Climbing the 287 Steps at The Prague Castle - The World's Biggest Ancient Castle

Prague is a city full of rich history and cultures.

Most of all, the city is blessed with an abundance of  impressive magnificent architecture and buildings!



















We had the opportunity of visiting the city's most famous building - the Prague Castle, one of the most important building in the Czech Republic.

The Prague Castle complex is a series of buildings located in Prague. 

The first building was started in the late 8th century.  

In the course of the castle building construction period, work progressed slowly due to interruptions caused by wars and by fire.  

Bohemian kings and emperors continued adding and constructing the buildings with various architectural designs under the supervision of three different architects over a period of 600 years. 

 

According to the Guinness Books of Records,  the Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world with an area of 700,00 square meters. 

 

It is the seat of the current president of the Czech Republic.

The St. Vitus Cathedral is an excellent example of the Gothic architectural design.

 

 The St. Vitus Cathedral located inside the Prague Castle is a magnificent building!

 

Climbing to the top of St. Vitus Cathedral

We climbed the 287 steps to the top of the Great South tower of the St. Vitus Cathedral.

 

As we were climbing up the stairs, we needed to negotiate our way as the narrow stairway could accommodate only one person  at a time.

Reaching the top of the Cathedral, Prague Castle

It was not an easy climb for people our age. We took our time and paced ourselves.

Finally we reached  to the top of the tower. 

The view was incredible!

View from the top of the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic

A bird's eye view of the grounds of the Prague Castle

We could see the entire castle ground and much of the city of Prague.

















😊It was well worth the effort!

We also learned an interesting thing about the biggest bell in the Czech Republic, hanging on cowhide inside the Great South Tower.

The bell weights 15 tons and is called the Zikmund. It predicted the disastrous flood in Prague in 2002.



















On June 15, 2002, during the pealing on the occasion of the St. Vitus feast, the clapper cracked. According to legends, a disaster would happen.

In August, the disastrous flood arrived in Prague.

 

The Prague Castle is truly a spectacular place to visit.

 We were especially awed and inspired by the magnificence of the St. Vitus Cathedral. 

 

After descending down from the tower, J. S and I sat in the square in silence, staring and admiring the indescribable beauty of this architectural masterpiece!

We climbed to the top of the South Tower, Prague Castle 

R.T.

Prague Castle

Prague, Czech Republic

Enjoying a Leisure Afternoon and Strolling on the Streets of Prague

A vegan restaurant in Prague

After the Sunday Service in Prague,  we went for lunch at a vegan restaurant nearby.

J. had a vegan burger for lunch.

Trying to eat healthy while we are traveling is not always easy, but we always try to find nutritious and delicious food.

I ordered potato pancakes for myself.

Though there were few choices on the menu, the food was good, especially, my potato pancakes.

There was a display across the street from the church, so we went to see and learn about it.











The weather was nice so we explored the streets of Prague on foot.

I love architecture and appreciate buildings with various designs.

There are so many interesting buildings in Prague!























Strolling on the streets of Prague was like a feast for my eyes.



 

I have never seen so many old magnificent buildings in one city!













There are lots of old and colourful buildings kept in pretty good shape.

Besides old buildings, we also saw a few modern buildings.

Another interesting thing we observed was the many displays on the streets of Prague.

A display in the Wencelas Square area

These public exhibits often displayed the pictures and history of the country.

There were peeking holes at various height levels to accommodate the height of the viewers.

We also came across the Wencelas Square.

We learned a lot about the history of Czech Republic from these displays.

Walking on the streets of Prague was enjoyable as we were so intrigued with so many things!




R.T.
Prague
Czech Republic

Attending an English Sunday Service in Prague, Our Second Day in the City

I had a good sleep in our Prague hotel on our first night here.

However, I did hear J. waking up in the middle of the night eating the dinner we bought him.










I had prayed that I would have an opportunity to share some bible reading and pray with J. who did ask me to share some passages.

I was glad that I could have time and read a passage from the book of Exodus.

It tells how Moses' hand was being held up by Aaron and Hur during a battle against Israel's enemies. It was a good sharing. I emphasized the importance of team work and depending on God with J. but we didn't have time to pray.  

Again, J. got us out of our hotel room and we were at breakfast by 8am.
The hotel served a  nice spread of salad, fruits, cereals and meat for breakfast. We sat there enjoying our food and conversation for quite a while. 

We looked for a church for a Sunday Service in Prague.

I suggested going to church as this was Sunday and was happy that J. agreed.

He found the International Baptist Church of Prague.

We attended a service at the International Baptist Church of Prague

We went there for the 11a.m. service.
.

It was about 2.7 km walk and took us about 45 minutes.

The congregation was friendly, diverse in its composition.

We enjoyed singing time at the service.

We enjoyed the singing and the warm greeting.😊













Pastor Gareth's sermon on Difficult People hit the nail on the head for J. as the he talked about how to deal with our enemies and difficult people in our lives.

I was glad that God answered my prayer about J. being touched by this service.


I will continue to pray for J. and E. of finding a Christian small bible study groups at where they live so that they would have regular good Christian fellowship and support.

R.T.
Sunday Service in Prague
12 08 2018

Tourists Beware When Travelling to Prague, Czech Republic

Bus Station in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Since we were taking the 5:30pm bus to our next destination, we spent a good amount of the day at Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.

With luggage in tow,  we walked to the bus station and waited for the bus.

We were dropped off here in the middle of night with no taxi or public transport service. 

This was the same bus stop where we were dropped off the night before leaving us standing in complete darkness without any sight of taxis or public transport.

Being in daylight, we had a good look at the station.

No service was provided to passengers at the bus station in Cesky Krumlov

It was a poor bus station, one which did not provide much protection or shelter from the scorching sun.

There was no booths or stalls selling bus tickets, or food nor was there anyone in sight giving assistance or directions should one require it.

On route via public bus from Cesky Krumlov to Prague

We got on the bus at 5:30pm sitting at the front row assigned seats.  

After arriving to Prague at around 8:30 p.m., we hailed a taxi taking us to our hotel which we knew was not too far away.

Some taxi driverd did not turn on their meters when transporting tourists in Prague

After putting all our luggage into the trunk of the taxi and heading towards our hotel, we realized that  the taxi driver did not turn on his meter.

We have travelled in numerous countries before but this was the first time this happened to us.

The taxi driver charged us 10 euros for a 3 km ride.

It should have been much cheaper than that.

Next time we must remember to agree on a taxi fare before getting into a taxi in a foreign country no matter how short the distance is.

We checked into our hotel near the Old Town Centre. J. went to sleep right away while we went out to explore the nearby streets.

We went to a currency exchange place and exchanged some euros for Koruna.

Tourists are charged 28% commission fee when exchanging for Czech currency in Prague.

I was charged a whooping 28% service fee. Shocking!

Not having any local currency with us, we had to pay for this fee.

We got ripped off again, twice in a row since we landed in this ancient city.

We arrived at the Prague bus terminal & visited for a few days.

Prague is a very popular tourist destination. However, we could not believe how tourists are being taken advantage of  here by the local service and business people.

Our first two encounters in Prague were less than desirable. We need to put our guards up and be cautious when visiting Prague in the next few days!

R.T.

Prague

Czech Republic

A Dilemma for a UNESCO Town - To Demolish the Revolving Theatre or to Save it?

We visited the gardens at the Cesky Krumlov Castle

After our guided tour in the town of Cesky Krumlov, we went on our own to explore the gardens at the castle.

Lighting and sound equipment on the ground near the open air theatre.

There were lighting equipment and fixtures on some part of the castle ground.

We knew that we were near the outdoor theatre.

A revolving auditorium in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

It was not an ordinary outdoor theatre, but a theatre with a revolving auditorium that could sit 600 people.

Imagine the pleasant surprise  for the audience each time when the stage rotates revealing a completely different scenery in a natural beautiful lush green setting.

The revolving theatre used to utilize teams of men pulling the ropes to change the scenery for each play. 

Nowadays, the theatre uses technology and therefore no longer uses teams of men to do this job.

The town built this revolving auditorium without UNESCO's permission. 

UNESCO has asked the town to have it removed as it does not belong there.

The citizens of Cesky Krumlov face a dilemma: some say this revolving stage should be removed while some say it should stay.











UNESCO has given the town a deadline by 2020 to decide what to do with the revolving stage.

It would be interesting to find out what the townspeople will decide what to do.

After the tour of the revolving theatre, We walked back to town and checked out from our pension. 

Unfortunately, they did not have a space to hold our luggage until we boarded the bus so we had to drag our luggage around.

We took a nice break and enjoyed our lunch at one of the restaurants. 

While J. and his dad were enjoying a beer, I went shopping and got a souvenir for this pretty town, a clock with a medieval design.

It was an enjoyable day visiting this pretty medieval town! 


















We heard about Cesky Krumlov from another tourist and gald that we visited this amazing UNESCO town!






R.T.
Cesky Krumlov
Czech Republic