Prague of my Dreams

Beautiful, serene river

July 4: Our last full day in Prague, and it was another gorgeous morning. As we ate breakfast, we watched the swans traverse the river--kind of like what we would be doing around Prague all day.

We started the day by walking about a quarter block to the Dancing House (you can probably guess why it's been named that):

Frank Gehry partnered with Czech architect Vladimir Milunić on this building, which houses offices, a hotel, a bar on the rooftop--and a big fly.

Walking on, we came upon more Stolpersteine:

I felt a continuing need to record these people whose lives were cut short through no fault but that of daring to live in the first place.

Our destination this morning was Vyšehrad and the cemetery there. Local legend has it that this hill was the site of the first settlement that later became Prague. The settlement we were interested in, however, is the one housing the famous dead of Czechia--the cemetery, where Dvorák, Smetana, and many other notables, are interred.

Walking along the river to the place where we would climb the hill, we encountered numerous barges, most of them with bars and one with a large swimming pool, beach, bars, and restaurant. But there was also this one:

This memorial bell #9801 was unveiled last summer to commemorate the 9,801 bells confiscated by the Germans during WWII. This bell, which weighs a symbolic 9,801 kg, was rung exactly 80 years after all those bells were collected and sent away to be melted down for weapons. They were not replaced after the war because the communist authorities weren't interested in restoring churches. Yet another reminder of how wars affect every aspect of life long after the initial effect.

The landing next to that bell was being enjoyed by a family of swans:

Walking on, we encountered another building with no particular pedigree, but with interesting architectural details.

I'm so envious of these cities that are full of buildings that are not even "special" or important but that are still built with attention to decorative detail and beauty.

Up the hill we went, stopping often to admire the view as we went higher. Arriving at the top, we were suddenly within the walls of the Vyšehrad complex. After admiring the mosaics above the doors of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul...

...we entered the cemetery to find the graves of Czechia's favorite composers--and other famous native sons and daughters. We wandered for some time before realizing that at the entrance there was a pretty good map of the cemetery, and corresponding aisle markers. So we did in fact find Dvorák...

...Smetana...

...Jirí Menzel (filmmaker, best known for Closely Watched Trains)...

...Hana Mašková, Olympic figure skater, who died at age 22 in a car crash...

...and other people whose graves were especially stunning artworks:

We finally tore ourselves away from one of the most artistic cemeteries I'd ever seen and returned to the Basilica (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._Peter_and_St._Paul,_Prague), where I was immmediately intrigued by the cobblestone mosaic at the entrance:

This neo-Gothic church was initially constructed in the 11th century, remodeled in the 14th century, and then again in the 1880s. We had originally intended to forego paying to enter the church, but after peering through a window at the interior decided we should go inside. We'll be forever grateful for that decision, for this church was unlike any other we saw in our entire European tour (and we saw a lot of churches). Yes, the building was Gothic, and some of the decor and furnishings were of that and Baroque style, but every surface was painted with beautiful Art Nouveau images. Indulge me, please, by enduring loads of photos of this interior.

The painters of this breathtaking church are František Urban and his wife Marie Urbanová-Zahradnická, inspired by Alfons Mucha.

A nod to Cindy's former place of employment with the Dominican priory, St. Albert's in Oakland:

The magic of Prague had once again seized our hearts and imaginations.

We finally headed back down the hill, stopping for a couple of photos:

We saw a bird we didn't recognize, and it very generously gave me plenty of opportunities to photograph it for ID purposes:

It's a Eurasian Jay. Beautiful!

We were next on our way across the city, to visit a park and have lunch at some small cafe recommended by Rick Steves. A tram ride and long walk uphill later--where we again came across a cluster of Stolpersteine...

...finally arriving at the cafe, where we discovered that it was closed for a deep cleaning or some such thing. 🫤

Well, we hadn't yet gone into the park, so we went forward to that, where we found a lovely, uncrowded beer garden with a stellar view of the city (listen up, Rick Steves):

After lunch, we made our way through the park to the giant metronome:

and another great view of the city:

Down the hill we went, to catch a tram to take us closer to the Charles Bridge,--waiting for the tram across from some awesome (other) bridge statues.

The next adventure would be to walk across the Charles Bridge, one of the most popular tourist sites in Prague.

But first (no-o-o-o-oo, not another church...), there was St. Nicholas Church very close to the bridge, and we had to go see it. It was kind of a mistake, after the basilica a few hours earlier. It felt like we had just been served a Long Island Iced Tea after having just imbibed the finest champagne in the world. This church definitely "went for Baroque," as the old joke says. I'm not giving you many of the photos I took there, because ... well, it was finally one church too many, directly on the heels of the best church of all.

I did kind of like this guy...it looks like it might be St George, but he looks like a little kid playing at dress up.

So that was St. Nicholas Church, after which we went to an ice cream shop to cleanse our palates. That worked--and on to the Charles Bridge, which was full of vendors and tourists. And statues! My oh my, there's another statue every few feet.

This one was quite interesting, and the dog was a nice addition.

Here's St. Vitus (getting ready to dance?).

And what the heck is this about?

It had been a long day of walking, so we headed back to our botel for a little R&R before dinner.

We had seen a few nice little Italian restaurants near Old Town Square, so we decided to see what we might be able to scare up for our last supper. Cindy and Edie also wanted to go back and get a photo of our first dinner location (KFC, remember that?). So we took the tram back to the square to find the KFC (and one of those little Italian restaurants).

Found this nearby:

And of course this:

But best of all, THIS:

An absolutely wonderful family-run restaurant that just mellowed out our day. I might go back to Prague just to go to that restaurant again. Lovely.

After dinner, we walked back out onto the Charles Bridge for a sunset view, and came upon a couple of excellent musical acts.

Celebrating our time in Prague

But the evening wasn't quite done. We walked over to the other end of the bridge to survey that immediate area, and I saw an intriguing business that I would have loved to visit: