The next leg of our trip took us to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. We landed in Vaclav Havel airport. You remember Vaclav, he was the poet who stepped up to be the first President after the collapse of the Soviet era. Prague, or Praha as they say it in Czech, is an overwhelmingly beautiful city. The art, artistry, and architecture are jumping at you from all sides from the start. The Hotel Aria was on a cobblestone street in what's know as Mala Strana or Lesser Town. It's the white building in the center of the third picture above. To its right where the red van is parked was an organic fruit market. And to the hotel's left was a restaurant where we had our final meal in Prague. They had a live music trio that really spiced this occasion up. Within one block of us was the Kostel SV. Mikulase or Church of St Nicholas. It is noted as the most beautiful building of the Czech baroque style. Here is a sampling of some of the beautiful art found inside. Of course, I had to snap ol St Basil's statue since he's so popular back in Moldova...called Svinte Vasile. Now we are out in the street headed for the Charles Bridge. As we look back up the street we can still see the tower of St Nicholas, but as we turn around, there's the bridge gate. The Karluv Most or Charles Bridge is know for its 30 individual larger than life sculptures that line its promenade. These are all figures of saints. The bridge is the oldest stone bridge in Prague established by Charles IV in 1357. The bridge is one of many that crosses the Vltava River. My cousin Mary is rubbing a marker for luck where a local priest was thrown over the bridge by the king's orders since he wouldn't divulge the queen's confessions. Man in red was an organ grinder on the bridge with a non live monkey for companion. And there is King Charles IV himself at the Old Town side of the bridge. Next we come to the Stare Mesto or Old Town and the Town Square Tower that has an astronomical clock. The clock rings on the hour and statues of the 12 Apostles show themselves in the two doors at the top. The double gothic tower church on the square is called Tyn's Church (pronounced "teen"). It is 600 years old. The monument in the square is for Jan Hus who was a priest that promoted reading the Bible in the people's language. He was burned at the stake for such outrageous ideas. Let's say he was ahead of his times. We tried out many restaurants in Prague and even found one named after my older son, Amos. Goulash and Pork Knees are favorite dishes. This city also had it's Jewish quarter. The Old-New Synagogue was founded in 1280 and is one of the oldest preserved early Gothic buildings in Prague. My brother, Douglas and cousin, Mary are standing just below the old Jewish cemetery. A small plot where over 90,000 people were buried, one on top of the other, because this was the only place in town allowed them for burials. Well in the final picture you can see what all this walking around has wrought. A Thai foot massage. Tomorrow we'll start again to discover more of Prague's treasures.
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