We drove by a former communist stadium. It could hold about 300,000 people. Whew! It is definitely in need of repair right now too, so currently is not safe to use.
We were fortunate to see a very old and huge library that Jesuit monks control, and it is difficult to actually get into. It is called Strahov Monastery which is high up on the hillside overlooking the city of Prague. During Medieval times the only educated people were the religious groups, so therefore they controlled the knowledge at that time. There are 50,000 books housed there.
Stairway leading to the 2nd level
We also checked out the Loreto Shrine, but photos were not permitted. So nothing to show here except the outside of this building. It was actually housed inside of this building. It is supposedly a replica of the house in which Mary received the Annuciation.
Next was the Prague Castle and the Old Royal Palace with all of their treasures and relics. The last place for the morning was an area called the Golden Lane where the artisans lived just within the palace area but down a little street. There they lived in very tiny connected homes or cottages and produced their wares. The houses consisted of one very tiny room.
Changing of the guard at the Prague Palace
Lovely stained glass windows
Back of the Cathedral
In the Golden Lane.
The afternoon consisted of touring the gardens which were lovely and also extravagant in a very odd way. One was a black wall that was called a grotto but it wasn't really a cave but an ugly mass with homely mean faces imbedded.
View before heading down to the garden
White peacock in the garden area
Below are a couple photos of the ugly black wall or grotto. Somebody definitely had too much money and didn't know what to do with it.
Wouldn't you love to have this in your backyard?
Notice the one with tongue hanging out-yuck.
We then saw the infant of Prague which truly is small. The Baby Jesus isn't even 2 ft. tall since it wasn't supposed to be on a front altar.
Sorry this is sideways
We had a little time of our own to check out a few things or to revisit others. We needed a little free time to explore. We checked out a Tesco store which is like a Target and then we just wandered about checking various sites of Prague.
We had a farewell dinner celebration at a local brew pub. We had a very nice time. It did take awhile to warm up to this group but we did meet some really nice folks.
Our tour guide in Europe and the accordion player
The brew pub in action while folks are dining.
This evening we went down to the bar to relax and Walt ordered an Absinthe which WE would not recommend. It is really strong and not very tasty. The bar tender recommended sugar but that did little to enhance the taste.
It came straight in a small shot glass. I put my little iPad connector next to it to give it a little perspective. We experienced it. :-(
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