2014 PRAGUE: Day 4 Old Town Part II

June 28

We walked around the Square to catch another Tram across the river to the National Theatre.

The separate entrance to St. Nicholas' Bell Tower.  We had planned for Aaron to go up there but we took too long in the church and our tram tickets were about to expire.  Oh well, for next time!

A view of the Charles Bridge Towers along Mostecká

The 22 and 23 lines ran along our hotel, the Square and up the hill to the Castle, as well as a route to go over the Vltava river into Old Town and New Town.

Lunch time!  Jan our concierge recommended we go to a brewery called U Medvídků.  It's right up Aaron's alley!

Having another Czech dark beer

A little tidbit: The norm in Prague is waiters will bring out things you might not have ordered and will charge you extra if you end up eating it or not say anything about it, even if you don't eat it!  Americans are so used to having soups, salads or breads brought out automatically that we could be taken advantage of if we are not careful.  I had to tell the waiter we didn't want the bread basket to assure we were not charged extra for it just sitting on our table.

Since we just ate a large buffet breakfast and we didn't want to walk out of the way later to visit this beer garden, we decided to split a salad and a main dish.  We had a caesar salad (cesar variace 4 druhů čerstvých trhaných salátů, hoblinky z parmazánu a krutony, dresing) and pork steak with a homemade beer gravy and fries (vepřový řízek pana sládka s domácí omáčkou z piva, slainy a smažené cibulky, bramborové hranokly).

   

The history of the restaurant " U medvídků" dates back to 1466. Translated as "At the little bears", it has a unique tap.

 

 

 

It was a true Czech beer garden experience!  Aaron even found a bike jersey in Czech that he purchased! We walked on to Old Town.

We passed the Evangelical Church Martin in the Wall on the way.

My pilgrimage to the Estates Theatre is complete!  This historic 18th century building is where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart premiered Don Giovanni.  It might look tiny but it's actually a block long.

 

Walking toward the Gothic Powder Tower.  It is one of the city's original gates built in the 11th century.

Aaron making fun of me since I've been touching walls, gates, statues throughout the trip.  Hey it's historical!  Everything in Hawaii, and the U.S. for that matter is all so young compared to buildings in Prague.

Around the corner from the Tower is the Municipal House (Obecní dům). From 1383-1485 the King of Bohemia lived at this location. The Royal Palace was demolished in the early 20th century and the current building opened in 1912.  It has the Smetana Hall concert venue, shops and restaurants and no government functioning offices.    It was very busy with tourists today.

On our way back to the Square, we stumbled upon the 13th century Presbytery Church of St. James (Kostel Sv. Jakuba). The entrance bears three large scale bas-reliefs with scenes of celestial clouds and cherubs.  Some suspect that the church patron, Count Vratislav was buried here in his tomb alive since they found his corpse in a sitting position.

An even more eerie tidbit -- a thief's arm is hanging somewhere in the church!  The monks had to cut it off when the statue of Mary grabbed him during the burglary. (I found out the decayed arm was above our heads at the entrance!) What was really impressive though was the organ that was practicing.  I felt like the Phantom of the Opera was up there!  The music sent chills through me! 

    

The back view if the Church of Our Lady Before Týn (Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem) built in the 14th century in the Gothic style.

Another view of the Square with the Church of St. Nicholas in the center.  Don't confuse this church with the one in Malá Strana.  This Czechoslovak Hussite church was built in 1731 in a Baroque style by K. I. Dientzenhofer.

The National Gallery, the House of the Stone Bell Art Gallery (exhibit of Tim Burton), the Galley of Art Prague (exhibit of Dali and Warhol), shops and cafes in the foreground.

       

I found the Four Seasons Prague on my walk back to the hotel.  Not very impressive compared to all the architectual buildings around it but the location is right on the Vltava River.

I also passed the Clementinim (Klementinum) on my walk.  A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college.  It is now a historic complex of buildings that houses the National, University and Technical libraries.  My kind of place!