Praha - Day 2

We walked to breakfast at MÜJ ŠÁLEK KÁVY. Amazing. I really wanted to try their cakes, but after my ridiculous pancakes I didn't have room! The only weird thing was that the hot chocolate was SO thick! It was like drinking fondue!

For our second day in Praha, we decided to focus on Hradčany (Prague Castle). After breakfast, we took the metro that direction then climbed the HUGE hill to the castle. Prague Castle is one of the more well-kept castles I've been too for two primary reasons: 1- parts of it really aren't all that old and 2- the president still lives there and the government still functions from there.

View on the way up.

The back and front of Katedrála sv. Víta

Inside the Katedrála

The sarcophagus of St. John of Nepomuk made from over 2 tones of silver.

After we toured the Katedrála, it was almost time for the changing of the guard so we walked out of the main gate to wait.

The main gate area.

The changing of the guard was at noon and is apparently the coolest display of the day. They are actually changing more than just the guards at each gate, but also the whole unit that is working at the time.

From there, we headed into the Prašná vêž (powder tower) where gunpowder was once stored but is now a museum of historical Czech military uniforms. 

I believe we then went to Starÿ královskÿ palác (the Old Royal Palace).

Followed by Bazilika sv. Jirí, St. George's Basilica.

Inside the Zlatá ulička (Golden Lane-- a somewhat historical residential street mostly converted into shops with some museum like rooms mixed in) there were museums of Czech armor and prison torture implements.

Lastly, we went to see the collection of gargoyles at Rožmberskÿ palác, Rosenburg Palace. 

After that, it was well past lunch time and I was getting hungry so, while we were up so high already, we decided to walk through the royal gardens back to the beer garden in Lentenské sady. The skate competition was starting up as we walked through.

Again, we worked on our wedding ceremony with a few beers, Kebap, and an awesome view! Excellent way to spend our engagement-aversery!!

After finishing the post-vows section of the ceremony, we headed down to Old Town. There really isn't a whole lot to see in this particular old town and the main draw is definitely the astronomical clock. We happened to be there around 6, so we go to see it do it's thing on the hour. Basically what happens is the two doors just above the clock open and a bunch of statues of saints parade past the windows. At the end, the golden rooster just above the two doors crows.

After looking at the clock, we walked back across the Charles Bridge and stumble on the John Lennon wall! Originally, it was used by students and others as a place to protest communism. At one point someone put up a picture of John Lennon and this type of protest became ironically known as Lennonism.

 

After the wall, we slowly wandered down to close the river at Most Legii and found this cool, modern building. 

Then, we headed to dinner at u Flekü, a Brewery and Restaurant. Their beer was tasty and the food was delicious. The restaurant apparently holds like 1200 people and their system works really well for that crazy number of people. They had plenty of waitstaffs who added what you ordered on a piece of paper every time you got anything from beers, to food, to shots. They brought around huge trays of beer (they only serve 1) and shots of local honey liquor. L had beef in a delicious creme sauce that was phenomonal and I had the beef goulash that is basically a really good beef stew! We also got the shots! The darker one is honey and it was delicious! The clear one tasted somewhere between licorice and nutmeg and was much stronger. After dinner we slowly meandered back to the hotel.