon ice cream. Well, not only did it taste lemon, but it was also served from a real lemon that had been gutted and frozen with the ice cream. Very fun!
















My hostel was in the Old Town, which was nice because it was only a 10-15 minute walk from any place that I wanted to go and most places, the walk was less than that. However, from early upon my arrival, I could tell that it was not going to be the greatest of hostels, and I wanted to get back and get to sleep before everyone else came in the room from a night at the bars. This way, I could hope that I wouldn't hear them when they did come back. I succeeded in falling asleep, however, I woke up when every singel person entered the room (there were 5) and none of them came back at the same time. Man, people can be loud in a room where clearl people are sleeping. I even went to sleep with the lights on - BANG, BANG, BANG....DROP, DROP, DROP. I suppose it's hard to be quiet when you are really trying. You always seem to make more noise when you are trying to tip toe around. Either way, here are some pictures from the Old Town Square:

The Astronomical Clock:
The clock keeps several versions of time: Bohemian and Modern Time. Many years ago, when the clock was built, everything revolved around the earth which was the fixed middle background of the clock. The clock also indicates sunrise, sunset, zodiac signs for the different times of the year, as well as saints names - one for each day of the year (as indicated in the bottom circle). I supose when this clock was built 500 years ago, it must have been something. Today, although some of the features have been added in the last 100 years, the hourly striking of the hour gathers a large crowd for a show that is rather humerous.





















One of the St. Nicholas' Churches (not the famous one)
















The Old Town Square at Night: