DAY 45
Tuesday JUNE 14 2005
The day started with an early morning walk across Charles Bridge. It was so lovely and peaceful. The warm air was so soft against my skin and the views were beautiful and over it all was the wonderful smell of fresh water and green trees. I could take walks like that forever!
Later in the day it would get sunnier and hotter, but right now the temperature is so perfect for walking.
Do you see the man in the lower left hand corner? He is spending his morning fishing on the cool water in the warm sunshine.
Two touring cyclist are just now leaving the bridge. I was so envious for them, but then I thought "Hey, I am here too! Just not by bicycle." This is one of the best days of the tour so far!
e
One of my favorite photos, can you guess why?
What a work of art!
After that the whole tour group took a guided walk to the local castle, by way of many interesting neighborhoods. It was extremely interesting and the girl that gave the walk really made it come alive for me. For instance, in Czech Republic the iron curtain has only been down for sixteen years. That is why they still have the scam mentality, but more than that the tour guide, Sarka, explained that all people had a book kept on them and their children. If you or even your parents went to church, you could not own a car, or keep a job. Some churches were even taken over and turned into luxury hotels, such as shown the picture below.
This is what the majority of the buildings looked like sixteen years ago. Sarka says that the reason the town of Prague is looking as beautiful as it does is because of tourist dollars.
For instance, this whole statue hanging off the corner of the building was plastered in so many years ago nobody remembered it was there. Then when it came time to be renovated the plasters found this. Amazing!
The castle in the distance.
After walking through the town, Sarka, then took us on a tour of the castle. Be aware the place is crawling and infested with people everywhere. If large oppressive crowds aren't your thing then skip this. Otherwise here are the following pictures.
Sarka.
That isn't marble, but fake paint. Pretty cool, looks real.
Views from the top.
Views from inside.
This room was used for jousting tournaments. Crazy big!
The ceiling of the jousting room.
My walk home. How nice. I am so glad I am not in an office cube right now!
After the castle and lunch and we had free time. So I went on a quest for wi-fi. Believe me it is very hard to find. What a hard quest! :-) After 20 minutes walking in the sunny weather I had to stop for a chocolate covered banana, then I listened to a live pianist, then I eventually found wi-fi at Grand Hotel Bohemia. Ah, what a life! :-)
By this time it was early evening so I decided to give Black Light Theater another chance. I went to the one and only one recommended in the Rick Steves guide book and let me tell you it was phenomenal! Absolutely stunning and a fest for the eyes. They wouldn't allow us to take pictures, but I tell you I would come all the way back to this city just to see another show.
If you ever get a chance go, go, go! But only go to IMAGE THEATER. Any other show by any other company is a purely poor imitation. It was absolutely the best way to spend my last night in Prague. Stunning imagery, awesome graphical images and an entertaining story. I watched the play with a man from our tour group named Charlie. He went on the Rick Steves Turkey Tour and we had a lot to talk about as I have been wanting to go for about five years now. He recommends that I should do the two week tour and then stay another two weeks and bike some of the country. After listening to all he had to say, I have to agree. Mmm...something to look forward to.
After the show we were heading back to Hotel Central when we spotted six other of the tour group. We all ended up walking for awhile through the lovely streets in the dark looking for a "to die for gelato shop". We walked and talked and laughed!
We told the story about how nine of us went out to eat and asked for separate checks. We were assured that it would not be a problem. When the checks came we had one check containing the drinks, one check containing the food, and one check containing the deserts. Ah, yes, that certainly is Czech services. :-)
I ended the night with great company, many humorous stories, good gelato, and tons of laughter. Altogether my favorite touring day. Good night.
