Thursday, April 2, 2009

This morning we decided to take a free tour of Prague. As we were walking to find the tour, we saw a large group of people looking up at a clock. We realized that the clock must do something special. It was about five minutes before 10:00 so we stopped to watch. On the hour, the clock came alive! Small doors opened and little men came out. There was a skeleton that raised and lowered its arm to ring a bell. It was fun to find by mistake.

We then went to meet with the free tour guide in the town center. There was a festival going on there at the time. The tour guide told us that it only happened at Christmas and Easter. There were lots of little venders with food, souvenirs, and other goods. There was a stage where kids were performing and a small petting zoo.

The tour guide first showed us a lot of old buildings and told us about all the fires in Prague’s history. We were also shown the Jewish section of town and the Jewish cemetery that is well known.

We crossed the Charles Bridge and went on a manmade island. I wouldn’t have known it was an island unless the tour guide told me. This used to be the rich neighborhood in Prague. There was also a really old water wheel that is no longer used, but still turns. By the wheel, there is a fence with many padlocks on it. Legend says that if you and your significant other place a lock on the fence, you will be together forever.

We also walked by a wall with a lot of graffiti. At one time, people painted on it as a way to protest communism. Today, a church owns the wall and they allow anyone to paint on the wall rather than fighting the issue.

One thing I found interesting was how the people used to label their homes. At one time there were not street names and house numbers. People would use pictures to identify their homes. Some interesting houses were the green lobster and the red lion.

We walked past the U.S. Embassy and walked up to the castle. We were told some of the history and how the castle was still used today. Our tour guide told us that President Obama and many summit leaders would be visiting this weekend. It was a good thing we did not come during the weekend because many sites in Prague including the castle would be closed.

At the end of the tour, our guide recommended a place to eat some traditional food at a low price. We went to the restaurant which was also a small brewery. The food was pretty good. I had chicken and potatoes in a garlic cheese sauce.

We went back to the hostel to rest for awhile before going to see the city at night. We walked along the river and back to the castle. We stopped at the city square where the festival was taking place. We got a pastry to try. With help from the internet, I will attempt to explain it. “The pastry is made by wrapping a slice of sweet dough around a metal cylinder, which is then used to flatten the dough, like a rolling pin. Still wrapped around the cylinder, the dough is then rolled in sugar and cinnamon and nuts and placed over an open flame or glowing coals, where it is heated until brown. Then it is sprinkled with more sugar or cinnamon and served hot. It kind of looks like an edible brown beer mug with the bottom missing.”