We first went to the Old Town Square.
The Astronomical Clock.
Camille - the ultimate tourist - in front of a yummy sweet bread stand in the Old Town Square.
This old man started singing to us in the middle of the Square.
We headed towards the other side of the river to see the John Lennon Wall, St. Nicholas Church, and the Prague Castle. There are a lot of bridges connecting Old Town to Lesser Town, but the Charles Bridge is famous for its statues and is filled with street vendors.
Behind us is the Charles Bridge.
Camille and I had the John Lennon Wall to ourselves. We had so much fun messing around with the hotel's umbrella as a prop (real mature, right?). We spent over an hour messing around and taking pictures.
Here is a little history on the wall: John Lennon was a hero to the pacifist youth of Central and Eastern Europe during the totalitarian era. When communism ruled, pop music was banned by Communist authorities. Communists especially didn't like John Lennon because his music praised a freedom that didn't exist in the communist countries. After John Lennon's death, his picture was painted on this wall, along with other graffiti defying the authorities. People continued to graffiti on the wall, writing their hopes and dreams. The police tried to whitewash over the Lennon portrait and messages, but could never keep the wall clean. Today, the wall is covered with messages of love and peace.
The John Lennon Wall.
The John Lennon Wall.
We then headed to the St. Nicholas Church. It was small, but one of the prettiest churches I've seen yet.
The weather cleared up, so we hiked up to the Castle hoping to get a good view of the city. Prague Castle is the biggest castle in the world. It was packed with tourists and a little overwhelming, but I'm glad we made the effort to go see it.
When researching Prague, I read that you can get a great view of the city by climbing up the Staromestska Mostecka Vez Tower on the Old Town Side of The Charles Bridge.
Paddle boating the river was at the top of my Prague checklist after Rachel told me how much fun she had one lazy afternoon while she was in Prague. Camille and I took advantage of the good weather, nervous that it wouldn't last the entire trip, and took up Rachel's recommendation. Camille and I drank Czech beer and listened to the iPod while paddling around for two hours. This was probably my favorite activity of the entire trip.
We had good Italian right on the river for dinner. We were there for over two hours, but had a good view of the Charles Bridge and Castle at sunset.
Grossetto Mariano! Our dinner spot - another Rachel recommendation.
We tried to explore Prague's night life, but it was pretty slow being a Sunday. We went to a small pub recommended by an older Theta for a beer and called it a night.
Prague Castle and Charles Bridge at night.
This is very random, but I painted some of the John Lennon wall in your photos. The blue words "Sun is..." at the very bottom right, among other things. They are the lyrics to Dear Prudence.
ReplyDeleteI was there all alone painting at from Midnight until two, and when I came back the next morning, someone had already come and painted the beautiful portrait you are standing next to. It was kind of one of those magical moments you don't forget.
I've been searching for photos of how the John Lennon wall has changed since I left Prague. It is such a fantastic testament to love and unity.
I am glad I found your blog post.