Foray into Eastern Europe

Little did I know all those years singing Christmas carols, the Good King Wenceslas was a real prince who ruled over Bohemia.  At present day, King Wenceslas’ land is the Czech Republic solidified in 1993 by the Velvet Revolution and subsequent Velvet Divorce.  I learned all these fascinating facts (and many more) on a private walking tour we ended up on by happenstance shortly after arriving in Prague.  We flew in at the crack of dawn to maximize sight-seeing time and conveniently stayed right off the main square pictured below. 

Main square of Prague

Our local tour guide spun tales of love, revolution, and history as we wandered from sight to sight.  We began in the main square to watch the changing of the hour from the astronomical clock.  It was fairly amusing to watch throngs of people gathered to see a small parade of apostle and a bell-ringing skeleton.   

Astronomical clock

The biggest tourist site of Prague is the elegantly formidable castle on the hill that overlooks the city.  We trucked up the hill with our guide to view the grounds and take in the soldiers who guard the gate similar to those in front of Buckingham palace.  Other fascinating tidbits from the tour included seeing the Prague Castle window where two Habsburg councilors were thrown in the early 1600’s.

Prague Castle

After the tour we walked across the famed Charles Bridge.  It spans the river from the Castle to the main city center of Prague and was built in the 1300s.  Another official was thrown from the bridge for disobedience and it is considered good luck to rub his foot on the statue the marks his last spot. 

Good luck here I come!

One morning while the rest of the group went shopping, I went to check out Josefov – Prague’s former Jewish Quarter.  The Jewish Museum is consortium of former synagogues and a cemetery.  I found the graveyard interesting.  The disheveled appearance came from a practice of burying one generation of people on top of the next.

Jewish graveyard

We of course sampled much of the local food and beer.  Everybody always raves about Czech beer and it didn’t disappoint.  Given the cold weather and how much time we spent walking around outside, I loved the gluwein (hot wine). Though I enjoyed the litany of dumplings, my favorite Prague gastronomic treat however was beef goulash.