Prague- castles, cars, clocks and beer

Prague is a fary tale city, with slender spires, castles on the sky line, a romantic river and cobbled streets.
To see it from the river at night when all the buildings are flood lit is to catch some of the beauty and splendour. Prague was fortunate not have had much war damage, so the atmosphere is one of a well preserved historical centre, with a lively contemporary life.

Prague castle is well guarded by stern young men, who vounteer for the job, but ony have to spend one hour at a time- partly because of the icy cold, and partly I suspect because of the foolish tourists, lke this one, who insist on posing for photos.

The huge castle complex has stood on top of a hill for over 1000 years doing a great job of protecting the city. It is immaculately clean and maintained, with a large and beautiful church, St Vitus cathedral, and views across the Vltava river.

In the old town square is the famous astronomical clock, which demonstates a very advanced scientific understanding that the earth moves around the sun. We were shocked to learn that , when the clock was finished, the brilliant creator was blinded, so he could never make another.

We made a brief visit to the pilgrimage church of Our Lady Victorious, home of the infant Jesus - this is an antique doll which is who is dressed up in different clothes according to the season, , displayed in a gold surrounded baroque fantasia, and venerated by millions.

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A tour with no photos but a beauty I will never forget was a guided tour through the Municipal House, the state buildings, proudly paid for entirely with CZ money, designed and built by Czechs,, in 1905-1912, all in Art Nouveau. We saw 9 rooms, which open one to the next. Do have a look at it here. http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=649
I loved the art nouveau details. Bevelled edge mirrors, hand embroidered hangings, huge nationalistic frescoes, theme rooms, such as the Oriental room, and the Ladies room .
My souvenirs were postcards and two ‘antique buttons’ turned into brooches- a great idea.
Prague is the location for many movies- our excellent guide Kaspar showed us where some movies were filmed , including Amadeus, Mission Impossible, The Illusionist, Fatherland.

Near Prague is Pilsen, home of beer, on a very large complex of five breweries. we tested the Pilsen and pronounced it good.

Also nearby is the Skoda factory.During the war, Skoda was the SS car of choice, and therefore very unpopular with the local Czechs. After the war it was known as a cheap but poorly made vehicle. Now it has been bought by Chrysler and is apparently very much better. The Octavia is their best seller.

Prague is one of the places I hope to return to- its present day beauty, its noble history, its range of cultural activities, the photographc opportunities.See the next blog!