We left DFW on AA 78 on May 9, and had a good overnight flight, on which we both got at least four hours sleep. Our first flight connecting to Prague was supposed to be full, but we fortunately got on and were in Prague by 6:15 pm. Our hotel is only one block from the main tourist attraction, the Old Town Square, so after we checked in, we went over there and had a pizza in an outdoor cafe. We were in bed by 10 o'clock.
Sunday morning we walked around a great deal. We stopped in at two churches, for high Mass. The first, St. James, was enormous, and we left when the priest started giving the sermon in Czech. We then walked to the Tyn Church, which had a wonderful high Mass with great music - organ, trumpets, and professional singers. We stayed for half the Mass.
We then walked across the Charles Bridge (see picture) and a few blocks beyond, had a beer at a sidewalk restaurant and walked back over the river on another bridge to get back to the hotel for our 3:00 meeting of the tour group.
After the introductory meeting, the group took a tram and the Metro to Vishyrad, the original fortified position at Prague in about the tenth century. It is now a park. Our tour guide, Honza Vihan, gave a good introduction to early Czech history. We also visited the National Cemetery, which is only for leading intellectual figures. Dvorshak and Smetana are buried there. We then went to a tour group dinner at a nearby restaurant. We got back to the hotel late and very tired from all the walking. (I am in an internet cafe now, while Mary Ellen is sleeping).
Today, we got up early to beat the hordes to Prague Castle. We were there by 9 am, and saw St. Vitus Cathedral, the Royal Palace, and several other places on the Palace Hill. Our formal tour activities ended at noon. We had a light lunch at a sidewalk Cafe, and then went to the Lobowitz Palace, which opened to the public only last year. The family was a renowned feudal family that had several castles and other properties in what is now the Czech Republic. Its properties were confiscated by the Nazis, returned after the war, and then confiscated again by the Communists. The current government returned them and the Lobowitzs are now trying to make a tourist attraction out of it. Here is a picture of Prague Castle.
The weather has been perfect -- dry, mid 70s. and cloudless skies -- and is forecast to continue this way all week. We have been very lucky.
