Prague !

We loved Berlin and our wonderful cruise with Viking on the Elbe - but it was time to leave the river behind and start the Viking Extension to Prague and Poland.  We had a wonderful guide from Viking with us the entire time - full of information about all the places we would visit.

We left the ship and traveled by bus to Prague, with a stop for lunch in a little non touristy town somewhere in the Czech Republic.  Had some issues as we wandered on our own for a bit and had lunch.  We ordered a pizza - and all of a sudden we were brought two bowls of borscht.  We tried to say we did not order soup...but the waiter did not understand.  Then - as this seemed to be a popular lunch spot with locals - a woman behind tapped me on the shoulder and told us that borscht comes with every meal!  It was delicious!

We had a great tour with a local guide of the castle hill, the castle, and cathedral.

Then a walk around old town Prague...

the amazing astronomical clock in the square...

beautiful churches...and we learned that the towers are not the same size...one is a little larger. Male and female for Adam and Eve.

Stop for lunch and some good Czech beer...I am not much of a beer drinker, but the beer there was great!

We then walked back to our hotel  - easy walking distance from the historical center - and an art deco hotel with lots of history.

All of the hotels we stayed in were great - this was a very large and comfortable room.

Great bathroom - 

with a fabulous tub that was a little tricky to get into - very high!

After a quick break we headed back out to enjoy beautiful Prague...

We felt very safe walking around the city

and enjoyed a great dinner.

The next day we had free - no scheduled tours.  We had two things we wanted to see...the church where the Anthropoid paratroopers hid after assassinating the Nazi "Butcher of Prague" Reinhard Heydrich.  We saw the movie about this operation a few years ago and wanted to see the actual site.  The Viking representative in the hotel - another reason we like Viking, there is always a help desk to answer questions - told us the trams in Prague were free for people over 65 and we could get there easily...so we headed off with his directions and boarded a tram!

With our map in John's had we headed out...and found the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius. First we visited the church, then entered the crypt where the paratroopers were hidden.  There was an amazing museum there - great information, a 25 minute movie, and it was very moving.

Bullet holes remain....

All of the paratroopers perished...either killed in a gun battle in the choir loft, or killing themselves in the crypt as it was being flooded by the Nazis. 

The priest who helped them was then killed by the Nazis, as well as the underground members and the family that hid them before the attack.

A moving memorial to honor them all.

If you want to learn more about Anthropoid you can watch the movie

or read about all that happened here -

Anthropoid

After that very moving morning we took another tram to find 

The Infant of Prague.  

Are you familiar with the Infant of Prague ?

It is a statue of the child Jesus that was brought to Prague from Spain in the middle ages and has a rich history.  After spending twelve years in Catholic School this was on my list of things to see -

The statue is housed in a beautiful church

There is a tradition of donating robes to dress the Infant...

so we toured the museum to see all the robes that were offered over the years.

You can read about the Infant of Prague here - 

The Infant of Prague

After all that history we needed lunch and a treat - 

After a quick sandwich we stopped for a traditional Prague treat -

A kind of cake like cone is put over a gas fire...

It slowly gets to be golden brown...

The cone is then filled with either whipped cream or ice cream like custard...

We chose caramel apple...there were small pieces of apple in the middle of the cone...

Super yummy !

After that it was a nice, slow walk back to our hotel...

across the Charles Bridge...

A wonderful ending to our day out in Prague.  What a beautiful city - so easy to get around and so many beautiful sites.

Sorry to leave Prague so soon...but tomorrow we are off to Poland.

Come back to share our Polish adventure soon.

Next week is National Library Week - as a retired librarian I am a huge supporter of libraries.  Will be hosting a "Retired School Librarian Brunch" here for the friends that I worked with.

So...have you been to Prague ?  What did you love about it?

Do you use your local library ?  What is your favorite thing about your library ?  Stop in during National Library Week and - excuse the pun - check out all that libraries have to offer.

Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista today - please leave a comment below.  I really enjoying hearing from you and connecting with so many of you!

Take care and enjoy the Spring weather and flowers!