The final day of Prague and there wasn’t much to do but wander the town. I’m finding, to cover the major sites of most cities, two days is plenty. Three is really too short a time to arrange a trip to another town and return, so three days is the perfect quandary.
The plan was to visit the Jubilejni Synagogue, another important WWII Era monument, as a morning historical filler. But, upon arrival the synagogue was closed for the Shavuoth.
So instead, I walked past the Powder Tower and on to the internet café. Two and a half hours on line equals two days of posting. (I hope you enjoyed Mykonos. I had fun searching through which pictures to share.)
Prague is a city of many lives. If one ventures out before about 10:00am the city will be lightly populated with locals. After ten and the tourist dam breaks. Wenseslass Square, Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle become a sea of multi-lingual humanity. So, if you are interested in the beauty and charm of Prague, I definitely recommend exploring on the early side of the day. The evening is yet another crowd and more of the happy drunk scene. One definitely needs to watch your pockets, as in any city, but even after midnight the city feels generally safe.
The big city center meeting place is Wenseslass Square, complete with a 500 year old clock with moving parts.
The tourists flock here to gain position to watch the mechanical show, sometimes a half hour before the massive clock strikes the hour. After watching a death skeleton pull the chain to strike the hours and a few characters rotate, one tourist exclaimed, “That’s it?!” Well, it is 500+ year old technology…
(Skeleton at the three o'clock position.)
As a change of pace, I decided to take public transportation on the return trip to the airport. For comparison, this cost 20 KC or approximately $1 USD, as opposed to the 316 KC for a shared mini-bus. The Prague airport is a beautiful building. So much of the infrastructure for former Soviet block countries has been built in the last ten years that airtravel is a modern architectural adventure.
(Note the tiled world map in the floor.)
East Berlin falls into this category as well. Much of the city has been renovated or reconstructed that the Eastern portion of the city definitely rivals the West for comfort, activity, and style.
(View from the St. Christopher's Hostel window.)
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