Playing Catch-Up

Sunday, July 26, 2015

We are starting to wind down the adventure.  Last night we went over our calendar of things we had hoped to accomplish in Prague and we’ve done pretty well.  We’ll catch most of the rest today and finish up tomorrow in time to come home and pack.

We’ve gotten up early so that we can make our way to the Charles Bridge before the madding crowds and actually be able to see it!  The morning light crossing the Old Town Square would make it worthwhile even without the bridge as an inducement!

Finally, you can actually see the Tyn Church!

We're waiting!

The Charles Bridge was the first bridge across the Vltava River and connected the two towns on the east with the two on the west.  It is the only medieval bridge out of the seventeen that span the river.  The rest weren’t built until the 19^th century!

The gate on the east, or Old Town, side is said to be one of the most magnificent in all of Europe.  Although the entire bridge is now lined with sculptures, originally there was only one, a huge crucifix on the north side. Gradually others were added and they each have a story to tell.

When the tourists start showing up, so do the artists and vendors; but we are a bit early for that and our views of the river and the Castle and Lesser or Little Town are unobstructed.  Several times people stop and ask me to take their photos for them; one family is from Hong Kong.

They stick their heads underwater, looking for breakfast.

They they shake all the water off their heads and necks.

Another bride!!

The model of the Eiffel Tower!

I get another chance at the swans!  This time they are having to feed themselves.  They stick their heads under the water and when they come up they shake their heads like puppy dogs!

We can see what Andrea meant when she said that many people think the cathedral is the castle, whereas, in reality, the cathedral is surrounded by the castle.  The castle just looks like a whole lot of plain buildings.

While many of the statues on the bridge are original, the majority are replicas.  The originals have been moved to museums to protect them from the elements…and the tourists!

See the three ostriches on the wall and the sign above the door?
Addresses used to just be things like "The Three Ostriches".

All the sidewalks are made like this, 'though not all are so ornate.

The city seal is also on the manhole covers.

The Club Savoy.  On her list is said, "Sawy".

Like I said, "posh"!

Once across the bridge we have promised ourselves breakfast at one of Andrea’s favorite spots. We walk down to the next bridge and turn left, in search of “Sawy”.  Actually, we find the Café Savoy, which is so posh that the waiters wear white gloves and even the salt and pepper come on a silver tray!  We don’t have a reservation but the maître d’ finds us a table for two and we order the English Breakfast.  It comes with one fried egg, beans, a grilled tomato, a large mushroom, a long sausage and two slices of bacon.  There is a silver bread bowl ,and butter.  It comes with tea but Marilyn substitutes coffee. I feel quite underdressed in my jeans, but really, most people are obviously tourists, too.

This is an outstanding art nouveau neighborhood.

There ARE locks!

Now that we’re fortified we are more willing to explore a bit more before crossing back to “our” side of the river.  Heading toward Petrina Hill, there is a flight of extremely tall steps.  They lead to the Monument to Those Who Suffered Under Communism and Survived.  The monument is composed of a series of seven humans who gradually deteriorate as they go up the steps.  It is quite powerful.

There is also a small flower garden that is heavily populated by bees and butterflies!  We’re in heaven!  Nothing beats Nature!

Back across the “Most Legii” or Legii Bridge…  We can see the two islands in the river that the bridge actually spans.  There is an elevator and stairs down to the larger one and it is where the “beach” is located.  It is covered with chestnut trees (correction – they aren’t pecan trees, like I thought!).  Lots of people are paddling on the river in funny little boats that look like cars!  And there are huge bubbles that I suppose you can also rent!

Back on land we are heading for the Dancing Building, since we couldn’t really get a good look from the cruise boat the other day.  So what if Ginger has eight legs and Fred’s head is metal mesh!  It’s a really, really cool building! 

The Dancing Building, with Fred and Ginger

The restaurant is connected with the floating hotel in front.

As we’re walking, we see a group of scooters.  What I really mean is that we saw a parade of at least two hundred Vespas, with a police escort, with everyone waving and honking their horns!!  It turns out that it’s the Fifth International Meeting of PragoVespa.  It’s held the last weekend of July every year.  (There are some pretty darn specific rules about how the scooters proceed down the road..)  It is organized by the Vespa Club of Prague and there are  riders from several other countries in addition to the Czechs.  What we saw is the Grand Sunday Ride.

We also see an unusual group of three sculptures in the river!  I think they are part of an art festival held from June to September.

We only have two more goals for our morning’s outing (which eventually lasts about seven hours!).  Rick talks about the sex street and we need to see what all is going on there!  Probably not much in the middle of the day, but you never know!  Well, maybe you do.  I guess this was the hot spot back in ’09 but it’s pretty tame now!  There’s an erotic shop and what might be a cool club; but that’s about it!

There’s a candy store!  Marilyn has been planning to bring some Czech treats back for her grandkids and this should fill the bill.

He's advertising the hotel across the street, The Mosaic.
And he has a friend with a yellow umbrella!

They must be magic!

Jan Hus, finally in decent light!

Oh well, it’s time to head back to Old Town Square.  Maybe we can sit a while, have a drink, and catch the show at the clock.  Along the way we finally complete our last goal – to sample the fried dough rings with cinnamon and sugar called Trdelnik. All the signs say they are a Czech Tradition!  They are crispy and hot and delicious.

Actually, I have one more goal.  We passed the museum of sex machines and I didn’t even get a picture.  I’m hoping to happen upon it again and lo and behold, there it is!  We get s few shots in the lobby and that’s all I need!

We’re back in the Old Town Square and are escorted to a little table under the  canopy of Oliva Verde Ristorante.  Marilyn has a lemon lemonade and I have a strawberry-mango lemonade, since they don’t have any iced coffee.  It feels good to sit and sip in the shade.  The hordes are waiting for the clock’s performance and I think maybe I’ll give a video a try.  The only way I can see my screen is by holding the camera with one hand and shading the screen with the other.  Boy is that a disaster!  I’m a still photographer, that’s all there is to it!

We finish the fruit in the bottom of our drinks and cross the square.  Our favorite band is playing again and all the living statues are out, including the golden ballerina and the golden pirate.  The guy with the snakes is working, too, as well as a really old musician whose voice belies his apparent age and the guy pretending to be a midget sitting in a chair.

Back to the hostel, for some R&R, before we head out to dinner.  There is a roof-top café that Andrea pointed out just a block or two from the hostel.  If we plan it right we might be able to catch sunset!  I play with my pictures and Marilyn takes a nap.  And when the wifi works we catch up with the news from home.

It’s about an hour before sunset so we set out for Restaurace T-Anker, the restaurant on the roof of a large hotel.  We don’t have a reservation and he hostess asks us to sit at a table off to the side while she sees what she can find.  She isn’t even gone long enough for us to look at the menu when she returns and says that she’s had a cancellation and she can seat us!

We order a bottle of Reisling and it turns out to be really, really good!  For dinner I have a “Butterfish” with a lemon glaze on a bed of greens and Marilyh has a chicken wrap with French fries.  Because most Europeans eat their fries with mayonnaise, she has to ask for ketchup.  My fish is beyond delectable!   I keep popping up, trying to get a decent sunset shot, although the sunset is pretty much nonexistent.  One time I meet a young man from Sydney who says that New Zealand is his favorite country in the world and that he has been there eleven times!  He gives me his name and says that if I friend him on Facebook we can stay in touch and he’ll tell me all the best places to go and things to do in New Zealand!

Nice to have the police right across the street!

Well, our bottle is empty, our plates are as well, and the sun has given up the ghost for the night.  We head back to the lift and a couple of young guys ask if it is all right if they ride down with us.  Such gentlemen!

Home and to bed.  We’re much too beat to do anything but turn out the lights!  Tomorrow we’ll visit the Jewish Quarter and the Museum which it has become.