April 10, 2011

Charles Bridge and Prague Castle

Prague, famously known as the City of a Thousand Spires, is reputed to be one of the most romantic cities in Europe. I first visited Prague when I was pregnant with Yiu Yiu. At that time, I was on a working trip to Vienna, and extended my trip with hubby to visit Salzburg, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava. Prague is still pretty much how I remembered it from six years ago. I took a walk around the Charles Bridge & Malá Strana (Lesser Town) and the Prague Castle late one afternoon. Dating from the 14th century, Charles Bridge is Prague's most celebrated structure. As the primary link between Staré Mesto and the castle, it has always figured prominently in the city's commercial and military history. For most of its 650 years, the 510m-long bridge has been a pedestrian promenade, as it is today. There are 30 sculptures on both sides of the bridge.

View of the Prague Castle from Charles Bridge


Sculptures on Charles Bridge


This view reminds me of Amsterdam :-)

From here, I headed to the Prague Castle, popularly known as the "Hrad" via Mala Strana.


St. Nicholas Church and a nearby monument



Streets of Mala Strana


A pretty open field near the Prague Castle


Prague Castle dates to the second half of the 9th century, when the first Czech royal family, moved their seat of government here. Entrance to the St Vitus Cathedral and the Royal Palace was already closed by the time I was there, but the castle ground is still open for anyone who wishes to stroll within.


Prague Castle


St. Vitus Cathedral (Chrám sv. Víta), Prague's most celebrated Gothic cathedral


St. George's Basilica (Bazilika sv. Jirí) and the Convent of St. George (Kláster sv. Jirí)


Toy Museum


Views of Prague from the castle


On the way back to the hotel, I went down to the bank of River Vltava and took this beautiful shot of Charles Bridge.

3 comments:

Small Kucing said...

impressive photos

Unknown said...

Hi, I never been to Prague but heard and saw the beauty from all the pics, will wanna go there one day, after I tick off Northern Europe... and America (bro is there) ... and maybe another visit to UK... haha, oh dear!! I better get a job to finance my travel ! Hahahah... or got job to let me travel like yours? How nice!

A Mom's Diary said...

smallkucing - thanks

Irene - didn't you traverse Europe while studying in UK, coz I thought that's what most students do during semester breaks? I've got to visit UK and the Scandinavian countries one day. And yes, US too. Haha...looks like I've got to work even harder to finance these :-)