10.08.2011 – 10.08.2011  24 °C

Got going early-ish today as I was booked to do a walking tour of the Old Town and the Palace this morning.

Started the tour at the Astronomical clock. Similar to Krakow, every hour a bugler toots his horn to recognise the hour. Unlike Krakow, there is actually no reason for the bugling except for the fact that the clock tower is privately owned and charges people to climb the tower… its just done for a bit of publicity!! From the clock we started wandering down through the Old Town and across the river to the Praha Castle.

The castle sits on the other side of the river high on the hill (so has great views of the city itself). I was surprised to discover that it still has its own vineyard! (you can spend over 10 E a glass if you want to check out the palace vino!) The palace was the home to the Bohemian Kings and Queens but today houses the president and his staff. Yep the palace is not a museum (like so many others in Europe) but is actually still a working palace for the President.

The castle was first built back in the 9th Century and the Vitus Cathedral was first built in the 10th Century. Vitus Cathedral supposedly houses some of St Vitus’ relics as well as the crown jewels of Bohemia. Both of these things are not on display to the public so I can’t validate the truth of these statements. Whether the cathedral is home to relics or jewels though is probably secondary to its architectural beauty! After first being built in the 10th C it has slowly been added to over the years (as recently as early 20th C) to what we see today… Just incredible.

From the castle hill we descended back down towards the Old Town via the Lesser Town! The Lesser Town is almost as old as the castle and is originally where many of the castle’s staff once lived. It has the small twisty, streets similar to the Old Town and is just a great spot to stop for a cuppa (which is just what we did).

We then crossed over the Charles Bridge. The bridge was built by King Charles after the wooden bridge that linked the Castle to the Old Town burnt down. He replaced the wooden bridge with a very beautiful stone bridge in the 1300s and it still well and truly stands today!

I think that’s the thing that surprises me so much about Europe… many of the buildings, roads, bridges are all hundreds of years old yet still function just as they would have when they were first built!

Finished our walk in the Jewish Quarter which today really is only two synagogues and the old town hall. The synagogue is pretty amazing… it is the oldest in the world that is still in active use and was first built in the 13th C. It’s quite intimate and quaint inside and really feels like a place of worship.

Finished the day by enjoying a Czech Goulash on the main market square with a few of the other walkers from our tour. Great way to end a really long walk!