Ed and Annette's Excellent European Adventure: Prague Day 3

A much anticipated day to the Castle we go..... First a new adventure to the area called Lesser Town which across the river from the Old Town area. It is the location to some pretty wonderful sights. Just off the tram we were taken aback by an odd statue in the park that symbolizes the struggle of communism and their battle for freedom. Later in the day we saw the Lennon Wall - a modern graffiti expression fight against communism based on the music of the Beatles. We take our freedom for granted and forget that is was just a few years ago there were millions of people in the Eastern Block that were oppressed by the ruling communist party. Juxtaposed to this is the beauty and grandeur of this City of ancient times.

We headed up to the top of the park that surrounds the city by riding the funicular train. The expansive view opened for us as we traveled up the steep hill. Greeted by a massive wall (Hunger Wall) that served to protect the City in the 1400's; built by those suffering during the famine to earn their food. In the late 1800's they built a huge structure based on the Eiffel Tower to overlook the City (they built it in 6 months!)

Venturing through the City's cobble stone streets and multiple stairs taking, we finally came upon the American Embassy. We hoped to get a Czech stamp on our passport but we were eight minutes late and they had closed (only open 8:30-11:30). Slightly bummed, we traveled to the area on the south side of the Charles bridge for lunch. As we passed over some of the canal bridges we saw so many locks covering the railings. Tradition is that lovers place a lock on the rail and throw the key into the water so their love is sealed forever. So romantic. Let's do that too!

We ascended up 260 some steps (but who's counting? -Bill) to the Prague Castle. What? Closed? Unfortunately the main building was closed for renovation so we wandered through the grounds and looked inside a couple massive and beautiful churches. We wound our way down to the gardens below for a stroll before heading off to Starbucks for a well-deserved coffee and cookie.

Fairly worn out from the day's activities we stopped by our favorite bakery (Paul) and got a baguette to go with some cheese and pate. We sat out in our hotel garden, enjoyed a special beer (x33) and some snacks for our dinner. We enjoyed just relaxing, talking and laughing about all sorts of childhood family remembrances. Another wonderful day of our trip closed.