2013 Holiday Travels - Pt 3 - Prague

  Prague has an important history that dates back to the 9th century.  It became a home for Bohemian kings, some of whom sat as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 14th century, New Town was constructed as an extension of Prague's historic center Old Town, and still exists today.  Later, Prague fell under Habsburg rule, and in 1918, after WWI, it became capital of Czechoslovakia.  The city was virtually unscathed by WWII.  After the fall of The Wall, the city's population surged to almost one and one-quarter million, and became capital of the Czech Republic after the split into two countries 20 years ago.  The West has since discovered Prague, and made it the top tourist city in Central Europe.  This is the scene I encountered Christmas night as my train rolled in from Vienna.

  When it comes to cultural features and spectacular architecture, in my opinion, Prague is almost right there with Vienna, and I will argue offers more in terms of celebrating its history .  My mind is still enthralled with what I've seen the last several days.  Where to start?  Well, I guess Prague Castle overlooking things here is the rock star:

  It is enormous; probably no other ancient castle is larger.  If Prague Castle isn't the feature attraction, then I suppose Charles Bridge, in the foreground would be.  It doesn't look like much until you get a lot closer (below); the statues lining both sides are fantastic!

  Just one example of what I guess are a couple dozen:

  I can't put a number on how many beautiful churches and other historic buildings I viewed.  From what I've learned, the Gothic-style Tyn Church is maybe the big dog:

  Apparently, the Astronomical Clock is famous.  Yawn.  My Munich tour guide said that a major travel publication recently named the Glockenspiel the 2nd-most overrated tourist sight in the world.  In the top spot was this:

  Whatever.  My personal favorite, though, was the Municipal House, a civic building and concert hall.  This is a Googled image of the Art Nouveau wonder:

  Oh, wait this is what I originally saw:

  My camera can't do justice to what my eyes saw.  I turned a bend, then caught myself moments later with my jaw dropped, mouth hanging open.  You just had to be there.  Instead of two days, I wish I had two weeks for all of the fascinating museums.  I would really need that long.  Maybe another year.  Onward to Berlin!