Dispatch from Dresden

Well, our time in Prague is done. We packed it up at around 3 this afternoon and headed back to Germany to the city of Dresden. You may remember Dresden as the site of some of the worst bombing of WWII in Germany as some 65% of the city was destroyed. It is also a major cultural center and is famous for it's porcelain. So, we are looking forward to our time here. But first, about our time in Prague.



Prague is an amazing old city. The architecture alone is astounding. It survived most of the worst bombing, so most of it's old buildings are still standing and are amazingly detailed. Prague was the seat of Bohemia and has been around for over 1000 years. It has long been a cultural center of Europe and was the seat of a few Holy Roman Emperors. So, to say there is a lot of history there is a bit of an understatement. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more information.



We arrive on Saturday and headed out to see some of the town. We stayed near the national museum and headed down into the Old town from there (the "New" town was settled in the 13's or so). We saw the astronomical clock ring in the old town square and watched the sun set with an ice cream cone in hand. It was a fine evening, but we were beat by the time we made it back to our hotel. Check out the map below to see where some of the stuff we saw is.


View Prague in a larger map

The next day we took a 2 hour guided tour of the city (mostly an overview) and the Prague Castle. The Castle is the largest in the world and contains the St. Vitus Cathedral both of which are amazing and sit up on top of the hill looking out over the city. The castle first started in the 900s or so and has been built up ever since. It was an amazing place. Read more about the castle and cathedral here and here.



The stained glass in the cathedral was especially impressive, both for its size and complexity. This was a truly impressive space. Click on the picture to see this picture bigger and a lot more of the cathedral.



Butch found a suit of armor to try on in the castle. This was the in "story of the castle" exposition.



On our way out we passed through the vineyards on the castle hill and got some really amazing shots of the city looking over the red tile roofs. What a beautiful city. I am not sure if any of us really knew what to expect, but certainly not this. All around it was a very nice day at the castle.



After the castle, we decided to try out some traditional Czech cuisine. I had the meat plate, Guy had the pig knuckle, Dee and Anita had goulash, and Rosie and Butch tried out the pork steak and potato soup. It was an amazing meal and we all had to be rolled out of there by the time it was done.



We all eventually agreed that the pig knuckle was the most impressive though. A thumbs up for traditional Czech cuisine. . . and beer.



That night, Denise and I walked back through town up to the castle to see it lit up at night and look over the city. What a view!



On Monday, we took one final look at the city in the morning and stopped at the Church of Our Lady Victorious to see the Infant Jesus of Prague. This is a wax figure of Jesus that was brought to Prague in 1628 by a Spanish princess. The church where it is located is incredibly ornate. This was particulalarly meaningful for Anita as she has had a replica of the figure for years, but never dreamed she would see it in person.



After the church, we walked back across the Charles Bridge and into Prague, the car, and our trip to Dresden.