Edna on the Road: Prague, Day 2

Prague is beautiful, and packed with tourists. The woman who checked me into my hotel last night said it was good that I'm here in the middle of the week, since it's less crowded. I think I don't want to know what it's like on a summer weekend!

I slept in today, and started my morning with a leisurely cup of tea (I carry my own teabags when I travel), the last of the delicious apricots I bought in Vienna, and a pastry that I grabbed at the store last night. I still don't know what this pastry is called, but it was tasty.

After breakfast, I joined the hordes streaming over the Charles Bridge.

I got to the Old Town just before noon, and saw the astronomical clock glockenspiel play. I also poked my head into town hall.

Town Hall glockenspiel

Inside Town Hall

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There are so many beautiful old buildings here. I might label these properly when I get back to my computer next week, but for now here are a bunch of them, in no particular order:

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For lunch today I had a trdelnik with ice cream and Nutella:

Next stop was a grocery store, where I picked up some sandwich stuff, fruit, and snacks:

After a round trip up and down to my room (64 steps each way), I headed up to the Castle Quarter. First stop there was St. Vitus' Cathedral. Wow!

Nave

Organs (baroque one above, modern one below)

Rose window

Tower

Pulpit

St. Wenceslas Chapel

Tomb of St. John of Nepomuk

A couple of other photos from the Castle Quarter:

Basilica of St. George

Lamppost

(When I started up this picturesque stairway to the castle, I had no idea there were 208 steps along the way.)

Last stop of the evening was back in Old Town. There are a ton of concerts here aimed at tourists: almost all feature Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, plus an assortment of Mozart's greatest hits. I decided the organ concert at St. Francis of Assisi sounded more promising: there was a mezzo soprano, flute, and organ, and although the program had a lot of baroque music, some later stuff was also programmed.