This was a totally unexpected but very welcome layover in Prague. It was my first one, so let's czech it out!
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Prague Castle
Early in the morning we decided to start our tour with the castle. Although the direction signs are in Czech, the text is always accompanied by illustrative pictures that make it easy for the tourists to find their way to the landmarks.
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| Mánes Bridge (Mánesův most) |
We can get a stunning view of Prague up in the hill just before entering the castle:
It is free to get inside but you have to pass through a security control. Inside the castle everything is so beautiful that made me remember that this type of beauty and architecture can only be found in the Old Continent.
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| St. Vitus Cathedral |
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| Queen Maria Theresa Entrance |
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| Old Royal Palace |
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St. Vitus Cathedral
So let's have a closer look to the impressive Gothic Cathedral inside the castle complex!
This glass mosaic depicting the Last Judgment has an area of about 80 m2! Wow, more than the area of my humble apartment!
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| Last Judgement Mosaic |
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| Golden Gate |
It is possible to climb to the top of the main tower but you have to buy a ticket.
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| Main Tower |
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| External staircase |
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| West façade |
We can see some awesome stained glass!
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| Stained glass |
And now back to the outside... Some very strange gargoyles! Well.. they're strange by definition.
And finally leaving this beautiful castle.
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Charles Bridge
The next landmark we wanted to visit was the famous Charles Bridge (in Czech, Karlův most) and go back to the Old Town to have lunch.
Some views of the Vltava River:
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| Holy Crucifix |
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| Old Town bridge tower gateway |
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Old Town
Back to the Old Town we chose Hotel Lippert Restaurant for our lunch. I went for the typical goulash soup and roasted duck with red and white cabbage!
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| Old Town Square |
The medieval astronomical clock is one of the main attractions in Prague. Unfortunately the daylight was already fading which prevented me from taking better photos of it.
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| Prague orloj |
In very few minutes, it was completely dark. It was really cold and we noticed some very, very light snowfall.
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| Powder Gate |
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| Cruella's car? :) |
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| Prague's Municipal House |
And soon it was time to go back to the hotel. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to visit the New Town and the famous Dancing House. But I hope to be back in Prague somewhere in the future.
The next early morning we experienced a more decent snowfall on our way to the airport.
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| Václav Havel Airport terminal |
OK, I find snow beautiful because it's not usual where I live (I've seen snowing in Lisbon only once) but it has a little inconvenience for those who are going to fly: de-ice will be needed! Some photos I took aboard our Airbus named "Malangatana":
Our velvet wings...
A short video of a little walk through the cabin:
We managed the situation and finally took off to witness a wonderful sunrise already over the Alps!
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| Sunrise |
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| The Alps seen from above |
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