Prague: I`d love to spend a week there. As it happened, I just had a few hours in this astonishingly beautiful city.
With a vague notion of the usual tourist haunts, I headed off for the Astronomical Clock in the city`s Old Square. On my way there, I encountered elegance at every turn. Architects must delight in Prague; there are just so many beautiful buildings to see there.
All of them reflect the long history of this city, from it`s Celtic pre-Christian times, through to the reign of the Hapsburgs from the 14th century and on to a period of Czech nationalistic revival from the 18th century.
The city was spared the worst of World War 11 bombings, leaving most of its beautiful buildings intact. Walking through it now, one can easily imagine what it was like to live in this city at any point in the last six hundred years. Rounding a corner, one wouldn`t be in the least surprised to encounter a Royal Carriage with some of the Hapsburgs within, or to see a troupe of German soldiers marching along the cobbled streets.
I`d have love to have had time to take one of the guided tours about the place. Pragueexperience.com has enough tours to last over a week. As it was, I had to be content with a few hours, camera in hand and turning this way and that to capture as many delights as I could.
I rambled on to Charles bridge and wished I had more time for the delights beyond the Vlatva River. But there was only time to swing back through a different series of sidestreets to the Old Town and to gaze in astonishment as more architectural gems revealed themselves there.
Prague is a place to stop and stare, to savour the delights and to promise to return again. It was a wonderful counterpoint to the grimness of its rural hinterland that I had encountered during my sojourn there last week. It was a glittering gem in the backseat of a Skoda car.
And so I left the Czech republic with more questions than answers, a promise to return for more of Prague and gratitude for my experience of the Czech Republic. Travel, they say, broadens the mind. I suspect that for that to happen we need to experience daily life just as the locals do and not to bathe ourselves in luxury and delight.
Dobrý den, děkuji, děkuji!
redhenrun 
Seems like it must have been a great trip 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Yes, it was a most interesting trip. I really want to get back to Prague some other time and get to see more of its sights.
Lovely pictures. Prague must have a fascinating history. I grew up knowing almost nothing about the city, probably because the Iron Curtain blocked information until I was grown.
Thanks for the tip about ‘turning on’ the snowflakes. I’m going to look for that setting.
Love your photos!
Oh, it`s such a lovely place, I couldn`t possibly take a bad pic there!
Looks like that despite your whistle stop tour you got to see most of the main sights in Prague. Probably fewer tourists around than when we were there during the summer. From your photo it looks like you could actually get near to the astronomical clock.
Oh, being small, I actually got right up there to the front of the crowd and filmed the whole thing! Sideways, it has to be said, but still… I did remark though, on the absence of tourists and can well imagine that it must be far more difficult in summer. In addition I got a delightful room in a very comfortable hotel opposite the main railway station. So November is a great time to visit Prague. Loved your posts on Prague too, by the way. You are very knowledgeable about architecture and, as you know, Prague is an architectural treasure trove.
beautiful city 🙂
And so, I believe, is Siena!
What a trip of contrasts you’ve had. I love the glittering gem in the backseat of a Skoda! Oh, and how do you get the snow falling across your page – how good is that? 🙂
Hi Jenny! I`d love to brag that the falling snow was the result of my technical aptitude. Instead I must admit to being as pleasantly surprised as you were. If you go into settings though, you`ll see an option there for having snow. I suspect it just automatically switches on for most folk during Advent, unless they tell it not to.
I was wondering that too – must go and see if I’ve got snow too!
Loved the photos, and memories of visiting Prague. It was bitterly cold when we went, but very beautiful.
Thank you – I now have turned on the snow! 🙂