I walked down toward Old Town, stopping at Wencelas Square and getting a cheese sandwich off the street like Luke raved about. It was really good, I'll probably get one tomorrow too.
I tried to go into Tyn Church, the big one in Old Town Square, but it was closed. I'm not sure if it was just closed because it was Monday or if it's closed for the winter. I'll try to go tomorrow too.
I walked to Charles Bridge and walked up a little in the tower but decided not to pay the 70 krowns to get to the viewing point. I just stuck my camera out the window and it did the trick.
I went back to the castle, but this time I went inside places. St. Virtus Church was free to get into, and not only that, I could take pictures too. Once again, I'm spoiled seeing all these medieval churches, they sort of lose their luster after a while. But this one was cool with St. Wencelas' chapel and very rich stained glass. It was more impressive from the outside though.
Next I walked down to Golden Lane, a bunch of little old homes where guilders worked hundreds of years ago. They were very tiny and all housed shops now. I liked how it had a medieval town feel to it.
It led right into the 15th century tower they used to house prisoners. Not much to see there now, some torture equipment and old walls, but that's about it.
Since I had to buy a ticket to get into Golden Lane, I decided to see what the other things that it got me into did. Well I'm really glad I did.
The first place was the Old Royal Palace, which was, you guessed it, an old royal palace. Now it's 'The Storey of Prague' which has artifacts dating back a thousands years for the castle's history. It was incredibly well done. The displays were clear and the best part was in each room there was a plaque saying what the room was used for in the castle and when it was built. This is what I wanted in places like the Tower of London. Many of the rooms were from the 1500s or before, so it was very interesting.
After that I went to St. George's Basilica. This dates from the 900s and it quite different from most churches I've been in from that time. It's very small for one, and the interior is light. On the walls of the church are parts of painted frescoes, giving it an authentic old feel. I like the church, although in more of a cute old kinda way, not in a super impressed way.
I walked back down through Little Town and watched the clock go off (I managed to watch the next three hours worth, just out of chance) and had some hot chocolate. In the square were some stands, and I had that first desert that I had in Budapest, the rolled up thing with sugar on it. It was very good, although the one I had in Budapest was about three times bigger.
Next I walked into the Jewish Quarter, which was about three minutes away, I was expecting a big hike. Everything in Prague is pretty close together, it's not a sprawling city like London at all. I went into the Old Jewish Cometary, where there are 10,000 gravestones one after the other in a very small place. There are supposed to be 100,000 people buried there. It was impressive. I even put a stone on Rabbi Law's grave.
Then I went into the Old New Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Europe, dating from the 1200s. This was like St. George's, tiny and bright. Rabbi Law's seat there is marked and no one can sit there. He was supposed to have some sort of magical powers and he created some creature that is supposed to be hiding in the rafters somewhere. I didn't see it.
I came back to Old Town Square and went into the Old Town Hall Tower (above the clock) and climbed to the top. The view was great. The sun even started to come out a little. I spent maybe a half hour up there looking around. It was nice finally after spending most of the day freezing (I really wish I brought my gloves).
I went and found the House of Two Golden Bears from the 1500s and then started to make my way back. I stopped at the Powder Tower (because I saw the way to get there from the tower) and walked by the Municipal House, which is right next to it. They were having a concert at 8 and I thought it would be cool to go, so I grabbed a flier.
Around this time I started having SIM card issues. It says it can't find the SIM card, so whether it's a phone problem or card problem I don't know, I'll stop at Carphone Warehouse on Wednesday when I get home. But until then, I can't really make any calls or anything. So I decided to go back to Anj's to check in with her.
I told her I wanted to go to the concert and she seemed really excited about that and said she never went to the Municipal House and was talking about how historic it was (built in the early 20th century, it's where they signed the Velvet Revolution into place) so I told her if she wanted to come I'd buy her ticket for her. She wasn't going to go until I offered the ticket to her. But I was glad.
We took the tram down there (I sort of snuck on it, I didn't buy a ticket and the way it works there, it's super easy to just walk on. Whoops.) and we went to buy tickets. The cheapest was 700 krowns, not terrible, but definitely not cheap. The ticket guy gave us a deal, giving us a box that was worth 900 krowns for the 700 price. I was looking forward to doing this, and Anj was too, so we went for it.
We had to kill off some time, so we wandered around Old Town a little before getting back to the theater about 15 minutes before it started. The seats were good. It's always nice sitting in a box. But the show was absolutely empty. I was counting the number of people there, and it was around 100. Like so empty that it was awkward watching. Just rows and rows of empty seats. If this was a movie, it would have been the low-point in the band's career.
The show was a 'best of' where they played the best songs of the best composers. It was an 8-man-orchestra, smaller than I expected, but it worked. I enjoyed the show a lot actually, although it would have been cooler if more people were there. I felt very in Prague at the show.
Afterward, Anj wanted to go back home and I wanted to grab something to eat. I was thinking I'd go to the Grand Cafe where Kafka used to eat, but I decided to save that for tomorrow and go to the U Prince Hotel. I sat down to eat outside and decided I would try to eat on the 'scenic rooftop' on the 6th floor. Anj said it was really cool, so I went for it.
Turns out it was. There weren't many people up there, the food was the exact same price (cheap) and the views looking at Old Town were great. I ordered a spinach ravioli and they brought me bread (although I had to pay for still water, lame) and then I got a banana and chocolate crepe. My seat had a perfect view and it was right next to a torch so I was warm. It was one of the cooler meals of my life. I stayed for maybe an hour and a half before leaving. I didn't want to, I felt so cool up there, like it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things you do.
I walked back to Anj's and got ready for bed and typed this out. I don't really know what I'll do tomorrow, it's supposed to rain a little, so maybe some museums, a couple things I missed and whatnot. I want to go to the Grand Cafe still, so I'm sure I will. Anj has to leave her place by 6:30, so I'll try to be out of here by then. My flight isn't until 9:40 I think, so I might come back and grab all my stuff and hang out around town for a little before getting back to the airport. You never know.
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