Day 456: Golden City

Prague, Czech Republic

I had been asked a few times during my trip if there’s a place that I liked and wouldn’t mind living in. Prague may be one of them. It seems a perfect place. Mid-sized, easy transport, old and modern at the same time, and most of all, it’s incredibly pretty.

Joining the free walking tour led me to a few landmarks of the city:

The cathedral at the Old Town square

St. James Church where a 400-year old real human hand remain is hung on its wall. Legend has it that a thief was trying to steal a gold necklace from the neck of Virgin Mary’s statue. The statue came to live and grabbed hold of his wrist and wouldn’t let go. Others had to resort to cutting off his arm to free him. Hence, the arm has been hanging on the church’s wall ever since to warn others.

Prague’s famous Astronomical clock. The third oldest in Europe and the only one still working. Tourists flock the area waiting for the time when the clock strikes the hour.

Franz Kafka’s square. There’s also a Franz Kafka museum but supposedly it’s rather boring.

Jewish quarter where there are five synagogues serving as museums. There’s also an elevated Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is elevated because the dead were buried in multiple layers. Kinda like apartments. Reason being that Jewish were confined to live in this quarter back in the days and they didn’t have enough land for the cemetery. A rather morbid story regarding the existence of the synagogues and the cemetery despite the Nazi’s occupation of Prague: Hitler had in mind that he would preserve these places to serve as a museum of an extinct race once they wiped up all Jews. By the way, note that the hands of the Jewish clock in the photo below is different from the normal one. Jewish numbers are written counter clock-wise, that’s why.

View of the Charles Bridge

The hill by the castle in Prague

The Strahov monastery brewery. Since the 17th Century, beer has been brewed on the premises in a style altogether different from the more modern Pilsner varieties that have become the staple in the Czech Republic. The place also serve good traditional food. I got myself a goulash.