Josh went for a run this morning that lasted about 2 hours and probably ran around 8 miles around the city. He hit all the major areas in the city and was able to familiarize himself with the surroundings. He also stopped along the way to take a few pictures of places he wanted to visit. After he got back, he made egg sandwiches for lunch and we got ready to explore the city again. We started walking towards the castle again, josh wanted to show me the royal gardens. Bad idea, there was an event happening in the gardens and it was packed. There were people everywhere! And the weather was completely different than the day before, it was rather warm and sunny, which was nice, but we were not dressed for the heat! Anyways we made way through the gardens and apparently there was a festival going on with lots of drink and food vendors. Josh's ideal spot! We kept seeing people wait in an extremely long line for this bottle of what looked like yellow wine of some sort. And of course josh wanted to try it! But first we got this pretzel type thing that was coated with sugar and cinnamon. I have been seeing them throughout the city so why not try one here! It was very delicious! Then we headed to get josh his drink, I stood in the shade while he waited in line for 10+ minutes. Finally he got his beverage and it tasted like wine/beer and was very sweet. It was tasty, quenched our thirst on this hot day so we shared 2 glasses, put the rest in the backpack and continued exploring. We decided to walk to the Charles Bridge, which is the city's most famous monument. It was built in the fourteenth century and displays several important statues and holds many vendors during the day since it is a big tourist area. We decided to walk across another bridge parallel to the Charles Bridge and then make our way over there (that way I could take some pictures)! The bridge was very crowded so we walked a little bit on it and then decided it would be best to come back another day. We really didn't have anything else in mind to see today so we walked down the river a little bit until we found a tram stop. We then took it up a few stops, Josh was on a mission to see this church. So we got on the crowded tram (imagine that) and rode it for 2 stops and got off. No clue why we got off at this stop (josh was navigating) but surprisingly at the corner of the intersection stood the Dancing House. Designed by Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunic, it is also called "Fred and Ginger" after the shape of the buildings 2 towers, which look like a couple ballroom dancing. It was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996. The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time because the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous and in the opinion of some it does not accord well with these architectural styles. Such a cool building! After we took a few pictures, we hopped back onto the tram and rode a few more stops before getting off again to see this church. Noted this area was on a huge hill and we could only see the 2 open work spires of the church from the ground therefore we had no clue how to get to it! So we walked and walked until we found a sign with the church that pointed this way. But there was this huge hill that we had to walk up to get inside. Me being the skeptical person was unsure that it was the right way because it led up through a residential area so I made josh walk up and make sure that it was an entrance before I had to climb the hill. Last thing I want to do is climb a hill and it not be the correct way to enter the grounds. So he made his way up, I waited until he said it was right and we finally got to the top. This place is called Vysehrad which means "high castle" (and that it is)! We walked around the grounds, mostly on the outer edge with views of the city to the right, about approximately 2.5miles from the center of Prague. We walked to the Church of Sv Petr and Pavel, looked inside and then continued to the Vysehrad Cemetery. It is the final resting place of many composers, artists, sculptors, writers, and those from the world of science and politics. As we walked around, we didn't see anything that looked castle like, it was more of a fortress and later we learned that local legend holds that Vyšehrad was the location of the first settlement which later became Prague. By this time, I was getting irritable, hungry and tired of being out and wanted to go home. But we could not figure out how to get out so we continued to walk around until we found one exit. Then we had to figure out how to get back to the tram stop and then what tram we needed to take to get back home. We got it all figured out, and got home roughly 45 minutes later (there was a lot of traffic throughout the city which slows down the trams because the cars are in the way for them to run). We came home and relaxed for the rest of the night. Also we researched that drink that we purchased at the festival and it is called Burcak and for 2 weeks at the end of September, temporary stalls on street corners sell the years partially fermented new wine. Since it is an annual thing, no wonder there was extremely long lines for this stuff!
From Josh's morning run...not too many people out yet...this is Old Town Square
Fabulous photos....great color...
ReplyDeleteloving your blog..great writing...
Lauren, perhaps you might look into a cooking class in Prague...ha ha! The Dancing House is amazing...what does the interior look like, I wonder.....so exciting to read of your adventures....xxx