Contents
- Preface
- San Francisco
- Amsterdam
- Amsterdam, Helmond
- Amsterdam, Zandvoort, Haarlem
- Amsterdam, Bruges
- Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin
- Berlin
- Berlin, Potsdam
- Berlin, Wansee
- Berlin, Prague
- Prague
- Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna
- Vienna
- Vienna, Salzburg, Füssen
- Füssen, Neuschwanstein, Munich
- Munich, Innsbruck
- Innsbruck
- Innsbruck, Zürich, Lauterbrunnen
- Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
- Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn
- Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
- Zermatt
- Zermatt, Martigny, Chamonix
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, Aosta, Turin
- Barcelona
- Barcelona, Sitges
- Barcelona
- Milan, Venice
- Venice
- Venice
- Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre
- Cinque Terre, La Spezia
- Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence
- Florence
- Florence
- Florence, Siena
- Siena, San Gimignano, Rome
- Rome
- Rome
- Rome, Sorrento
- Sorrento, Vesuvius, Pompeii
- Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello
- Sorrento, Capri, Naples
- Naples, Bari
- Patras, Athens, Mykonos
- Mykonos
- Mykonos
- Mykonos, Paros, Santorini
- Santorini
- Santorini, Athens
- Athens
- Athens, Amsterdam, San Francisco
Prev :: Monday, 12 September 2005 :: Next
11. Prague
Photo Gallery
This was the day to really see the sights of Prague. I started by walking across the river and riding the funicular up to Petrin hill. Atop this hill is a little Eiffel Tower, which I climbed, with a great view of the castle and the Old Town. I tried to contour around to the west to get to the castle, but there are walls around the park in inconvenient places. So it seems better to head straight down into the ravine and then back up the other side. This way I also got to pass the church of St Nicolas, with its great Baroque interior. The approach to the castle is very beautiful, with a terraced garden leading up the steep hillside. The castle itself is a weird mixture of styles, with the very impressive Gothic cathedral of St Vitus rising up out of the center. I noticed someone important being escorted into the castle by guards and a motorcade as I was leaving, but I'm not sure who it was.
After the castle, I walked through the Royal Gardens and past the Belvedere to the north. Then it was back across the river to the Jewish Quarter, a set of synagogues and a cemetery with dense headstones tilting at crazy angles. The Café Kafka near here is pleasant enough for its dark-wood atmosphere, but the food is nothing special at all. It was, however, good to get inside and out of a very heavy rain shower; my luck with the weather had run out, but at least the showers didn't last very long. The squares and narrow streets in this area are surrounded by stunning architecture; from here I walked southeast over to Wencelas Square, and finally back to the Charles Bridge. The light after the storm was very beautiful and moody, with a distinct reddish hue to everything (perhaps reflected from the ubiquitous red rooftops?). To the north, as it was getting dark, I climbed a hill with an odd gigantic metronome on top. As it is so large, this metronome keeps very slow time — a tick every six seconds.