Monday, 14 April 2014

The Castle

We decided to take a short walking tour of Prague, starting at Wenceslas Square which is not a square at all but a long avenue. We remembered the name so well from our own memories of Dubcek and the Prague Spring. There were memorials to two students who died protesting about the Russian occupation in August 1968. Tom remembered meeting busloads of Czechs on campsites in Germany and Austria when he was travelling in early September. They had been taking advantage of the more liberal regime to travel abroad for the first time. When the Russians invaded they did not know whether to return home or try to stay in the west. Our guide was 11 when all this took place, and remembered feelings of oppression rather than fear. She had been unable to study her chosen subject and had become a Civil Engineer which she hated.

There are plenty of Easter Markets selling crafts and food. The sun kindly shone on our first day as we headed to Old Town Square, where we learned about the Astronomical Clock. Our tour finished with a boat trip on the river. From there we could see Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge. As we approached the place to disembark we could see a considerable police presence. Our guide had told us there was a local football derby on that afternoon and the fans started to March over the bridge accompanied by a heavy police presence. They seemed peaceful at first but then the firecrackers started and we assume that wasn't allowed as many fans were marched off, presumably missing the match. It was an opportunity to take some revealing photos of the Prague police in action!

We left the walking tour to climb to the castle ourselves, admiring the Charles Bridge and the views from the ramparts. Choosing the tickets to visit 4 areas of the castle, it was a pleasant surprise to get them for half price because we were pensioners. One of the highlights was seeing the window where two  politicians were thrown out of the window, leading to the Thirty Years War. I could remember "the defenestration of Prague" but didn't remember they survived the fall because they landed in the midden! How much more interesting this makes history. The churches were spectacular but the highlight was Golden Lane, a street of tiny houses built into the castle walls where various traders lived. I think J.K. Rowling must have visited as it looked like a model for Diagon Alley. As the tickets lasted for two days the Royal Palace was left till Sunday. We needed to put our feet up after all that walking.

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