In Prague 1, Part 2

Monday September 21st

Once down from the Castle, we walked through some very picturesque streets with beautiful buildings, on our way back down to the Charles Bridge.




I mentioned the bridge last night, so I won't repeat myself here, but will just add that originally the Charles Bridge was devoid of any ornamentation, except for a wooden cross that was placed at its center. In the seventeenth century the cross was replaced by a bronze crucifix. The first statue - of St. John of Nepomuk - was added in 1683. There are now 30 statues, of which I think the one below is the biggest.



It represents the time the area came under the rule of the Turks. You might just be able to see the raised arms of the miserable people kept in prison under the main group. This photo isn't helped by the passer-by in the blue coat, but it's hard to take photos on the bridge, there are so many people.

There are beautiful river views from the bridge, so we spent some time admiring them, though the sky had unfortunately clouded over by then.



This is a view from slightly further along the bridge, showing the back of the Old Town, with many beautiful buildings.



It takes a while to walk across the bridge, there are so many people. Eventually, we made our way to the Old Town Square.



This is another picturesque place where we'll try to return, but there's so much to see, it's difficult to imagine how we will find the time.

By now it was lunch time, so we stopped to eat. After lunch, we walked through some very smart streets full of expensive shops located in some of the beautiful buildings.


This was absolutely the most beautiful, and if my photo doesn't end up too small, you will see that it is occupied by Bulgari. I was standing outside Prada when I took this photo, and had recently passed Louis Vuitton. There are not places where we shop - you may see Paul striding swiftly past! (He can't buy me a birthday present anyway, he has no money and no cards, thanks to the pickpocket.)

Eventually, we made our way back to the coach which returned us to the hotel about 3.30. Many of our group stayed in for the rest of the day, being too exhausted to do any more walking, having walked for about 4 hours.

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