Prague’s New Town & Hidden Places #TuesdayTravels

Tuesday Travels

Tuesday Travels is back with a post about Prague’s New Town and some interesting places we visited. I didn’t mean to put Tuesday Travels on hiatus for six weeks, but July was an exceptionally busy month, what with the #AuthorLove event, and I can only manage so many blogs per week!

Rebecca and I signed up for a walking tour of Prague’s hidden places. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we weren’t disappointed. The tour took us to areas we hadn’t explored yet, including some real oddities. Like this moving statue of the head of Franz Kafka called Metalmorphosis, by eccentric Czech artist David Černý, known for once having painted a Soviet-era tank pink. This statue is made of metal plates and is constantly in motion, making it difficult for newcomers to figure out what it is. Wish I’d thought to take a video rather than just a still shot. You can view ten controversial sculpture’s by Černý here

Kafka Head statue

Our guide took us to two vintage shopping malls. The first, Lucerna Palace, was built in the 1920s, in the old, solid architectural style. It’s beautiful inside, but also graced by another strange sculpture by David Černý, this one of Czech hero, King Wenceslas, riding a dead, upside-down horse! It’s apparently supposed to be an ironic twist to the heroic statue of the king in nearby Wenceslas Square.

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I was glad our walking tour included Wenceslas Square, as teh included tour in our river cruise/tour did not take us here. Wenceslas Square is the center of Prague political activity. This is where people gathered to watch first the Nazis march into Prague, followed by the Red Army 5-6 years later. The square is also where peopled gathered to protest and/or revolt, in both 1968 revolt and the Velvet Revolution of 1989 when Soviet hegemony ended peacefully. Here are a few of my photos of Wenceslas Square. You can see what a beautiful day it was.

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I couldn’t resist including a photo of the brewery, as Budvar aka the real Budweiser, is my favorite Czech beer. I had some on draft while we were there and it was delicious. Sadly, the bottle I bought here was skunky. But beer is always better on draft.

On the way back to Old Town we stopped at another vintage mall, Černá Růže (Black Rose) built in the 1930s in a historic palace. Actually, it is two buildings joined by an arcade, one from the 1840’s and the other from the 1930s, though the site has been occupied since the Middle Ages and was once a coaching inn. The day we were there, the ceiling was decorated with a delightful display of colorful umbrellas. It was prophetic as our beautiful September weather disappeared in a rain storm as we entered October.

The mall contains a large outlet of the Moser crystal shops, located in the older of the two buildings. The crystal pieces were lovely, but outside of my price range.

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We passed the headquarters building of the Communist Party, which is appropriately red.

Commie Party HQ

Communist Party HQ, Prague

I’ve rambled on too long here, so I’ll stop. Next week, Prague Castle up close.

Linda

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Beautiful Enchanting Cesky Krumlov #TuesdayTravels #CzechRepublic

Tuesday Travels

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When we were planning our trip to Europe last fall, a friend said “You have to include a day in Cesky Krumlov!” I’d never heard of the town before, so I immediately did an Internet search and started drooling over pictures of this glorious fairy-tale town set along the Vltava River as it meanders through southern Bohemia. Like Old Town Prague, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Vltava River winding its way through Cesky Krumlov

We took an all-day tour from Prague which entailed about a two-hour drive through the lovely Bohemian countryside to our destination. We got off the bus at the castle and after a visit to the loo and a photo stop, we followed our guide down to the town along the river. Lots of cobblestones, of course.

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The Medieval town of Krumlov was settled between the 8th and 12th centuries, but the town we see today is from a later period. The castle was built in the 14th century after the original aristocrats, the Vitek family, had died off. Their property passed to relatives known as Rozmberk, but generally referred to by their German name of Rosenberg. They were one of the most powerful families in the area and the ones who put Cesky Krumlov on the map, so to speak. They also added Cesky to the town’s name in the mid-15th century.

Rosenberg knight

House with picture of Rosenberg knight in armor.

We wandered through the rest of the town and ended the walking tour at a park with a nice view. The colored map of the town we found there gives a good idea of the topography.

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After the walking tour ended, Rebecca and I headed for one of the riverside restaurants and chose Parkan Restaurant where we ate on a patio by the river. After the crowded streets, it was a nice peaceful place to dine and with a lovely view. I ordered trout, which was delicious, and to my delight, they served my favorite Czech beer, Budvar. (Originally known as Budweiser before that American company stole the name.) Budvar is almost certainly the best lager in the world, esp. when on draft. I was disappointed to see how Pilner Urquell has pretty well locked up Prague, because it’s not nearly as good as Budvar, in my opinion, at least.

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After lunch we had time to do some shopping before heading back up to the castle for our tour. Alas, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the castle.

If you ever get a chance to travel to this part of the world, I recommend a visit to Cesky Krumlov, esp. if you’re a romantic like me.

Linda