A winter's day in Prague

December 9th: A Winter's day in Prague

Charles Bridge

It was minus 4 degrees when we caught the tram to take us into the centre of Prague. We got off the tram just below the famous Charles Bridge which we walked over in the morning sunshine.

View of Charles Bridge

Changing the Guard

We took the steep route up the hill to the castle and the cathedral.  Our timing was good as we caught the Czech version of the 'changing of the guard, which was accompanied by bugle and drum playing. We wandered around the castle and cathedral complex and were surpised that even some of the streets such as Golden Lane could only be visited at a cost.  Both Mike and I had visited Prague some years ago and we could not remember having to pay so much for everything.  As we had only changed a few of our Euros for Czech currency we decided to view things from the outside.  The downside of this approach was that we were both getting colder by the hour.  The views from around the castle were really clear and I got some good photos of the skyline but we needed to get warm.  We traipsed back over the Charles Bridge which was now much busier with tourists and entertainers and headed for the old part of town near the astronomical clock.  We picked up some delicious cherry punch en route and sampled a pastry spiral flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon and almonds that was cooked over an open stove. Both were delicious and slightly took off the edge of feeling cold.

Christmas Market in Prague

The Astronomical Clock

There was also a Christmas market set up in this area and we browsed around it comparing it with the others we had seen.  Our next stop was to be Wenceslas Square.

Mike in Wenceslas Square

 As we were so cold now we kept popping into shops to warm up temporarily.  Millie benefitted from this as we found a sweet pair of crystal earrings.  We decided that if we were to prevent frostbite from setting in we had to find somewhere warm to sit down.  We always try to avoid the really touristy places and we ended up at a Czech micro brewery called Pivovarsky Dam.  Here you could try samples of all sorts of lager including banana and nettle but we just went  for our favoured white and dark versions.  We also had some good food there.  Whilst we were sitting there it started to snow and so after an hour or so we grudgingly left our warm haven and found the tram back to the van.  We had to trudge the last few metres in deeper snow but the good thing was that once the snow arrived the temperature lifted a little.