Monday, 30 September. We were up at 7:00 and went down to a generous buffet breakfast. The weather was sunny, but cold and windy. At 9:00 the bus took us along the Vltava River to the historic area. The old center of Prague consists of five sectors: Old Town (Stare Mesto), New Town (Nove Mesto), and Josefov (former Jewish ghetto) are on the east side of the river. On the west side are the Lesser Quarter (Mala Strana) and Castle Hill (Hradcany).

The bus dropped us off just south of the Charles Bridge. We were in Mala Strana on Kampa Island, a sliver of land separated from the mainland by a tiny artificial channel called the Devil's Stream (Certovka). This channel was dug to power water mills. Close to the drop off point, we saw the John Lennon Pub (no official connection to the Beatles).


As we walked across the footbridge to the mainland, we passed close to the last remaining waterwheel. Attached to it is the figure of one of the water goblins that are said to have once occupied this area. Soon after, we passed the John Lennon Wall, covered with ever-changing graffiti.
 
 

Poster showing flood barrier

 

Our walk continued north to Mosteka (Bridge) Street and on to the west end of the Charles Bridge. This 30-foot wide stone bridge, opened in 1402, is one of Prague's foremost landmarks and tourist attractions. It connects Mala Strana (west) with Stare Mesto (east). The bridge railings are decorated with 30 large statues. Many artists and other vendors display their wares along the Bridge to take advantage of the heavy tourist traffic.


Once across the Bridge in Stare Mesto, Jutta led our group to Old Town Square. After a brief orientation and instructions on how to get back to the Park Inn, she turned us loose near the Astronomical Clock at 11:30. We explored the nearby St. Nicholas church but didn't roam too far from the clock because we wanted to be there when it struck twelve.


We returned to the clock in time to get a good vantage point. Dating from 1410, this is the world's oldest astronomical clock still in operation. As the clock strikes the hour, two windows open and each of the twelve apostles passes by, turns, and looks out. Four figures on the outside of the clock move in turn.

After the clock struck, we walked down a street off the Square and found an Italian restaurant where we had lunch. Then we roamed around the Square for a while before visiting the 14th-15th century Tyne Church (Church of Our Lady in front of Tyne) that dominates the Square without actually being on it. (There's a row of smaller buildings between the church and the Square.) We also explored some of the narrow streets leading from the Square.

 

Jane seeking out an ice cream

We had to walk back across the Charles Bridge to catch the tram to our hotel, our third crossing of the day. We got to the hotel at 5:30. We rested for a while, watching the Al Jazeera English channel for the first time. It seemed to be of very good quality and had better news than any other English channel we could find.

At 7:30 we went out to dinner at the Pod Vysehradem restaurant, about two blocks from our hotel. We went for the pig knuckle, their specialty, but they were out of it. We each ordered a different chicken dish, intending to share them. They both were terrible, though, and we couldn't finish either one. Even the potato pancakes Jane was looking forward to were inedible. At least they took credit cards. We got back to the hotel about 9:15 and packed up for tomorrow's departure from Prague.