What can I post about the Golden City, Prague, many others with glibber tongues, did not?
Well, in our case it rained daily after five with bitingly cold winds.. for one. And yet, the City still exerted its magic. It was one of the few cities untouched by bombs in WW2.
We saw the start -under overcast skies, and end in poring rain- of the Marathon. We just missed a recital of former Opera studio, and now Diva of great renown, Jocye Di Donato, as advertised on the unique Litfassaulen of Central Europe. We pioneered on Prague's trams - travelling from end to end.. into tourist-poor areas, trying to stay dry while seeing the City :-).
 |
| Black Statues -cleaned up facades-typical for Prague post Communist Regime |
 |
| Arched lanes |
 |
| Just over the border |
 |
| Route of Marathon |
 |
| Steep lanes |
 |
| Strahov Monastery-end of tram 22 |
Strolling (?) cobbled streets slick and dangerous in the rain, negotiating 'the horse steps' (so I was told by my good friend Vladi S. born there, but now bass in Vienna) on which the horsemen rode up to the Hradschin and down off course, too. Not exactly comfortable for limping tourists-really slick!
'Overcast' monastery...a quiet retreat on the base of "White Mountain" the site of the rout of protestant forces in 1610, which ended the Czech independence for 300 years. 1140 Premonstratensian monks founded it and inhabited it till it was closed under the Communist regime which incarcerated the monks. It was reopened 1990. We missed the services with music on Sundays, alas. Strolling in the serene courtyard was not a real replacement!
Prague just brims with history, diverse and sometimes stunning architecture and - regretfully - signs of neglect under the communists which the current regime is busy trying to alleviate!
 |
| Victory Church (1610) |
 |
| Architectural gem |
 |
| Cloister garden-serenity |
 |
| View from Charles Bridge |
 |
| Vlatava |
 |
| More rain ahead as we say bye bye Czech republic |
No comments:
Post a Comment