September 15, 2026

Tuesday

Praha, Czech Republic

Good morning! This is a day off! Well, maybe. We stayed around the room, organizing and thinking about the time we are going to be in Torino. We had sent out of laundry yesterday and it was waiting in the room when we got back yesterday afternoon. Very expensive, but we didn’t have to do anything to end up with clean clothing.

We had breakfast late, close to 10 when the breakfast room closes. We decided to walk through Staré Mésto (Old Town) and make our way to the Charles Bridge. The crusade is the oldest surviving bridge over the Vltava River. Apparently, it is special because it has 30 Baroque Statues. Ok, big, massive medieval gothic stone bridge. The interesting part of the role of astrology in its inception.

The point is that King Charles IV ordered its construction to begin on July 9, 1357 at exactly 5:31 AM. The date, when written in European form of the time, is 135797, add it that a starting time of 531, and you get a palindrome – meaning it is the right to left and left to right – 135797531. The statues are 17th and 18th century additions. The originals of which are in museums. People believe touching the plaque beneath the status of St. John of Nepomuk will beyond them luck. Yes, the brass is nice and shinny due to the fact people believe this.

Does anyone even know who he is? St. John of Nepomuk is the patron saint of bridges, confessors, and protectors against floods. Why is he famous? Well King Wenceslaus IV threw him into the Vltava River in 1393. Apparently, the king wanted to know what his wife, the queen, confessed to her priest, John of Nepomuk. It pissed the king off so he threw him in the river. He is a Saint for keeping his mouth shut. That is a saintly thing to do, this brings you luck? John wasn’t particularly lucky if you ask me.

There are impressive and imposing Gothic defensive towers stand at both ends of the Charles bridge. The most impressive is the one in Old Town (Staroměstská mostecká věž). You can pay to climb the stairs inside; we chose to simply walk across the bridge. The other side of the river is called Malá Strana (Lesser Town). It is called so because it was smaller than the Old Town across the river. Man are they cleaver.

We left the bridge and walked straight ahead up Mostecká (street?). Somewhere along the way it changed its name to Malostranské Naměstí. We can to a small square which housed Malostranský Chrám s.v. Miluláše (St. Nicholas Church). Mary wanted to sit for a while so we went inside. Even with the over 65 discount it still cost us 90 CZK ($4.50) each to enter.

The story of the church is basically the same as all of them, or at least it is beginning to seem so. So and so built a church here in the 12th, 13th or 14th century, some miracle occurred, there may not have been a fire or reformation or something that destroyed the old church. Father, monk, Jesuit, Pope or King came along and built a new one in the 17th or 18th century, and it took 100 years or more to build. This one, like most of the others, “is one of the most valuable Baroque buildings north of the Alps”. Each of them has a different claim, but they all have some claim.

This is not apathy. Nor am I getting jaded. The church is beautiful. The gilded statues are really beautiful, as it is the building as a whole. The wood carving on the remaining pews is remarkable and show considerable craftsmanship. The frescos are interesting. They are all worth seeing, but really must everything be marketing?

When you think about it, even building the churches was marketing. Either showing someone how great I am or being convinced that it will somehow save my sole. It showed people that the church was powerful and they were weak. It is all about control.

After the church we took a “vintage” car tour of Praha. The truth was we didn’t really want to walk all the way back to the hotel. We did get to see some neighborhoods we might not have seen walking. We did get to see what is called the Dancing House, a modern architecture building which is supposed depict Ginger and Fred dancing.

In the Vintage Car outside our hotel

We saw the two fighter jets with butterfly wings attached to the side of a building. A rotating metallic head of Franz Kafka. It was a fun ride and we did see some thing we might not have if we just walked it.

Mary wanted to take a river cruise, so we booked a “sunset” cruise on the Vltava River. The hotel suggested we use Prague Boats for the tour. If you go down to the riverside between the Čechiův Most and Máesův Most (Most = bridge) along Dvořákovo nábř. (Street) you will see 17 or 18 different slips. One of these is Prague Boats.

The hotel had made a reservation for us at 18:00. The young woman at the front desk suggested we get refer a half hour early. We got down there, but finding the right slip wasn’t that easy, then we had to trade our hotel voucher in for an actual ticket. There was a long line, looked like one or two tour groups, for the 18:00 boat. The woman in the employ office suggested we take the 18:30 it would have fewer people.

We opted for the 18:30. After everyone had boarded the 18:00 boat, we got in line, at the front of course, for the 18:30. The 18:30 had a lot fewer people and was probably a much better “cruise”. We sailed south down the Vltava River from slip 4 towards the Charles Bridge. When we passed under the Palackého Most we made a U-turn and headed down river (north) to Vyhídka Štvanice, a small island in the river. The turn around points are where the dikes are which control the depth of the river. Can’t go any further.

 This is a Charles Bridge on the Old Town End.

There are dinner cruises, but most looked like the boats were tied to the shore during dinner. Out whole cruise lasted all of forty minutes, so the only way you could cruise long enough to actually eat dinner would be to make a couple U-turns, or eat really fast. The views from the river are different and quite lovely. I am not sure photos really capture the beauty. We did enjoy an aperol spritz and mimosa, and a few chips on the cruise. Being first we also got a great seat one the bow.

The Charles Bridge - Lower Town Side

Looking across Lower Town towards Praha Castle.

Look up at Praha Casle you can see the spires of Katedrála sv Vita (St. Vitus Cathedral)

After we got back to the hotel we decided we should get something to eat. We just went next door to the Hotel Maximilian. We sat in the bar and had steak and fries, and onion soup, water and wine. It was a lovely way to close out our stay in Praha.

We have enjoyed Praha and would probably visit again if we have time. The food, people and atmosphere are really great. There are still many things we just didn’t have time to see.

Buonanotte & Ciao

Enrico and Maria