DAY 8: Prague; Half-day tour Hradec Kralove

Saturday, 6 SEPTEMBER 2014 [Free & easy morning, Afternoon trip outside Praha]

Even though I would be travelling to outside Praha at noon that day, was determined that after two days of rest, I had to go out there and see more of the city.  Set out quite early, before 8am, and wandered about to places nearby and not so near the Vodičkova apartment where I was staying.

This is an elementary school, on Vodičkova 22. The building is in neo-Renaissance style and built in the 1860s

Along Vodičkova street on the side of Kino (cinema) Světozor, enter a passageway in Světozor go all the way to the end, turn left and you will eventually come to a tranquil garden, Franciscan Garden, which adjoins the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. This catholic church was founded by Charles the IV in 1347, a day after his  coronation, with a Gothic design and to serve as a church for coronation of kings. Hence, it was to be one of the most imposing churches second only to St Vitus at Prague Castle.

However, it was not completed and what we see today is only a fraction of the original plans. Due to extensive damage, the church domes were rebuilt first in renaissance and then baroque style, but the walls retain their Gothic architecture. The church may be incomplete but it is supposed to have the highest vault of all churches in Praha - and it does dominate the skyline in this area. Within are numerous impressive baroque altars. It is located on (Jungmannovo náměstí) Jungmannovo square. I never went into the church.

Stained glass window in the passageway from the Světozor cinema to the Franciscan Garden. Tesla, short for TEchnika SLAboproudá, was the state-owned monopoly producer of electronics during the Communist era (I originally thought this was a tribute to the inventor Nikola Tesla) 

Kostel Panny Marie Sněžné (Church of Our Lady of the Snows) and Františkánská zahrada (Franciscan Garden)

In the Franciscan Garden

Moving from one church to another: A 5 minute walk from Jungmannovo square along Narodni avenue (that approximately delineates the border between Praha's Old Town and New Town) and turning into a narrow lane or further down via Na Perštýně street, you will find the Church of St Martin in the Wall. It dates back to 1187 and received its "In the Wall" name when walls were built around the old town in the 14th century, and the southern section of the church fit right into the town walls. I spotted a brochure in front of the church advertising that organ and trumpet performances are held on Mondays and Saturdays and decided to attend the one on the coming Monday (8th Sept).

Church of St Martin in the Wall

Quite a few churches have music performances, helps in upkeep of the premises

Morning walk continued in the area of the border between New Town and Old Town.

Another really old beer hall and restaurant with a microbrewery

Cubist style building - believe it's some kind of police administration office

Building along Národní třída

Národní Divadlo (National Theatre) - opera and classical music performances

Cafe Slavia - famous as gathering place of dissidents, writers, poets, intellectuals, including for the first Czech president after the fall of Communism, Václav Havel

Can someone who loves Praha ever get bored with Prague Castle, Vltava and Charles Bridge views?  This one is from opposite the Cafe Slavia

Next to the National Theatre is a glass building (looks like metal) called Laterna Magika built during Communist times. Modern artistic performances are shown here.

Wrapped up the morning with a visit to an almost 100 year old deli, Jan Paukert, situated on Narodni. SADLY MY ONLY VISIT to this wonderful eatery.. Such delicious and great value for money quiches, sandwiches and cakes ... what the  heck was I thinking going only once ???

 

One section of cosy interior of Jan Paukert - it was not empty, I found a good photo location



Sumptuous brunch 

A palm sized quiche and tuna sandwich, and quite large meatloaf sandwich with a Mattoni sparkling water cost all of RM25 (you would have to pay RM35-40 for something similar in KL/PJ, Malaysia). And the taste beats Subway sandwiches by 10x... 

Now did I mention I went only ONCE!!!!!! Duh!

So concluded my morning, I had to rush back to the apartment to pack for the half day visit to the city of the queens -- Hradec Králové.

Hradec Králové

This is a city of just under 100,000 people located in east Bohemia, about 1 hour 30 minutes east of Praha. It is one of the oldest cities in Bohemia with origins dating back to the 10th century and at the time was known simply as Hradec (castle). In medieval times, royalty and aristocrats owned whole towns and villages. Hradec Králové became such a town when it was bequeathed to Queen Elisabeth (Eliška Rejčka of Poland) upon the death of her husband Bohemia king Wenceslas II in 1305AD. Thus to the town's name "Králové" was added, meaning "of the queen". From that year, the town enjoyed privileged 'royal town' status and generally good times for many years until the Thirty Years War in 1618. In the early 20th century, the town modernised and today has a reasonably diversified economy and some people say it is one of the best cities in the country to live in. 

My reason for coming here was to see the re-enactment of the procession of Queen Eliška Rejčka through the town up to the main square. There were also traditional crafts and food fairs on the day.

I took few pictures and merely followed the procession from behind, watching the stage performances and later wandering from stall to stall at the town squares and then simply just sitting around 1/3 of the time. There is a more modern part of the city which has some attractions, including a museum housed in an Art Deco building and, a hydroelectric plant built in the Art Nouveau style - but I did not visit these places either. Not a very satisfactory afternoon at all. Anyway below are a few mediocre photos...

Actors assembled at the starting point of the procession. "Queen" is the redhead in green riding a horse

March about to start

Residents selling a variety of food, drink and crafts in the main town square.

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit commissioned by Queen Eliška after inheriting the town

Stage performance - part of the celebrations

Medieval yarn spinning process - there were other booths showing various crafts including metalworking and stone cutting

 
Met this pet piggy while loafing around watching people walk by while sipping 3 different types of fruit juice. The little fella had a keen sense of smell and he could sniff out the packets of cheese I had bought. I reckon this is one rare pig that won't end up on dinner plates.

Someone's pet piggy - they're intelligent animals and humans shouldn't be eating them by the 100s of millions!

My haul of unusual smoked or spicy sheep's cheese from Hradec Králové. The string cheese korbáčik is quite unique - tasty and salty

Well, at 5pm on the dot, David picked me up at the appointed place and we headed back to Praha.

NEXT: Day 9, Free and easy in Praha