Leaving Prague we first had to change money to get the van out of the train station parking lot. I don’t remember exactly how much it was for three days but it seems like it was several thousand Czech Crowns. There was a little excitement when we had to step over several drunks sleeping in the stairwell of the parking garage…

Top of the train station. Built in 1871 and originally called Franz Josef Station, it was renamed Wilson Station from 1945 to 1953 and had a statue of Woodrow Wilson in the nearby park. Germans tore down the statue in 1941 when US entered the war… Station is now named Praha Hlavni Nadrazi

Leaving the city we headed southwest out of the Czech Republic and back into Germany and on to Passau, in Bavaria. Shot this photo through the window as we traveled past one of many “solar farm” installations. The contryside scenery is beautiful, far more scenic than Indiana flat farm fields, but I never found myself wishing the solar panels or wind mills weren’t there. If they don’t “spoil” this scenery they certainly won’t spoil Indiana’s…

We stopped first to check in at our next hotel for the night. There was a little bakery across the street from our room. I liked the simplicity of the lines and color.

Another cool manhole cover. This one is in Passau but was made in Kaiserslautern (the town Jennie lives in).

St. Stephan’s Cathedral (Dom St. Stephan) – Baroque, around 1668.
It has “the largest organ outside the United States and the largest of any Cathedral in the world” with 17,774 pipes.

Tower of St. Stephen’s

Next photo is a merging of 4 photos into one.

Someone’s bones (relics) encased in a glass altar. Kind of creepy, actually lotta creepy. I have a closeup but I’ll spare you. The label says “SANQVIS SII CASTVLI MARTURIS”. Anyone know what that means?

Leaving the church to enter a side courtyard we passed a wood door with beautiful carving and awesome door pulls.

A Bear door pull

This sundial on the wall was accurately displaying 3:30.

There was a hand, with a finger pointing…

…from this door…

…to this dude just inside the doorway

Then wandering back through town for some shopping and sight seeing.

A stroll along the “Blue” Danube River with nice reflections

A cool entrance

More awesome wood carving on doors

And some final streetscape and signs before it got dark and we went back to the church for an organ recital

There and Back Again… Our whirlwind 15 day adventure in Europe. Why the “there and back again” hobbit reference? Because I was reading “The Hobbit” (again) on the plane to Frankfurt and then as we traveled in Europe found myself thinking often of Bilbo’s adventures in Middle Earth. The little towns in Germany, nestled quaintly between misty forested hills just seemed so Shire-like. Old castle ruins and other reminders of Medieval life, knights on horseback, swords, and cobblestones. It’s a short hop from bizarre Gargoyles to Orcs, Elves and other things ‘Hobbitish’.

References: historical descriptions with the photos are primarily from travel brochures picked up along the way or Wikipedia. If I have wrongly included anything copywrite by others, please contact me and I’ll remove it.

Actually day one and two were two days collapsed into one. We left Thursday morning, flew about 10 hours and arrived in Frankfurt on Friday morning.

There was some drama getting out of Indianapolis. Seems American Airlines had broken down planes or pilots that didn’t want to fly to Dallas where we were to meet up with Becky’s sister Deanne for the flight to Frankfurt. Eventually we were switched to Delta and a flight to Detroit then on to Frankfurt. We got there, but our luggage didn’t.

Jennie met us at Frankfort airport and helped us through the luggage issues. Amazingly Deannes AA flight from Dallas arrived at the same time our rearranged flight from Detroit! Our luggage was delivered the next morning at Jennie’s house in Niedermohr so it all worked out fine.
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A satellite photo ‘snip’ of Niedermohr and surrounding lands. Absolutely ‘Shire-hobbitish’. Undoubtably some Longbottom Leaf, the finest pipe-weed in the South Farthing, growing in some of those fields…

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Our wonderful temporary home-away-from-home and the rental minivan we traveled in. Photos start here, nothing of our travels to Frankfurt or from there to Niedermohr-too jet lagged to care.

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Views of houses near Jennie’s. Rooftop solar panels were scattered on houses and barns everywhere we went. Rooftops were always clay tile or slate. An occasional standing seam metal roof but no asphalt shingles.

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Jet lagged but enjoying an afternoon visit to ruins of Burg Lichtenberg (Castle). Jennie, Roni, Becky, Deanne (and Christie Dog)

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View from the room at the top of the Castle Tower. Below is the town of Hobbiton on the Shire. If you look closely you may see the gaffer tending gardens, oops, I mean Lichtenberg. According to Wikipedia this is the largest castle ruin in Germany.

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Photo below is not mine. Got this from Wiki because I couldn’t get an overall shot of the whole ruins…

There was a timeline sign at the entry noting that in 1529 “Ulrich Zwingli stayed here on his way to Marburg”. Reformation history is interesting to me so I’ll expand on that, skip this if you are not interested… Zwingli was a contemporary of Martin Luther and both were strong leaders and writers of the Protestant Reformation in Germany (Luther) and Switzerland (Zwingli). They attended the “Marburg Colloquy” held in 1529 in Castle Marburg at the request of Philipp I of Hesson. Philipp wanted to unite the protestant states for political reasons and hoped to bring Luther and Zwingli together (with other protestant leaders) to reconcile their theological differences, spiritual unity enabling political unity. They agreed together on most reformation points but disagreed on the Eucharist (communion). Luther believing the Eucharist represented much more than a symbol of the body and blood of Christ and Zwingli believing it didn’t. Alas, they did not reconcile differences, which is a fundamental reason that even though Martin Luther was incredibly important to the Reformation, the Lutheran church is not considered a “protestant reformed” church today. Later reformers, particularly John Calvin, held more closely (though not exactly) to Zwingli’s position. But getting back to Lichtenberg, Zwingli stayed HERE on his way to Marburg – history is so cool, especially history where there is still a physical (in this case and this is often the case) remnant of Architecture to walk through and imagine people being in the same place centuries before.

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Up to a castle turret and view out of the arrow slits.

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Another view from the tower showing the entry into the courtyard, the well in the courtyard and the remains of the fireplace and floor supports on the walls inside the castle.

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Steeples and Door Knobs… You’ll begin to see a theme if you keep following this.

Seeing cool old lever handles makes me wonder how is it that it took an act of Congress (literally, ADA Act of 1990) to force us away from knobs and back to levers that were in common use a thousand years ago?

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Architectural Oddity: inside the castle ruins there is this modern Dinosaur Museum! I thought the entry with glass walls, doors and roof was nice.

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Another Architectural Oddity: Unusual to see a steel beam running from interior to exterior, especially through glass… those wacky Germans.

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That about wraps up Day 1. Back to Niedermohr to rest up for Day 2 and enjoy Jennie and Roni’s wonderful hospitality!

The first full day in Germany. Our lost luggage was delivered to Jennie’s house in the morning so we loaded up the van and headed out to be tourists. Saturday mornings in Kaiserslautern is City Market time. Jennie parked the van in a parking garage (that’s it on the right) at this sign. The spots reserved for women are for safety, being adjacent to the entry where you pay for parking. Still, you have… to chuckle…

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Roni and Deanne look at flowers

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Roni (who speaks German very well) about to split a gut laughing at Deanne (who knows NO German) trying to act like she knows what the nice German lady who started talking to her was saying…

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Kaiserslautern is home to Ramstein Air Force Base. Note the giant jet flying over the church.

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I think the colored eggs are hard boiled? Not sure, maybe they just sell better with colors?

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We bought some of this colorful salad and had it for lunch. The flower petals tasted fine but some of the other leafs and stems had ‘fuzzy/prickly’ bits that were a little weird

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Steeple

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American fast food seems to be everywhere in Europe. I don’t know why that surprised me but it did…

After lunch (including the colorful ‘fairy salad’ as Roni called it) we headed over to Ramstein to board a USO tour bus to Rudesheim. This was a treat from Roni who arranged and paid for the whole thing! Thank You Roni!

Rudesheim is a ‘wine town’ and one of the most visited tourist destinations in Germany. We had something like an hour to visit the town before we needed to head for the Rhine River and our boat “Vater Rhine” (father Rhine).

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This scene greeted us as we stepped off the bus. Even in jet-lagged condition the hillsides of grape vines coming right down to the town was cool.

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White wine grapes: probably Riesling. Riesling is the most important grape on the Rhine (and throughout Germany). “Riesling owes its taste to a soil of heat-storing and mineral rich slate”. The Rhine and Danube formed roughly the northern border of the Roman Empire from 50 BC to 300 AD. The Romans realized wine from this area was particularly light and delicate so cultivated it widely. Until 1803, when Napoleon conquered the left (west) bank of the Rhine, virtually all vineyards were owned by the church. With privatization came pride in quality and exporting of German wines. (from tourist map I picked up)

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Narrow streets run ‘up the hill’ and were used to roll the wine barrels down to the boats on the river. Today they are used for happy soccer fans making merry…

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German ice cream shops have beautiful displays. Makes american ‘Baskin-Robbins’ style buckets of ice cream seem primative

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Roni, our friend and generous german unofficial tour guide

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Rüdesheim Coffee. This is a local treat that starts with special coffee mugs (surprise, you can buy them), 3 sugar cubes, Asbach Uralt brandy, and a match. lite it and stir for a minute, then add coffee and a huge dollap of whipped cream. Sprinkle chocolate on top. Awesome. The Asbach brandy has a local Rüdesheim history beginning in 1892 when Hugo Asbach began distilling.

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Deanne and her Nut Cracker friend in front of the Kathe Wohlfahrt store. Right before we were both told to leave because she was eating ice creme and I was taking pictures…

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Wonderfully landscaped and manicured narrow streets packed with tourists, restaurants, and every overpriced thing for sale…

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“Rhine” = Celtic origin and roughly means “to flow” and is one of the largest rivers in Europe. The short section we cruised (Rüdesheim to St. Goar) is a portion of the “Middle Rhine” full of old towns and hillside castles and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Looking back at Rüdesheim from the top deck of the boat. Niederwalddenkmal memorial is on hill above town “to commemorate the foundation of the German Empire after the end of Franco-Prussian War” (Wikipedia). Not sure what that is all about but it’s really big, old (1870’s), and NIEDERWALDDENKMAL is a cool word and would be handy for Scrabble… This was the starting point for our “Rhein in Flammen” (Rhine in Flames) cruise and fireworks tour.

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The “Mouse Tower” – a small tower on an island near the town of Bingen am Rhein (across the river from Rudesheim). Romans first built a structure here. It was rebuilt many times including in 968 when Hatto II, the Archbishop of Mainz rebuilt it as a platform for crossbowmen demanding tribute from passing boats or shooting the crew. His despicable ways grew into a folk story where he tells his famine stricken peasants to wait in a barn where he will bring them grain. Instead he burned the barn down, commenting as they cried out they were squealing like rats. Going back to his castle he finds it full of mice. Retreating to his island tower to escape them he finds it too is full of mice who eat him alive… A poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “The Children’s Hour” is describing his children but alludes to the tale.
They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

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The setting sun peeking out from the clouds highlighting areas of the hillsides.

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This area is called “the Rhine Gorge”. Not a gorge in the Grand Canyon style of vertical cliff walls but a beautiful evening cruising down (up) river of history. Again, couldn’t help thinking Hobbits would be proud these vine manicured hillsides (but they would not have approved of the town name of Assmannhauser Hollenberg).

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Here’s a view (from wiki I think) of ‘the gorge’ at the narrowest/deepest point where the Rhine turns around “The Loreley”

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Don’t know these folks but like the photo… The top deck was a little chilly and breezy so most stayed inside below but we bundled up and enjoyed the views. Very relaxing. Because we went in mid-September, there were few crowds and few kids, just us middle-age tourists…

Top Deck. The crew relaxing.

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Dinner on-board. Interesting that the beer bottle and the beer glass ALWAYS matched when we were served anywhere in Europe. Even bottled water came accompanied with a glass by the same manufacturer. Nice touch. We were told it is a requirement by the beverage manufacturers.

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Same castle as previous photo, zoomed in, and underexposed to silhouette.

Katz Castle (Cat Castle) and Maus Castle (Mouse Castle) were both visible from our boat as we watched the fire works. Photo below is Katz, photos further down silhouetted with fireworks are of Maus. They were built around the same time in 1360’s and had different names but because they were on adjacent hilltops and seemed to be spying on one another. Most castles on the Rhine were originally built to control traffic and collect tolls.

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We arrived here at St. Goar (west bank) and St. Goarshausen (east bank) at dusk and waited as the 60 some boats jockeyed around one another drifting together and then apart attempting to hold a steady position in the strong flow of the river. Photo below is of St. Goarshausen. The town was packed with people waiting for the fireworks to start.

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View from our boat toward St. Goar and Burg Rheinfels (burg=castle). Rheinfels (built in 1245 with many expansions in following years) is the largest castle on the Rhine today and was once as much as five times larger. Much of it has been dismantled, the stone carried off for other uses after the french blew it up in …

When darkness fell the fireworks began and lasted almost an hour non-stop being launched from various castles in the area.

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This morning (Sunday) we loaded up the van and headed out toward our destination of Prague, with an overnight stay in Bamburg, Germany. Along the way to Bamburg, we made a quick  stop to see Marienberg Castle (Fortress) in Würzburg, Germany. This was a long distance travel day, from west to east in Germany so that our travel would be shorter tomorrow (Monday) getting into Prague. Sunday is the best day to travel the Autobahn because most trucks are not allowed on the Autobahn on Sundays. There is a huge difference in traffic.

First we filled up with gas at 1.569 Euro per Liter. 1.569 Euro is almost exactly $2.00 Dollars. (which translates to $7.57 per Gallon).

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Also on the ‘way out of town’ we stopped to take a picture of this house with beautiful hanging flowers. This is near Jennie’s house and we had driven past it several times before stopping.

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Entry through massive wall of Marienberg Fortress.

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Closeup of Creepy Guy over the entry.

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Deanne and Jennie entering the main courtyard.

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Marienberg has thick, high walls, surrounded by steep hillsides of vineyards.

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Scherenberg Gate. The original entry to the old fortress from 1482 when the main castle was encircled by a medieval ring wall. There was a drawbridge here, the inset in the wall and openings for the chains can still be seen.

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Saint Mary’s Church (Marienkirche), built in AD 704 is the round building with the dome straight ahead. It was the original structure built on the hilltop, replacing a former Celtic shelter. Doesn’t look very fancy from the outside.

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Inside “Marienkirche” St. Mary’s Church (the round church in previous photo). Visitors cannot actually go into the church, just step inside the entry that is blocked off with  grating and just room for two people to try taking pictures through the grating. I thought this shot came out well considering the circumstances. Absolutely Stunningly Beautiful church – from floor to ceiling. Actually breathtaking because it is so unexpected from the outside.

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Golden “Illuminations”

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Looking down the hill and over the town of Würzburg. Würzburg has some interesting history:
It was the site of some of the largest peacetime mass trials (witch trials) in history with between 600 and 900 “witches” burned between 1626 and 1631.
On March 16, 1945, in a WW-II air raid by 225 English Lancaster bombers, about 90% or the city was destroyed in a firestorm that killed over 5,000 civilians. Over the next 20 years the town was carefully rebuilt.
There was an American Occupation Army presense in Würzburg from April 3, 1945 until 2008.

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Inside the main Castle Courtyard. The tower, well house, and St. Mary’s Church. The well provided water to the fortress and is over 300 feet deep!

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Gargoyles on the building housing the castle well.

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Looking toward the backside of the Scherenberg Gate. I like the slanted staircase window.

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Another ornamented gateway arch.

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And another.

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On our way out, this musician was creating a wonderful experience as his voice and music reverberated through the tunnel.

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This really is a BIG Castle. This is the parking area at the base, with the old cannon openings in the walls. We had a picnic here before heading on to Bamburg.

Arriving in Bamburg we went to our hotel named “Welcome Hotel” – the name didn’t seem very German but it was a brand new building with cool slanted walls. Our room was the top one on the slanted end… It was situated directly along the Regnitz river running through town. Photo below is of the dining room. There was an incredible breakfast for us in the morning.

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We saw lots of these “eyes with rays” in our travels. “The Eye of Providence (or the all-seeing eye of God) is a symbol showing an eye often surrounded by rays of light or a glory and usually enclosed by a triangle. It is sometimes interpreted as representing the eye of God watching over humankind (or divine providence). In the modern era, the most notable depiction of the eye is the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, which appears on the United States one-dollar bill. In Medieval and Renaissance European iconography, the Eye (often with the addition of an enclosing triangle) was an explicit image of the Christian Trinity. Seventeenth-century depictions of the Eye of Providence sometimes show it surrounded by clouds or sunbursts”. (Wiki)

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Bamburg has an area of old half-timbered houses with tiny porches and gardens lining the Regnitz river, leftover from Medievel days when the area was a fisherman’s settlement called “Little Venice”.

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“Little Venice” (Klein Venedig)

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The “Old Town Hall” sits on an island at the location of a bridge dating back to around the first Millenium. The Town Hall has burned and been rebuilt several times, what remains today was rebuilt around 1750 in a Baroque/Rococo style.

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Cool shop signage.

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Pfarrkirche St. Martin on Maxplatz (parish church St. Martin) on a large square near the Old Town Hall (1693). That’s Deanne walking towards the church. She was always moving faster than me…

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The trompe d’oeil dome by Giovanni Francesco Marchini. Not really a “dome” at all; a really well done perspective painting of a dome on the simple vaulted ceiling.

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The Altar

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It was a beautiful evening so we walked around looking for a nice outdoor dining spot and ended up here.

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Not much of a photograph but after getting a chance to sit down, when the food and beer came to the table, I remember relaxing and thinking, “Yes, this really is going to be a great vacation.” Meals are: Currywurst (top left), Nuernberger Bratwurst (bottom left), Kartoffelkloese (potato dumpling-upper right), Wild Boar with Kartoffelkloese (bottom right).

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Sunset lighting on the Old Town Hall

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Couple of cool doors

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End this day with a “May Pole” we saw on the walk back to the hotel. We saw several of these in our two weeks of travel. Some are erected on May 1 and taken down soon after, others are left up all year. The history of the May Pole is widely debated. Possibly “a remnant of the Germanic reverence for sacred trees, as there is evidence for various sacred trees and wooden pillars that were venerated by the pagans across much of Germanic Europe” (Wiki). St. Boniface and other Christian missionaries made a point of destroying sacred trees and groves of trees worshiped by pagans in the 7th Century; the cutting of “Thor’s Oak” being an example. Other possibilities include phallic symbols or a general rejoicing in the new growth of plants in spring.

I’ll post some favorite photos here. More curious folk can click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dadart/sets/72157631707523963/ to see more “Day 4 Photos” on flickr.
In the morning, we had an incredible breakfast  at the hotel then packed up and drove through town to the top of the hill expecting to park. Alas, there was NO room. Jennie dropped us off, going back into town to park then met us back at the top… Meanwhile, we stopped into St. Jakob Bamberg and enjoyed this simple and beautiful place. This is the oldest surviving church in Bamberg, construction starting in 1107. The interior is a great example of a Romanesque Basilica but the exterior front was replaced later with a Baroque facade in 1771. There are “pilgrimage stamps” at many cathedrals. Apparently some folks take this seriously. We enjoyed visiting lots of cathedrals but this is the only place we ‘got the stamp’. 
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Painting over the crossing is about the life of St. James

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Architects of old Cathedrals got gold plated honors, their designs carried on the shoulders of some high ranking muckity mucks…
I say, back to the old days!

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Two fine examples of Baroque style

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The Old Palace Courtyard

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Leaving the Courtyard and approaching Bamberg Cathedral, seeing the spires (Romanesque) soaring above the rooftops.

Construction started in 1004 by King Henry II or Germany (who later became Emperor in Rome). The Cathedral was build on top of the foundations of the original Castle Babenberg which is first mentioned in 902. The Cathedral originally had only two spires. It burned down twice in the first two hundred years and now has four spires and a mix of Romanesque and Baroque architecture. It’s official name is The Bamberg Cathedral of St. Peter and St. George. The west chancel is dedicated to St. Peter – representing the pope and the east chancel is dedicated to St. George- representing the holy roman empire. I didn’t know this distinction at the time but knowing it helps explain why we saw soooo many statues of St. Peter and St. George (slaying a dragon) in towns and cathedrals we went on to visit.

Bamberg was not bombed during WW II which accounts for many of the old buildings remaining relatively intact including Bamberg Cathedral.

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Bamberg Cathedral on far left, across cobblestone plaza (called Cathedral Square).

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The arch of the Beautiful Gate

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A side door into the Cathedral. Hingework to make any Hobbit proud

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Another side door with awesome carvings surrounding it, completed in 1237. This is called the “Prince’s Portal” and is only used for special occasions.

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Prophets and Apostles on either side of the door.

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I don’t have a photo of the main entry doors but this is the view ‘out’ of the doors

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More cool hinge work and evidence on the top hinge that a heavy door and enough time can deform even thick strap iron.

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Interior of Bamberg Cathedral

Plan of Bamberg Cathedral (yellow area). The Old Palace, Courtyard, and Beautiful Gate are partially shown on lower right area.

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Rose window and shadow

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Stained glass window. There is lots of variety. I liked this one.

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Emperor Henry II, the founder of the Cathedral, and his wife Empress Cunigunde are still buried here in this tomb that took 12 years to carve.

Pope Clement II is also buried in this cathedral ( 1047). He was only pope for 12 months and this is only place a pope is buried outside of Italy and France.

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Old painting on the stone columns and the famous ‘Horseman of Bamburg’ statue in the background

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‘The Horseman of Bamburg’ has stood in this place for almost 800 years (approximately 1230 AD). Uncertain who is represented as the Crowned Horseman but one of several contemporary Holy Roman Emperors or The Messiah are said to be possible. The Nazis propaganda claimed he was a knight symbolizing German perfection and looking to the east for new lands to conquer. Considered the first monumental equestrian statue since classical antiquity, and also one of the first to depict a horse shoe. The statue is now the symbol of Bamberg.

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We found this cool courtyard and paused for a photo. Becky, Roni, Jennie, and Deanne

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Then we traveled to PRAGUE!
After some fingernail biting excitement navigating downtown during rush hour, we found a spot at the train station parking garage. High drama as Jennie squeezed the van through narrow streets gridlocked with cars parked everywhere including the sidewalks but the absolute high point was when she played chicken with an electric tram in an intersection, adrenalin peak? yes… After figuring out how to get Czeck Krones out of an ATM in the train station, we hauled all the luggage out of the car and rattled it’s little wheels across about 1/2 mile of cobblestone streets and sidewalks. Must have looked like a Beatles Abby Road album cover.

Once settled into our hotel, and a brief rest to allow heart rates to come back down, we headed out in search of the Old Town Square and food!
It was getting dark and this photo was the first. Somehow seems fitting as it represents the beauty and crazyness of Prague

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Another shop along a street leading to the square. All kinds of hawkers, gawkers and craziness in the public streets and squares. Loads of fun.

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And, of course, the Medieval Astronomical Clock (Prague Orloj) on the south wall of the Old Town City Hall. The earliest clock works are 602 years old (1410) designed by a clockmaker and a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Charles University. There is a legend that they were blinded afterwards to prevent them making a similar clock for competing cities but the story is said to be untrue. Wikipedia has a nice explanation of the clock including the illustration/legend included below. Here is a video projection from the 600 year anniversary a few years ago http://vimeo.com/15749093#

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The figures on the sides of the clock represent things despised. Left side figure admiring himself is “Vanity”, then the money lender with bag of gold representing “Greed”. Right side is more obvious, the skeleton is “Death” (who strikes the time on the hour) and the Turk representing “Pleasure”. Just about everything ornamental is covered with pigeon netting so sometimes it doesn’t pay to look too close. There is a legend that

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Trumpeter trumpeting out on the hour from four sides of the tower.

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We ate dinner at Oliva Verde, in a ‘tent’ restaurant just below the clock tower. Their website has the menu and some nice photos: http://www.olivaverde.cz/
Deanne had a traditional Czeck Goulash Zuppa.
Becky and I shared a Quattro Formaggi pizza-ish thing. It was ok but this was one of the few times I thought the ‘American’ version was better. Local Indianapolis Bazbeaux Quattro wins hands down.

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View from the area in front of the clock tower and restaurant.

Day 5 began with breakfast at the “Friday” Hotel (pronounced Free-Day), then setting out toward the Old Town Square as the sun came up on a beautiful (warm) day. Below is a shot of Deanne posing by the front door of the hotel.

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We started the day with a Gargoyle near our hotel and saw lots more before the day was over. The needle-like spikes on top of the gargoyle are an attempt to keep birds off. Just about everything is ‘protected’ with this or netting (or it’s covered with pigeon poo).

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Not many people around the huge, open square early in the morning but a bride and groom were out getting some wedding photos done and taking advantage of a sliver of sunlight slicing between the buildings and into the square. The Jan Hus Memorial statue is on the left. The pink building (behind the bride) is Kinský Palace, an intricate Baroque building that once housed a German grammar school attended by Franz Kafka, and the Gothic church with the black towers is Our Lady before Týn.

 Kafka “stuff” is everywhere in Prague. You can buy t-shirts, posters, mugs, anything, with a Kafka theme. He was born in Prague in 1883 and most of his existential writings were published after his death in 1924. Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre are among the writers influenced by Kafka’s work; the term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe surreal situations like those in his writing. (Wiki)

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Jan Hus (John Huss) with Hussite Church (St. Nicholas Church) in background. Some Wiki history of Hus; Born in 1370, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. Hus believed that Catholic mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin as well as many other (pre-reformation) teachings of John Wycliffe. This did not go over well with the Vatican in Rome and Hus was ultimately condemned by the Council of Constance and burned at the stake in 1415. The memorial was built with public contributions in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his death.

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Sunrise on the Old Town Hall.

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Looking up at the Astronomical Clock and Tower

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Detail of the _______

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The Old Town Hall building was closed but the door was propped open for workmen going in and out. There was some amazing mozaics on the vaulted ceiling. I got this shot before being shooed out.

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We hunted around to find the entry to the Church of Our Lady before Týn. It’s hidden in a tiny courtyard behind the storefronts on the Square. This is the main entry door but they hadn’t opened yet.

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Another door in the same area. I don’t remember exactly where this was.

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More cool carving on the same door.

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Street signs in Prague are interesting. Sort of ‘bubbles’ mounted on building corners.

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Early morning street leading to the Square. The streets are almost all cobblestones with lots of different patterns.

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Another early morning street scene. Our hotel was a few blocks from the Old Town Square. This was on our walk, before most people were out and around. The “Kodak” signs probably won’t be around much longer…

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Side door to Our Lady before Týn church

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Cool manhole cover…

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Prague was generally very clean but like most big cities has it’s share of Graffiti.

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Street posters display clear Czech opinions toward thier Communist and Nazi neighbors during WW-II (and I). Reinhard Heydrich resided in Prague Castle until his assasination by Czech resistance. Look him up for reasons why he was hated, there is plenty to hate about him…

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Not sure what building this was on but I like the sculpture. Looks like he’s just casually hanging out up there dangling his legs over the edge of the roof parapet.

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The “Prague Squad”, searching out the tram for a ride up to the Castle. We found the tram easily enough but figuring out where to purchase tickets for the tram proved more challenging. We eventually bought them from a newspaper/magazine seller.

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Steeples of St. Vitus Cathedral seen as we left the tram and approached Prague Castle complex. Prague Castle is considered the largest castle in the world (Guinness Book of World Records qualifies this with “largest Ancient castle” – perhaps there are larger Modern castles?). We entered at the North Gate.

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This is the room where you purchase tickets for the various castle tours. Door heights everywhere were sized for folks like Bilbo or Frodo… This was one of the few times I handed off my camera, thus, you won’t find many photos of me on this trip so get your giggles here…

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Guy with a Hawk or Falcon walked by and set the bird down nearby then walked on. This photo was taken on the Powder Bridge, an old stone bridge crossing the Deer Moat, a deep wooded valley below the bridge.

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Bird took off and soared over to land gracefully on his arm.

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St. Vitus Cathedral steeples rising high above rooftops of the “2nd Courtyard”. Next several photos are of approach to the church.

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St. George slaying the dragon (in the “3rd Courtyard). This is a bronze replica. The original, from the 1300’s is kept indoors at the Royal Palace. Saint George is the patron saint of Knights and Soldiers.

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Closeup of St. George and the dragon. Apparently killing dragons keeps you really thin or St. George was wearing a really tight corset under that armor…

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St. Vitus Cathedral. This is a PhotoShop stitch of 3 shots. This does not even begin to do justice to the experience of being there. The church is immense in size and is so ornately detailed everywhere that it seems impossible to believe it’s “real”. In this plaza, near the statue of St. George slaying the dragon, I was officially ‘dubbed’ “Sir Lagsalot” by deanne, using a souvenir ball point pen sword. Some story about me hanging back taking pictures or something…

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An awesome door jamb carving.

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An awesome copper gutter bracket… maybe something only an Architect would love…

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Beautiful stained glass window.

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In the Royal Palace; The Vladislav Hall… again, just another incredible space to walk into. Built around 1500 during the reign of Vladislav II, it was the largest “room” in medieval Europe. “The hall was used for banquets, receptions, coronations, and other events of the Bohemian court. It was even large enough accommodate tournaments between knights; the “Knight’s Stairway” was built wide enough to accommodate horses to facilitate such activities”. (Wiki)

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“Riders or Equestrian Stairway” – a ramped stairway that horses could navigate to get from the outside courtyard into the Vladislav Hall (not my photo – found on internet). Knights could ride in and pay homage to the King “in a dignified manner” without being humbled by having to dismount the horse…

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Ceiling of the New Land Property Registry, painted with coat of arms of all those who worked there from 1561 to 1774.

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Door Hinge… what can you say about that?

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Chapel of St. George. Built in 920, it is the oldest church building in the Prague Castle complex. Baroque facade was added much later…

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Religious Dude holding a church (closeup of previous photo) Not sure who this guy is but I’ll bet he wanted to grow up to be an Architect?

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A roof made of Stone. Now that’s something you don’t see every day; or ever…

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Another Knight-ish Dude, just hanging out on the corner of a building.

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Really old street sign and copper downspout. Can’t put my finger on why, but I really like this photo.

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Another carving of St. George slaying the dragon.

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Looking from back to front (Nave) of the Chapel of St. George. The facade is Baroque but the interior is almost entirely Romanesque, including the arched “Women’s Gallery” on the second floor.

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Arches of Women’s Gallery

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From front to back

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One of the side chapels in the Basilica of St. George.

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Exposed vaulted arch ceiling shows old Romanesque stonework.

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St. George slaying another dragon

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Cool old stone carving and lettering

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Back out into the Saint George’s Courtyard looking at the “Altar End” (Apse End) of St. Vitus. The dark wood door in the building on the left is the “Horse Stair” entrance to Vladislav Hall. So if you were headed to an indoor jousting tournament you would ride in that door, turn your horse left and clomp up a stone ramp with little steps or ridges in it and coming out at the top into the Vladislav Hall.

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Some Steeples

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And, some Gargoyles

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The day was growing warmer and it was time to eat so we took a break for lunch before heading back to St. Vitus hoping the lines were cleared.