Prague

The next morning after breakfast we wandered around to Wenseles Square and found a hop on hop bus tour.  There were so many to choose from.  Probably too many.  In the end we chose the one that included a free boat ride and the one that the hotel were promoting by having their brochure.

The bus had 3 lines to explore.  We got on the bus and rode it for 1.5hrs and then we got off near an outdoor café complex and we had a soft drink and used the bathroom.

We got on another bus on the red line and we got to the bottom of the castle complex we got off the bus and walked up loads of steps to the Castle and St Vitas Cathedral.  We went into the Cathedral.  You could go in a short distance and then if you wanted to walk around the Cathedral you needed to purchase a ticket.  We could see everything from where we were so we didn’t buy tickets.

St Vitus Cathedral is the biggest church in the Czech Republic and has a long history. It’s not a simple history, though. Construction of the cathedral started in 1344 but it wasn’t actually finished until 1929.

Inside it has tall vaults with diagonal ribs, peculiar column designs, vibrant stained glass windows and statues throughout.

Within these walls, the coronations of Czech kings and queens have taken place. Buried underneath it are several Holy Roman Emperors.

After our visit to the Cathedral we began walking down the stairs and there was a café with the entrance off the side of the stairs and it was a tiered café on the side of the hill.  We went in and found a table by the window with amazing views.  We thought this is going to be expensive but its worth it for the views.  We ordered and it was the cheapest drinks we have had in Prague, ridiculously cheap.  I took lots of photos of the fabulous views.

We then went to the bottom of the stairs to meet the bus and rode it around to the stop for the boat.  Colin had wanted to make it there for the 3pm boat but we didn’t get there till the 4pm boat and discovered that the 3pm boat had been cancelled so that was excellent outcome.

We waited nearby and eventually were able to board the boat.  It left a few minutes late and travelled very slowly up river a very short distance and turned around very very slowly and returned to the mooring about 5 or 6 minutes early, so a total of about 10mins was missing.  Had we paid extra for the boat ride we would have been really unhappy.  It was a boring ride that didn’t really go anywhere, just sailed along very slowly a very short distance under the Charles Bridge and back again.

We got off the boat and made a dash for the last bus to take us back to somewhere near Wenseles Square.  We then walked back to the hotel.  We were pretty exhausted after our long day on the buses.  We only completed two of the three lines available but felt that we had got our money worth.

Prague Castle

Prague Castle

St Vitas Cathedral

St Vitas Cathedral

St Vitas Cathedral

St Vitas Cathedral

View from Cafe

View from Cafe

View from Cafe

View from Cafe

Us on the boat on the river