A Traveller's Notebook: March 2013

Prague, Czech Republic, 3/31 to 4/2

Stayed at the Hotel Ibis Mala Strana (fine upper end budget hotel)

he Dancing House or Fred and Ginger (nickname given) to this controversial building. Designed in 1992 The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time because the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic, Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous and in the opinion of some it does not accord well with these architectural style.

I LOVE IT THOUGH!

GOLDEN LANE

Golden Lane

Walking to Prague castle ....

Old Town Prague

The Prague Astronomical Clock was built in 1410 and is one of the oldest clocks of this type in Europe and the only one still working.

View from the astronomical clock

Easter Tree and Easter Market in Old Town Prague

Powder Gate
One of the symbols of Prague dating back to 1475 and the entrance to the Charles Bridge. We walked across the Charles Bridge to get to the John Lennon wall

Crossing the Charles Bridge to go to the John Lennon Wall.

Parts of Old Town Square

We went to the Dali exhibit which was in the Prague Old Town Square

Walk from Charles Bridge to John Lennon Wall

Love locks and "little Venice" along the way....

The John Lennon Wall was once a normal wall. But since the 1980's it has been filled with John Lennon inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from the Beatles songs. In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the then communist regime of Gustav Husak. Young Czech would write greivances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge. The movement of these students followed was described ironically an "Lennonism" and Czech authorities described these people as agents of Western capitalism.

Another adventure we took was to the Jewish Cemetery and Synagogue. Unfortunately it was closed to the public on this day.

Czech Food!!!

This was YUMMY and actually served everywhere in Czech, Poland and Hungary - TRDELNIC. A pastry covered in cinnamon sugar.

Another specially to this region is pork knee. It was amazingly delicious (tender and juicy). One of the best places to get it is at a restaurant called Mlejnice. All the food was good here. Good beer too!