Day Fortyseven - Jul 7, 2012
Prague, Czech Republic
Daily Didactic
We can't think of the last time we voluntarily got out of bed at 5:15am. That said (on the advice of some good friends who were here last year), we lept out of bed as the room started to get light and walked around the corner to Charles Bridge. We got there just in time to watch the sun rise over the rooftops of old town. It was pretty beautiful. It was just us, a handful of tripod wielding photographers, and a group of American high school kids with their chaperone. How someone got them out of bed that early is beyond Brian. Originally intending to go back to bed, we decided instead to get a cup of coffee and head down the east bank of the Vltava River to see a Frank Gehry building, Dancing House. Pretty crazy, that Mr. Gehrry. On our way back we stumbled across a film crew stopping some pretty angry traffic, shooting a herd of vintagely dressed Vespa riders. Interesting to watch. We walked back up the Mala Strada side of the Vltava River, through a nice park and stopped back at the apartment long enough to make some breakfast. Fed, we headed up the street to Prague Castle. A 700 year old compound, the place was more of a walled village than a castle. It was all quite impressive, apparently medieval rulers were not short on cash. A few hours later, we descended to our pad and had a little lunch. In the early afternoon we headed toward the Municipal House and bought tickets for the 4:00 tour. While we waited we started off for the Jewish Quarter to walk amidst a concentration of art deco architecture, but an early afternoon thunder shower forced us into an Irish Pub for an hour or so. Tired, it didn't devastate either of us. We made it back to the Municipal Building by 4:00 and enjoyed a fun tour of a building that is a tribute to all things art deco. As we left, the sun had come back out and we walked home through the Jewish Quarter. True to advertising, the neighborhood is a collection of well preserved buildings sporting art deco design and decoration. In the early evening light, very pretty to look at. On the way back across the bridge north of Charles Bridge (great idea) we ran into our second film crew of the day, this time apparently filming a commercial. Exhausted, we grabbed a little dinner and headed home. We called it a really long day and set the alarm early for a train to Vienna.
Today's Photos
