Thursday, September 19

 We did better at navigating Prague today. Or I should say Larry did. It’s still all a mystery to me! We took a few trams to get to the castle, which is very interesting. The cathedral is gorgeous with a lot of modern stained glass and some older too. We visited the crypt, which was not nearly as spooky as the one in Vienna. I didn’t even write it up, but it haunts both of us. It has several places where you can actually see heaped-up bones, mostly from plague victims. The one here is quite sanitized with only one buried vault which holds a neat array of important coffins.

The old Royal Palace is largely empty, but the Vladislav Hall and the chapel are very impressive.

 We took another tram to the area of Loreta, but it wasn’t immediately evident where it was – a common problem here, where directions are vague and names undecipherable. Maps likewise. We gave up and decided to just wander a bit. Of course, we immediately stumbled on Loreta, which proved to be a high point of the day. Lovely and tranquil with a most interesting treasury of valuable and beautiful things, including the “Prague Sun” which has 6500 diamonds from the wedding dress of some countess. Some of them are real doorknobs! The church and shrine to Mary are also most impressive.

 From there we wandered downhill, stopping to rest in a lovely park, and strolling

through tiny, cobbled, twisting streets on the way. Oddly and without explanation we found ourselves back at the palace. Recognizing it after only a few minutes, we continued down to

the Charles Bridge. That surrounding area was badly damaged by the flood with the result that many streets are torn up and buildings are closed. The bridge, though, is fine. It’s full of vendors and entertainers. We picked up a framed print.

Earlier in our wanderings we spotted some unusual wine glasses and bought a couple. By the time we were out of the immediate area of the bridge, it was necessary to stop for beer (Larry) and dessert (Jan). Reinforced, we went in search of Friday-night opera tickets. Box seats, no less, for Aida! 

Finally, we arrived back at our hotel, to discover that while our bags had been removed from the temporary room, they hadn’t been delivered to the new, “real” room. So we schlepped them – and of course, the elevator wasn’t working. We decided to call in the owner’s rep and pay our entire bill, since we wanted to be rid of the cash and not have to worry.

The new room is very, very nice. A loft bedroom over a main floor living room, kitchen, entry and bathroom. We’ll check the bed for solidness before we get into it! Oh yes – before coming to the hotel we did some grocery shopping, since we have a kitchen. So we schlepped that, too.  The grocery store was in one of the subway access areas, at a place where there is still a lot of water in the subway. Doesn’t smell great down there!

 After a rest we strolled out for dinner at the hotel across the street, then to the Internet service in our hotel to send off a message to the family. Now it’s relaxation time. Phew!