Prague Deserves at Least a Week

We are usually put off by hoards of tourists, but they don’t bother us in Prague. So the place is jammed. Who cares? It’s Prague. Our first visit, three days in Prague at the end of cruise on the Elbe, was not near long enough, so we went back for three more days the next year. The total, six days, is a good minimum visit to Prague.

The old city– the tourist’s city– is divided into six parts, Castle Hill and Mala Strana are on one side of the Vlatava(Moldau) River. Josefov, Stare Mesto ("old town"), Nove Mesto ("new town"), and Vysehrad are on the other bank.

Near the end of WWII, the Czech Resistance had Prague surrounded, and the Russians were advancing from the east. The Resistance offered the German General commanding Nazi troops occupying Prague a deal– get out free now, and leave the city intact, or we will trap you until the Red Army arrives. Falling into the hand of the Red Army was the worst thing that could befall Nazis, so the General disobeyed Hitler and took the deal, sparing Prague from the war destruction that decimated most of Europe. Thus, today, Prague’s 600 year old buildings are originals, not rebuilt like most of Europe.

Prague is a vast collection of attractive streets and buildings. Walk, and walk, and then walk some more.

TOP SIGHTS

1] The heart of the city. Take metro to Namesti Republiky and leave by the exit marked "Obechi Dum". Go left, to the Powder Gate and down Celetna to Old Town Square. Leave the square by Male Namesti to Karlova and across Charles Bridge to St Nicholas Church.

2] Sunset behind Prague Castle from the Stare Mesto end of Charles Bridge. You want romantic? This is beyond romantic.

3] Prague Castle. The facade of Prague Castle, the largest castle in Europe, is about one mile long (1.6 km). Prague Castle is still the seat of government and home of the President, but it is large, that tourists have plenty to do in the remaining parts of the castle that are open to the public. St Vitus Cathedral is one of the greatest Gothic buildings on Earth. You can get a free look at the great Gothic Hall from the entrance. Immensely picturesque Golden Lane, home of artisans in days of yore, is about 8 ft wide and jammed with visitors.

Quick Tips:

Czech food is pretty bland, except for chlebicheki (a little open faced sandwich on a slice of baguette) and pastries, which is why we opted for French after a few days (see U Bile Kravy). Others say pizza is very good.

Pastry shops have lots of yummy stuff at amazingly low prices. We fancied cake and ice cream. A quirk of Czech restaurants that often irritates Americans is that the basket of bread the waiter puts on the table is an extra charge (.50-2). If you don’t want it, tell him to remove it when he brings it to the table. Same for a rack of condiments in some rip off establishments.

A friend who grew up in Prague recommends the opera as Prague’s quintessential experience. Czech beer is cheap and good. Be sure to try dark beer. Beer is ‘pivo’. Use the Czech word for "black" to order dark beer.

Pickpocket defenses: MEN leave your wallet in the ship or hotel’s safe. Put the valuables– passport, money, credit cards, etc– you need in a small wallet like pouch that hangs around your neck and tucks inside your shirt. Take it out of your shirt only when you need something in it. Have nothing in your pants pockets. As for backpacks, they can open a backpack without you ever knowing it. Cameras– keep them well attached by heavy duty straps. In cool weather, keep everything you are carrying inside your jacket, but not in the pockets. Cash can also be divide up by tucking some inside your sock, above the pants cuff, on the inside of your leg. I have a shirt with a zipper pocket in the armpit, which has worked well so far, but it was a rare find.

LADIES: Follow the instructions for men. If you must carry a purse - a bad idea - take on with a strap long enough that you can sling over your head and carry the purse under the opposite arm. The strap must be heavy enough that a sharp knife cannot cut it easily. Carol carries a small purse with a long thick leather strap, and so far, so good.

When on the metro, bus, tram, etc., never leave your purse or any packages out of your hands. Put them on your lap, and wrap both arms around them.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most metro stations have one ticket machine with a button to push for instructions in English. The most inexpensive and efficient way to get around is the 24 hr. unlimited rides ticket, good for the bus, tram, and metro, but also check out Prague Card on the Internet before you leave if you will be staying several days.

Be sure to follow anti-pickpocket advice when on metro – a favorite spot for the lurking light fingered. Trams are crowded, but if you can snare a seat, they provide a cheap, relaxing way to see a lot of the city.

The # 22 or 23 tram from the square behind St Nicholas or the Malostranska Metro station saves the climb up the hill to Prague Castel and environs.

The Prague Hilton is a very comfortable, but expensive, hotel. No problem with our email request for a non-smoking room, confirmed by email by the hotel and provided. The room was large, with a table, two comfortable chairs, plasma TV, a fascinating array of lights and switches, and, except for a somewhat noisy mini-bar, quiet. There was no on-off switch on the mini-bar, but a call to the front desk and some baffling conversations in three languages got it promptly disconnected by the maintenance staff. Staff was pleasant and efficient. Good room darkening curtains. On our first stay, our room, on the 8th floor, overlooked an expressway, the Vlatava, and the green hills across the river. Nice view, and the traffic noise was well blocked.

On our second stay, our email request for a room on the side of the hotel facing Prague Castle was granted– they even emailed back offering us a choice of types of rooms– but, in the intervening year, and insurance company had built a new building directly across the street from the Hilton which blocked most of the view. Phooey on Alliance.

The mini-bar had a good dark Czech beer for $9. We bought the same at a grocery store a block down the street for $1. Lesser beers were as little as 40 cents, and quite good. (Note: Like most European beers, Czech beers are best not refrigerated, but there is the mini bar if you must.) Even if you aren’t after beer, a visit to the grocery is an interesting glimpse into Czech life. The grocery is beside the metro station entrance. Further down the same side of the street as the grocery store is a little ice cream and clebichecky(sp?) shop. Chleb-ee-check–ee(phonetic) are little open face sandwiches eaten as snacks. They are a treat, and one of the do not miss foods of the Czech Republic. Point to what you want in the display case.

An expansive buffet breakfast, included with the room, and a few snacks during the day, carried us until diner time. Food quality was first rate, but not as good as the remarkable breakfasts we had at the Berlin Radisson-SAS Hotel.

Located near the old town, the Hilton is about 10 blocks from the Old Town square. Although walking it was on our list of things to do, we never got around to it, riding the metro, one block from the hotel, instead. With a little study and some interference from drunks panhandling at the metro entrance, we were able to figure out how to get the fare card machine to issue an all day metro-tram-bus pass, a good way to get around town. To get to the metro, go out the front entrance, turn left. Cross two streets. There you are.

This is a huge Czech BBQ/smokehouse restaurant featuring beef, pork, and chicken. We tried the mixed grill sampler for two, a pork kabob, a chicken kabob, and two slabs of pork tenderloin. Each was differently flavored, one kabob was peppery, and all were good (my view) or at least interesting (her view). I would have returned for a second night, but she didn’t like it that much.

The building is modern, a large Quonset hut type structure with a wood ceiling and a big grill pit in the middle of the single large dining room. There are also some outside tables, directly in the evening sun. The restaurant is on a hill overlooking the city. The tables along the widows directly opposite the entrance and on the terrace have a panoramic view of Prague, but it is long way out from the center of the old town.

Cost: dinner for 2, 3 beers, and tip: $30

The beer menu includes Pilsner Urquell, the father of all modern beers, and still, after 600 years, among the best. In the 1300s, the Urquell brewery in Plzen (German: Pilsen, adding ‘er’ for the possessive– Pilsner Urquell or Pilzen’s Urquell brew) discovered a new and improved method of brewing beer, which is why you sometimes hear beers described as pilsners. But, as fine as Urquell is, we opted for Krosovitze(?), a stunning dark beer not available in the USA, at least not in Utah, but Urquell is.

Getting there: The restaurant is a good way from the center of town. Take the Red metro to Roztyly station. At the top of the escalator, outside one side of the building are bus stops. Go the other way. Walk toward the street uphill from the door, looking uphill until you see the restaurant’s name in the building’s roof thru and above the trees on the hillside. Now that you have it located, walk up the paved sidewalk toward the street, with the restaurant on your right to the second dirt path (about half way to the road) leading up hill into the trees. Follow that path uphill to the side of the restaurant.

On the way, stop at the Vysehrad Metro Station (surface station) for the view just outside the station.

Although stuffy on a hot summer evening, U Bile Kravy is a good French bistro, with an English menu, featuring beef. The food merited returning for our last evening in Prague. I tried steak on our first visit which was typical European beef– more strongly favored than US beef and noticeably tougher. That’s the way beef is in Europe, no fault of the restaurant. This is a good place to try European beef since prices are low.

A side of green beans were grilled and nicely flavored.

Her chicken rolls stuffed with broccoli, ham, and cheese accompanied by crayfish cake and cream sauce was so
good I ordered it the second night. Her chicken breast with cream sauce was also fine. Portions are large, an entrée alone, accompanied by a melange of vegetables and greens, was plenty.

Meals are prepared from scratch, and that takes awhile. Be prepared to wait 30-45 minutes.

A 15% tip might have been too much, for the next night, our waiter from the night before recognized us and pounced before the other waiter could.

French and Moravian wines are offered, but we opted for Czech beer, being in world’s number one beer drinking country. The beer menu includes Pilsner Urquell, the father of all modern beers, and still, after 600 years, among
the best, we opted for Krosovitze(?spelling), a stunning dark beer not available in the USA, at least not in Utah,
but Urquell is.


Cost: Diner for 2, 3 beers, tip: meal #1= $27, meal #2= $19.

A quirk of Czech restaurants that often irritates Americans is that the basket of bread the waiter puts on the table is an extra charge ($0.50-$2). If you don’t want it, tell him to remove it when he brings it to the table. U Bile Kravy is one place where you should get the bread, slices of a typical French baguette for the incredibly good crab roe butter that comes with it.

The ambience is delightful, sort of rustic French farm house, with three small dining rooms.

On Monday, we were the only customers. Tuesday, it was 80% full, and it isn’t fast food. Consider eating early or reserve during high season or on weekends.

The restaurant is about equal distance from three metro stations, but there’s a hill. Go to Namesti Miru station and down hill on Anglica to Rubelova. The restaurant is on the right, not quit half way down the block. Return from I P Pavlova or Muzeum (good evening lighting on the facade of the National Museum) metro stops.

Check the web page for a 10% discount.

On our first night in Prague, we didn’t feel like either paying the high prices at the Hilton or going too far for diner, so we set out to find some place to eat in the neighborhood. I don’t know the name of the place we ate. I don’t even know if it had a name besides the grubby sign that said “Restaurant” over a door. I say “a door” rather than ‘the door’ because when we went through the door, no restaurant. Nothing, except a long dark hall with closed doors on both sides.

We walked to the end of the hall, turned the corner and there, at the top of flight of stairs disappearing into the gloom below, was another sign, “Restaurant”, so we descended, and found ourselves in small, one could even say, cramped, two-room eatery with tables for 12 in the large room, and stools at the serving counter for 6. We took a table for two.

Before going any farther, here’s the bottom line: we had a decent, filling, two-course meal for two, including three beers, for $12 (plus tip). Now, that’s hard to beat.

We ordered one garlic soup, a Czech specialty, one goulash soup, another Czech specialty, a chicken dish, and a beef dish. The big bowls of soup were hot, well flavored, and hearty. This was real home made soup, not Campbell’s. The chicken was good. The beef was as good as can be expected from European beef.

Nothing against European beef, but it comes from different breeds of cows who are raised differently and butchered into different cuts than American beef, making European beef generally tougher and more strongly flavored than American beef. If you go in expecting Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse New York strip, you are in for a big surprise.

The young staff, despite their grubby clothes, were efficient, helpful, and seemed genuinely glad—delighted, even—to see us. I don’t think they draw too many customers from the Hilton, the only hotel within blocks.

The decor was minimal, but clean. By watching local customers come and go, picking up pizza at the counter in the other room, we deduced the clientele and the house specialty, but only after ordering a satisfying Czech meal.

Would we go back? Not if we felt up to the trip to U Bile Kravy, but otherwise, in a flash. It’s close, it’s good, it’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s clean, it’s incredibly cheap, and nobody got sick. That’s almost all you can ask.

How to find it: It’s on Krizikova, one of the three streets with exits from the Florenc metro station. Exiting metro, cross Krizikova, turn right, and it should be the first restaurant you come to. To see if you are in the right place: go in the door. If you don’t see a restaurant, that’s it.

From the Hilton, left out the front door toward the metro. Don’t cross the street to the station. Turn left, then as above.

Chlebicky, more or less pronounced chleb–ee–check–ee, are a special Czech snack food, frequently found in cafes, snack bars, ice cream parlors, and pastry shops. Although it hardly does them justice, a cold cut sandwich is the closest America has to Chlebicky, except for the one-time Chlebicky stand in Silver Spring, MD, where we learned to love them.

Chlebicky are opened faced cold cut sandwiches. A loaf of French bread is sliced diagonally and topped with a selection of artistically arranged ham, chicken, roast beef, or salami, hard-boiled egg, lettuce, capers, cheese, tomato, mayo, mustard, pickle and who-knows-what-else.

Don’t overlook the presentation. These things are beautiful, each a miniature work of art, and they taste as good as they look.
Chlebicky are intended to be a late morning or afternoon snack, but more than once we have ordered a trayfull to make a lunch.

The typical tourist, even the atypical one, will not have enough command of the Czech language to order Chlebicky. Fortunately, they are displayed in a glass counter, and pointing works.

We went most often to the snack bar around the corner from our Hilton. It's on Krizikova, one of the three streets with exits from the Florenc metro station. Exiting the metro beside the grocery store on Krizikova, turn right, and it’s about halfway down the block.

From the Hilton, take a left out the front door to the metro station, only turn left to go past the front of the grocery, then as above.

The place has large glass windows and looks like a late 1950s American fast food place. The Chlebicky are in the tall display case to the left of the cash register and you can point to your selection, which fortunately prints out a receipt you can read to see how much you owe.

Some snack bars lack seats. Not this one.
The shop also serves delicious ice cream, and it was a tough decision to decide which to order, so we ordered both.

Take the metro to Namesti Republiky and leave by the exit marked “Obechi Dum”. This is important: use ONLY this exit, and look up as you climb the stairs to the street. The street scene that comes into sight is mind blowing - The Municipal House on the left, the Pariz Hotel to the right. Go to your left, to the front door of the Municipal House and enter, go up and down the main stairs, look into the café and the restaurant for some fine Art Nouveau interiors. Exit Municipal house, turn right to the medieval Powder Gate, turn right, and down Celetna - one of the main shopping streets for tourists - to justly famed Old Town Square Walk around the square.

I skipped the performance of the astronomical clock to explore the nearby streets. She stayed to watch the clock performance, and said I had the better use of the time. Take a look at the interiors of the Tyn and St Nicholas Churches. We popped into St Nicolas during a reversal for that evenings concert, and stood inside the entrance for awhile enjoying some fine music.

Mozart conducted his operas at the Estates Theater, one block down Zelezna, the side street leaving the square across from the side door of the Town Hall tower. There are lots of overpriced restaurant and sidewalk cafés around the square. You pay for the location, but a beer or a coffee at the least is a must.

One block to the right of where Celetna enters the square, we walked along Stupartska for one block, turned right for one block for a peek inside the lovely St James Church. Unfortunately, we arrived between noon and 2pm, when the church was closed, providing only a look through the interior doors at the classic Baroque interior.

From Old Town Square, maps show three routes to the Charles Bridge. We found four. There is also a busy pedestrian passage through the courtyard of the Clementinum Monastery behind the Church of the Holy Savior.

Charles Bridge is one of Prague’s top sights. Walking it both directions is a must. We made the round trip at least once a day, maybe more. By day, the bridge is choked with tourists and artisans hawking their wares, a great place to shop for small art works and jewelry. The towers at both ends of the bridge can be climbed for an elevated view.

Then, from the Stare Mesto end of the bridge, start up Karlova and take the next two rights, toward the Smetana Museum, near which, along the banks of the Vlatva (Moldau) there are great views of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle.

So far, we have covered the heart of Stare Mesto. There remain several nice neighborhoods of Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings, but as tempting as remaining here might be, keep in mind that three more major areas of the city remain to be seen. Best save them for later.

Mala Strana, the most picturesque part of the city, was founded as a separate town, across the river from Prague, in 1257. You must enter Mala Strana by walking across Charles Bridge, and continuing along Mostecka to St Nicholas Church (note– this is not the St Nicholas church on Old Town Square), with Prague’s most spectacular Baroque interior. On the left, near the alter is a staircase marked "Museum". Go up, for access to the view from the high balconies along one side of the naive. There is also a modestly interesting museum of religious trinkets.

Across the street from McDonald’s on Mostecka is a little record shop with some outstanding prices on Supraphon and Hungaroton CDs, especially opera. Eventually we proceeded south off Mostecka on Karmelitska to another Baroque gem, the Church of Our Lady Victorious. Next, leaving the church, we proceeded as straight ahead as
possible– it is not possible; you one must twist and turn to proceed straight to the park on the banks of the Vlatva on Kampa Island with its fine views of Charles Bridge and Stare Mesto across the river. The restroom in the park is basic, but when was the last time you saw a public restroom? Answer: in McDonald’s, but it costs twice as much.

Heading back toward Charles Bridge, we took the first left, off Kampa Island, but you can continue ahead and pass under Charles Bridge to return to the ‘mainland’. I recommend the later, which we had already done from the other direction. Malostraneske Namesti (Mala Strana town square) lies behind and north of St Nicholas church, with Mala Strana’s town hall on the far corner. Nerudova, one the most attractive streets in the city, runs uphill from the square to Prague Castle. Walking down hill rather than up is highly recommended.

From the square, we wandered around to St Thomas Church and then to the gardens of Wallenstein Palace. A well rewarded successful Czech general, Wallenstein set out to build himself a place that out shown Prague Castle. Unfortunately, most of the place is closed to the public, but the gardens (free) alone suggest he succeeded. Wallenstein is a famous Czech hero, perhaps more for his death - assassinated on the orders of the Austrian Emperor - than for his life. The gardens are a must see. You will know it when you see it– the grotesquery.

The Malostraneske Metro station is at the far end of Wallenstein’s Palace. Facing across the little park, the Palace’s Riding School building, is now used as a museum for special exhibitions.

Metro does not go up Castle Hill. Malostraneske Metro station is the closest stop. Take the uphill bound #22 or #23 tram.

With its mile-long facade overlooking the city, Prague Castle, the largest in Europe, dominates Castle Hill. However, there are three more top sights on top of Castle Hill—The Loreto, Strahov Monastery, and everything else.

Metro does not go up Castle Hill. Malostraneske Metro station is the closest stop. Take the uphill bound #22 or #23 tram. To get to the castle, get off at the second stop after the Malostraneske Metro station. There are two important reasons to remember this tram stop—first, it is the closest access point to the castle. Second, just after you pass through the castle walls, the cleanest, most modern public restroom in the city is on your right. And it's free. After
spending a couple days in Prague, you will realize how significant this is.

Before entering the castle, take a detour to the right through the castle gardens.

The admission fees to the castle should have a road map. There are single entrance tickets to each sight or various combination packages that save $$$ over the single tickets.

We took a fairly minimal tour of the castle, but still, it took a half-day or more. We entered the Second Courtyard, went to the right out the main gate, went left to the edge of the hill to see the grand view over Prague—that’s Mala Strana below, and across the Vltava, the towers of Stare Mesto. Then back into the castle to St. Vitus Cathedral. Now, I do not much like Gothic cathedrals, but I make an exception for this, one stunning church on the inside. Then we proceeded on through the grounds to the Golden Lane, with a stop to look in at the Gothic Hall in the Royal Palace. The hall is so big that jousting tournaments were held here. The Rider’s Staircase is where the mounted contestants mounted to the second floor hall.

Golden Lane is another of Prague’s amazing sights (see journal).

At the downhill end of the Golden Lane, we entered Dalibor Tower and visited its medieval dungeon. From Dalibor Tower, we had to retrace our steps back through the Golden Lane to continue down the castle’s main drag to the end of the castle, and a decision point—leaving the castle leaves no choice but to continue down the Old Castle steps, the original route from Mala Strana, or, reverse course and walk more than a mile back through the stales to get to the sights beyond the castle’s front entrance. I opted for a break—down the stairs, which turned out to be a
good shopping place, as they were, like Charles Bridge, lined with souvenir stands and purveyors of arts and crafts. The break came from riding the Metro (Malostraneske station is at the bottom of the stairs) back to the hotel for a rest. By the way, the platform of the Malostraneske Metro station is the coolest place in Prague on a hot summer day.

It will minimize, but not eliminate, uphill walking to proceed as follows: Metro does not go up Castle Hill. Malostraneske Metro station is the closest stop. Take the uphill bound #22 or #23 tram to the fourth stop from the Malostraneske Metro station.

Strahov Monastery has Prague’s finest Baroque interiors: the Library (Philosophical Hall), the Theological Hall, the Church of Our Lady. Originally built in 1140, the building was destroyed by fire in 1258, reconstructed in gothic style, and later redecorated in Baroque.

The house where the angels told the Virgin Mary that she would be the Mother of the Savior was whisked to Loreto, Italy, when its sanctity in Nazareth was threatened by infidels in 1278. A replica of Mary’s house was constructed in Prague in 1626—it’s the odd little structure in the middle of the courtyard. In 1661, Mary’s house copy was  surrounded by cloisters which were finished off in 1720 in Baroque. This is one impressive structure, from the first view of the front facade from the street to the small, brilliantly decorated church opposite the entrance. There is a
fine museum of religious trinkets on the second floor that should not be missed.

Leaving Loreto, I turned right and went downhill a little to Novy Svet Street, similar in appearance to The Golden Lane without the touristic glitz. One side of the street is bounded by the old city wall. On the other, a row of 16th century very small houses. Tycho Brahe lived at #1 (see plaque on the wall). Walking two blocks along Novy Svet (name change to Kanovnicka) brought me to Castle Square, directly in front of the main entrance to Prague Castle. I crossed the square to the balustrade overlooking the city, well worth this second visit.

Castle Square is lined with the grandest palaces of the nobility. Today, some are government offices, others are some of Prague’s finest museums. Having only 6 days in Prague, we never got to the museums, but walking up the square, away from the castle to the tram stop, was well worthwhile for the square and the surrounding palaces, and the arcades are impressive.

If you are up to it, walk downhill from the end of the square on marvelously attractive Nerudova St. into the heart of Mala Strana.

Prague Castle was defended by at least two fortified walls. One, set a ways out from the castle itself, can be seen along Novy Svet Street (see Journal “The Rest of Castle Hill”). The castle itself was also protected by an outer wall where it was most easily accessible, including the space between the White and Dalibor towers. One side of the Golden Lane is the back of some palace or another, the other side of the street is lined with 24 tiny cottages built in the late 16th century as homes for the palace guards.

The street got its current name from the many goldsmiths who lived here in the 17th century.

Kafka lived on Golden Lane for awhile with his sister at #22. A Czech poet who won the Nobel Prize also lived on the Golden Lane.

Now here is a tip I did not find in any guide book when planning our trips to Prague. I discovered it by implementing my tourist mode philosophy that an open door is meant to be entered.  Entering the Golden Lane, I turned left to the end of the street, and there was an open door. So I entered. Inside the door was a flight of stairs, so I ascended. At the top of the stairs was an a very good armory museum running the enter length of the Golden Lane on the second floor of the cottages.

Given the small size of the cottages, the museum was only one aisle wide, but unlike the street below, it was not congested with tourists, perhaps because the guide books don’t mention it.  The museum ended in the Dalibor Tower, built in the 15th century to serve dual purposes–fortification and as the castle dungeon. Spiral stairs descend into the dungeon cells. The exit from Dalibor Tower brought me out at the downhill end of the Golden Lane.

As the entrance/exit from the Golden Lane is the same little street that provides the only access to Golden Lane; walking back up to where I started provided a cottage by cottage view of a miniature street scene. Today, the cottages are brightly painted in a multitude of colors and sell souvenirs and local crafts.

Although it is uncomfortably packed with visitors, the Golden Lane is another of Prague’s ‘must see’ sights.

The old Jewish ghetto occupies the banks of the great curve of the Vltava, just north of Stare Mesto. Several ancient synagogues, going back to the mid-15th century, still stand. Along with the old cemetery, they are about all that is left of the old ghetto as the city tore down most of buildings, which had no sanitary facilities, in the 1890s.

The cemetery is remarkable. Due to the lack of space in the ghetto, bodies were buried on top of earlier burials, as much as 12 deep, creating a curious landscape of earthen mounds toped with gravestones between the paths. The oldest tomb marker visible on the surface dates from 1439.

The Old New Synagogue, built in the 1270s, is Europe’s oldest.

As Prague neighborhoods go, Josefov is one of the least interesting, with more than a fair share of nondescript structures. However, there are high spots, like the synagogues, the Cubist and Art Nouveau buildings around Krasnohorske St., the Frantisku Hospital, and the little square between St. Agnes Convent and the Church of St. Castullus. The sounds of music—violin, piano,  and voice—drifted over the streets near the Frantisku Hospital from the nearby music school.

Founded in 1348, the New Town is new only by Prague’s standards. With only 6 days in Prague, we barley got started seeing Nove Mesto. More or less by accident, we stumbled into one of the most interesting walks we had in Nove Mesto—well, to be technical about it, at least partly in Nove Mesto– by going to U Bile Kravey for dinner.

U Bile Kravey is about halfway between the Muzeum and Namesti Miru metro stations (green line) on the side of the hill. Since Nam. Miru was uphill from the restaurant and Muzeum, we arrived there. Crossing Namesti Miru ("namesti" means "square") in front of St. Ludmilla Church, we noticed the door was open, so we went in, and came in on the middle of a choral concert. We found a seat and listened to rest of the concert, a fine performance, and admired the remarkable interior of the church. At the end of the concert, we made a contribution to the pot where the locals were chipping in to help support the music, and then explored the church walls up close to inspect the remarkable decorations.

St. Ludmilla’s interior is something special. We have visited lots of churches on several continents, and never saw anything like the way this place is decorated. Not to be missed.

Leaving the church, we angled to the right across the street forming the boundary of Namesti Miru to step inside the open door of the Vinohrady Theater, which was easy to identify as it is the largest and most striking building on the block. Not to mention the posters on the wall. Just inside, we had a good a view of the impressive Art Nouveau grand staircase.

Leaving the theater, we turned right and continued downhill for a couple blocks to turn right on the street where U Bile Kravey is located, about in the center of the block. After a fine dinner (see restaurant review), we retraced our steps back to the main road and headed toward Wenceslas Square and the Muzeum metro station. Looking at the map, we knew the metro station was six blocks downhill and one block to the right. Knowing our destination, at each corner, we looked up and down the intersecting streets and then followed the most interesting looking one, which
turned out to be going straight down Anglicka, the main drag.

The Muzeum metro stop is directly in front of the National Museum, which sits on a small rise overlooking the length of the large square. We arrived at the square as the setting sun cast a golden glow over the long Neo-Renaissance facade of the museum.

Twice as large as Old Town, New Town, founded in 1348, is only new by Prague’s standards.  With only 6 days in Prague, we barley got started seeing Nove Mesto. First, we took Metro to Muzeum to walk up Wenceslas Square (Vaslavske Namesti), a long strip of grass with a wide boulevard on each side. An unusual series of sculptures made from wrecked cars decorate the square, whose most famous structure is the Art Nouveau gem the Hotel Europa (1906). The trees in front make it hard to get a good view of the classic facade. The interior is even better.
We explored all the public spaces, including the impressive stairway to the restrooms, which are, according to the guide books, a superior example of Art Nouveau interior design.

While the Old Town Square is the center of the tourist’s Prague, Wenceslas Square is the center of the working city, lined with banks and major shops, sort of a post-communist Fifth Avenue. Mustek Metro is at the opposite end of the square.

In the last half of the 14th century during the reign of the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV, Prague became the one of Europe’s leading cities, larger than either Paris or London. The old church at the Salavonic Monestrery was the home church of the kings of Bohemia, and the dank, old building has two unusual features: some fairly well preserved 14th century murals on the cloister walls, and the richly decorated king’s canopy in the main church, at the side of the alter, under which the king attended services.

We set out to see the several Baroque churches around Charles Square (Karlovo Namesti), Prague’s largest square, more like what we would consider a park, but most of them were closed. The crypt at St. Cyril and St. Methodius was open. The church is the home of the Czech Orthodox Church; the crypt has a notable, but not very interesting, place in Czech history. Almost directly across the street, St. Wenceslas church was open, and has a nice Baroque interior. We decided to continue down Reslova to the river to check out the view, and came across one of
Prague’s most striking buildings, the office/apartment building at the coner of Reslova and Jiraskov Bridge, designed by the noted architect Frank Gehry. Czech President Vaslav Havel lived in the bulidng facing the river behind the Gehry building.

Several tram lines run along the river embankment along the length of Stare Mesto and Nove Mesto. If you can catch a fairly empty one and get a window seat, the views are impressive.

We did not have much time for Nove Mesto, but from what we saw, we were wise to have spent most of our time in Stare Mesto, Mala Strana, and on Castle Hill.