We first saw what they call Philosophical Hall:
And then here’s Theological Hall:
In the corridor in between the library halls were impressive exhibits and adorned ceilings:
After the library, we went next door to the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady:
And then around the corner was the abbey itself which had the traditional halls and chapels of a monastery. But they also had a fun cartoon that felt like something you would see on Sesame Street of priests eating dinner and walking. They also appeared to have an exhibit about a famous astronaut as well as some Japanese prints, but all the signs were in Czech so we breezed by them. Here’s a photo of the abbey:
Within the complex was a small beer garden where we enjoyed beers, Greek salad, and a chicken schnitzel next to some Koreans longing for kimchi:
After the Strahov Monastery, we took a short Uber to Prague Castle where I was returning from our walk Thursday night when the sites were closed but the complex was opened. It was very different with the crowds and activity:
My main reason was to visit St. Vitus Cathedral, which is considered the most important church in the Czech Republic. It houses the tombs of Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors:
Here’s a photo of St. Wenceslaus Chapel which has relics of him. We continue to hum the famous Christmas carol:
Our ticket allowed entry into the Old Royal Palace which we visited before a horde of tourists:
As well as St. George’s Basilica:
After our visit, we descended the hill and walked by the Polish embassy to find the Wallenstein Palace and Gardens. The main palace building houses the Czech Republic Senate:
We were in search of the famous Dripstone Wall which was a part of the grotto they were trying to build in the garden. It’s made of stalactite-like rocks and kind of looks like skulls:
We then walked across the bridge and through the Jewish quarter back to the apartment where we rested, and saw Rachel off to the airport for her return to Denmark. I had a quality day with Rachel and was so glad we were able to make this rendezvous happen. Thank you for coming!
En route to dinner, we found David Černý’s sculpture of “Man Hanging Out” which is Sigmund Freud hanging by one hand with one hand in his pocket:
We had reservations at Mozart which was near the Charles Bridge. We had a lovely meal of soup with 63° egg, beef tartare, pork belly, and cod:
For dessert, we walked to Crème de la Crème for some gelato:
And then walked to find Michal Trpák‘s “Slight Uncertainty” which are sculptures of people hanging from umbrellas. Originally, I thought these were David Černý’s, but still cool nonetheless:
On our way back to the apartment, we saw the butterflies on a department store. They are made of fuselages of Spitfire World War II aircrafts that are most likely done by David Černý, but there have been some questions of authorship:
On our way home, the streets and the old square were packed with those watching the Ice Hockey World Championship playing in the O2 Arena a few miles away. There were screens in the old square and huddles around pub televisions. The Czech Republic had made it into the final after beating Sweden yesterday and played Switzerland tonight. We watched in the apartment as the Czech team finally scored in the 3rd period and the streets were loud with honking and cheering with flares. I took a quick snap of some of the fans before entering the apartment building:
I had a quality evening with Michael as we did lots of walking and talking and even back at the apartment as we stayed up until 1 am, while hearing the celebrations outside!
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