Day 34: Prague

Another sight seeing tour today.  Unlike the other tours though, this one was entirely on foot.

Stopped off at the Charles Bridge which was built in the early 14th Century and formed part of the city walls defence.  Unfortunately, not much of the walls remain apart from a few towers, as it was torn down in the 1850's.  The bridge does not allow traffic (cars) so people have set up stalls to sell their wares, of which most is garbage!

Walked through the Jewish quarter with its extremely old buildings, one of which is an old synagogue built in the 14th Century.  During that time, the Jews were completely segregated from the city of Prague - no trading or commerce was permitted.  During the 15th Century, the Jewish quarter was eventually integrated into the city to become the 5th quarter of the city.  Maybe this is when the Jews started making money around the world.  With the ability to turn a whole into 5 parts, call them quarters and take the extra one for themselves!

Walked through the tiny streets of Prague to the old town square.  With very few trees and over 30 degree heat, it was bloody hot.  Headed towards the old town hall where, in the corner of the building, a large crowd was gathering to watch the astrological clock where, every hour, mechanical figures look out over the square.  The clock not only has the time of day, but also the date and the sign of the zodiac.

Some moron, 5 minutes before the clock was to go off, decided to climb out of the town hall onto the clock itself and have his photo taken.  Unfortunately no-one had a sling shot to knock him off!  At least he had the decency to get down before the show.

Had a bit of time to kill, so Elisha and I had a glorious meal.  It wasn't cheap, but it was fantastic.

Our local guide then picked us up for a tour of the castle district.  We were told this tour was "The Best of Medieval Prague", but the only medieval section we saw was the church and basilica.  Regardless, it was good although very rushed.

The highlight of Prague was the Czech Dinner, where we enjoyed a lovely meal and were treated to a very humorous show.  The lady playing the dulcimer was such a laugh she had us in stitches.  Of course, the non-stop wine certainly helped.

The bus trip back to the hotel was a lot of fun also; we were all singing, taking photos and dancing in the aisles - well I was anyway.