Prague Castles

Thank you everyone for the kind comments from my last post. Today we decided to check out the Royal Palaces of Prague. Again a place heaving with tourists so go early! Apparently, it’s nice to walk around the area at night too. It’s an absolutely amazing area of Prague. We hiked high up the hill and got a short stay pass for the palace area…gorgeous views…

We headed first to St. Vitus Cathedral…wow!…

Next, the Old Royal Palace of the Bohemian Kings with a good view of the city below…

I actually thought that St. George’s Basilica was the most interesting church on the site as it was by far the oldest…

Finally, the Golden Lane. Houses of palace workers built into the castle wall. It’s amazing how little space one actually needs! I loved the Seamstress’ house best of course. Up until around WWII people still lived in these…

It’s amazing what you can see in one morning! I’m at the slalom course now watching the C1 men’s semi-final. I’ll leave you with some other city shots from this fairytale city…

Prague

Did I mention I do work as a teacher? School started last week but this week the World Canoe Slalom Championships started in Prague and John and I had long planned to go away for this. (Many will know John has been involved with British Canoeing on and off for years and is now writing articles for Sportscene.) I think it’s quite hysterical that I’ve taken 5 days off at the beginning of the school year. I’m sure the parents are thinking, “teachers, don’t they get enough holiday!” Oh well, the kids will survive and they are in good hands I’m sure.

Now to the good stuff, Prague…John has always wanted to take me to Prague from the moment we said we were going to move. It’s his favourite city and for good reason. It really is historic and magical. It’s also very easy to navigate and feels very comfortable, even though the city centre is heaving with tourists. On our first day we dropped into the slalom course to get our media packs…

Then we grabbed the subway into Wenceslas Square (yes, I can’t stop singing “Good King Wenceslas…”) and what do we see first thing up…

Now trust me I’m NOT one of those touristy tourists that eats at a McDonalds because it’s all I recognise but come on who can resist a Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) in it’s 10 year anniversary year!

After a taste of home, we hit some of the top sites…a bridge built in 1357, a famous astronomical clock, views of the castle etc…

Today, before we went to the course for the first heats, we spent some time in the old Jewish Ghetto area. It was amazing to see. It’s one of those places that you can’t comprehend because of it’s age and history. It’s actually unreal that it wasn’t all destroyed in the Second World War. For some reason I wasn’t quite aware of the rich Jewish history in Prague. Synagogues in the area date back to the 13th century, I believe. One of the most chilling sites is the Jewish cemetery which is a very small area that is about 10 layers deep (you can imagine through history they weren’t given much space)…

The below Synagogue was not the most beautiful (that’s the Spanish Synagogue) but it was the most moving. It has written on the walls the names of some 80,000 people that were exterminated by the Nazis in WWII who were from Prague and the surrounding area. It was interesting to note that we were seeing the names written for a second time. During the communist occupation of Prague the names were erased from the walls. They were only to be put back after 1989 when the Iron curtain fell…

I think John was glad I dragged him on this particular excursion. I think it’s important to see places like these. We must remember.

Afterwards, we found an amazing cafe to debrief. Mmmmmmmmmm…