Countryside flowers.

We woke up early (6am) and got breakfast in order to hit the road with the whole group by 8am. We headed east to the Beskydy Mountains in eastern Czech Republic. We had a rest stop around 10:30am, shortly after passing Brno, to stretch and grab some snacks.

Stramberk.

Stramberk Town Square.

Eventually we got into the small moutainside town of Stramberk around 1pm. We had a pizza lunch there with 5 of our group mates. The food was good and we had nice conversation getting to know each other.

There was a tower in Stramberk, and together with a few of the group mates, we climbed up to the top. The views of the valley were great from above.

Stramberk view from above.

Stramberk view from above.

Stramberk atop the tower.

Stramberk local delicacy: ginger bread ears.

In Stramberk, apparently, the local delicacy is a ginger bread ear cookie. Coming back down from the tower, I inhaled two at a dessert place, and they were really good.

Pustevny.

Our hotel for the night, Pustevny.

Following this stop, we continued on to Pustevny. We arrived around 3:30pm. Pustevny was a lovely town, up in the mountains, in the eastern part of the country. It is a ski resort destination in the winters. There was a nice mountain trail leading to a church with nice valley views along the way. I embarked on the trip with Marie and Bill and Gerry joined us for the walk. The church looked like it was built in Japanese style. Altogether, the walk took 2 hours.

Upon returning, folks informed us that the US and England had won their games and were advancing in the World Cup. That was good news to my ears.

Lovely dinner setting, Pustevny.

Post dinner folk dancing, Pustevny.

Later in the evening we headed out to a group dinner. We sat on wooden benches in front of large wooden tables, with a large fireplace in the middle of the room that kept us warm. It was exactly the sort of setting I picture when thinking of a dinner in a ski resort town. The food was great. Following our main course, the locals performed some folk dances along with music for us. At some point dessert came out, then I remember being pulled in to dance with one of the locals. After the dancing we wrapped up for the night and turned in.

We took tram #22 with the group to get to the Prague Castle area. There we met our tour guide, Sharka. She led us into Prague Castle. The castle was spectacular. On the grounds was Saint Vitus Church, probably the most impressive church I’ve ever seen. It was majestic- the attention to detail everywhere, especially with the stained glass was a marvel.

St. Vitus.	Inside St. Vitus.	Stained Glass St. Vitus.	Inside front side St. Vitus.
Prague Castle.	Communist leader gave speeches here.	Prague Castle.	Prague Castle.

Defenstration Palace Hall. Defenestration actually happened here. This one’s for you, DM.

We also had a chance to see the Palace Hall. I wish I could remember more about it, but my single track mind got carried away with the concept of defenestration that happened out of one of the palace windows there. Ever since mid high school, my buddy DM and I have been talking about defenestrating each other from the CS room windows.

St. George’s Church.

St. George’s Church.

Following the Palace Hall we went into Saint George’s Church. It had real frescos and is famous for the lady in the scarf- Wenceslas’ grandmother who was murdered there, in a way that would have prevented here from being a saint.

At noon we saw the changing of the guard.

Tobia and I.

Archbishop’s palace.

You will speak when I say you can speak.

Changing of the Guard.

Czerny.

Monastery.

Continuing up the hill, afterwards, we reached Saint Norbert Monastery. We followed this with lunch with the group; at the restaurant they served “holy beer”.

Loretta.

Bearded Female Saint.

Most of the folks split off after lunch. Tobia and I headed to Loretta Church. I believe it is most famous for the bearded lady saint. I think the story goes along the lines of the lady not wanting to marry the a pagan king she was forced to be with, and overnight she grew a beard to seem less attractive. Needless to say, the king didn’t want to marry her with her beard. The sad ending to this story is that her father ultimately crucified her.

St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas.

Jesus the infant.

Afterwards we continued on to Saint Nicholas Church. The old church is famous for its ornateness. Finally, to cap off our church visits, we went to Jesus the infant Church.

At the end of this, Tobia and I decided to walk through Petrin Park, uphill to the base of the Petrin Tower, and we ultimately climbed all the way to the top. The views of Prague from the top of this tower were magnificent. This was my favorite experience in Prague.

Petrin Tower.

Petrin Tower.

Petrin Tower.

Petrin Tower.

Entrance to Charles Bridge.

We rewarded ourselves with dessert and coffee after our tough climb up the hill and stairs. We then had dinner and turned in for the night.

We started the day off on a guided tour of the old town with our local guide Marketa. We walked the Charles Bridge as a group, passed by the Mayor’s hall and explored the old town square. The mix of different types of architecture on our walk (Baroque, Rococo and Gothic styles) was nice to see.

The Astronomical Clock.

St. James Church. A man’s (who, according to legend, was trying to steal the statues and lost his hand) hanging hand was at this Church.

The Velvet Reveloution leader spoke from this balcony.

Along the way we also saw the Astronomical Clock from up close. There was also St. James Church, with a rather troubling artifact of a hand of a man hanging from one of the walls. As we walked towards Wenceslas Square afterwards, we discussed the Velvet Revolution- the non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that brought back democracy to the people after communist rule.

800 year old market.

The group split off around the early afternoon to get lunch. Tobia and I went to a small restaurant not too far from the 800 year old market to grab an Italian lunch. We were still a bit tired, so checked back into our room to rest for a little while afterwards.

Not much later, we met up with Martin, our tour guide for the afternoon. He took us through the Jewish Quarters to see the cemetery as well as some Synagogues. Along the way, we saw Franz Kafka’s birth place. The first Synagogue we entered was Pinkas Synagogue, it had the names of all Czech Jews that perished in the holocaust painted on its walls. Following that we saw the Jewish Cemetery. We also saw the Spanish Synagogue whose interior was quite bright and it seemed very precisely built and decorated.

Kafka was born here, right around the Jewish Quarter.	Jewish Quarter.	Maisel Synagogue.	Pinkas Synagogue.
Old Jewish Cemetery.	Spanish Synagogue.	Statue of Saint John being thrown off the Charles Bridge. He was killed for not divulging the Queen’s confessions to the King.

I’ve always wanted to do this.

After the tour was over, we tried going to St. Agnes Monastery, but it was closed so we could only see it from the outside. Walking through town, eventually we decided to eat dinner at the same place as our welcome group dinner the previous night.