TOUR OF PRAGUE / CZECH REPUBLIC: DAY 9: Prague, Free & Easy

Sunday, 7 SEPTEMBER 2014 [Free and easy in Praha]

No guided tours for two consecutive days so it was up to me to make the most judicious use of time.

Frankly don't recall much of this day in particular the morning, must have spent more time than necessary in the apartment and the relatively sparse haul of photos attests to this. I must have wandered about the least interesting streets of New Town (only one photo, below, of a pub at Charvátova street).

Speaking of pubs, as at 2012, the Czech Republic had the highest per capita consumption of beer (pivo) globally at 148.6 litres per year. The Czechs sure love their pivo! And there are so many brands with the more well known ones being Pilsner, Budweiser Budvar, Staropramen, Gambrinus, Kozel, Dačický and Eggenberg. Being naturally incapable of any quantity of drink, I had not gone on a pivo spree but instead had shots of different types of beer just to taste, yeh you read that right ... shots of beer ... haha ... or at best 300ml i.e. a small beer to go with a heavy meal of goulash.

Od nového města do starého města (From New Town to Old Town)

Church of St Giles (Jilji) on Husova street, founded in 1238AD, originally gothic with a baroque makeover

Building at Husova street with unique house sign

Clam-Gallasův palác (Clam-Gallas Palace)

The Clam-Gallas Palace is a 300 hundred year old building built in 1713AD and has a fabulous interior with a beautiful staircase, a grand hall and baroque statues designed by the acclaimed sculptor of late baroque statues, Matthias Bernard Braun. The palace's claim to fame is that Mozart and Beethoven were there, the former attending ball(s) with his wife and the latter giving a concert to the family and other attendees. Immediately post WWII, the Clam-Gallas family lost this palace on the basis they claimed German nationality, and as per the Beneš decrees, the palace was confiscated and ownership transferred to the state government. The place is today used for concerts (e.g. per banner advertisement in photo above) and exhibitions. Once again, inertia prevented me from going for the baroque opera and thus missed the opportunity to view the interiors ...

Absolutely love strolling along Husova street, and it's not that packed with tourists...

Municipal Library of Prague with interesting facade

Exiting Husova street, after the Clam-Gallas Palace, one will arrive at the Marian square (Mariánské náměstí) and the Municipal Library of Prague (Městská knihovna v Praze) can be found on this square. The library was built in the 1920s and with an Art Deco design. From an aesthetics point of view, the library has two items of interest - the front facade with the 6 nude statues and, the tower of books in its interior at the top of the stairs near the entrance. More information and detailed pictures of a few of the statues can be found here. As it was a Sunday and the library closes on that day, viewing of the tower would have to be on another day.

Sign near entrance to Marionnette Theatre. Sorry to say, too many of these puppets look a bit diabolical or crazed

National Marionette Theatre: Don Giovanni ala Marionnettes anyone?

One of my favourite & essential-to-visit destinations when on any tour, post offices

If you ever need to obtain large sums of Czech crowns (CZK) or are in the vicinity and need some, eXchange is one of the best if not the best money changer to go to. Their rates trumped all the 10 or so money changers I checked with, by at least 10% in absolute terms. Their office is at Kaprova street, occupies a few buildings and you enter via the corner unit. There are large blue eXchange signs at their premise and you just can't miss it. eXchange is near the post office and also just a few minutes from St Nicholas Church in the Old Town square.

Having obtained enough CZKs, I headed back southward as didn't want to stray too far north of where I was staying, which to be honest was not that far. :)

Malé náměstí (Small Square) - picturesque, great place to relax for hours while having coffee or beer

Rott House with beautiful facade, on Small Square

This beautiful building, Rott's House, was rebuilt in the late 19th century for the Rott family, who were famous ironmongers in the country. The frescoes on the facade depicting agriculture and crafts were designed by Mikoláš Aleš, who is regarded as one of the country's most famous artists. He also contributed to the decorations in the Municipal House among others. There is also a legend to this house where supposedly three sisters once lived here who wanted to marry into money but were one after another cheated of their possessions by the same foreigner. They all died in poverty. At one time the house was called "House of the Three White Roses". You can see three white roses on the facade of the renaissance-style gable (top of building).

Havelské Tržiště (Havelska Market) - marketplace since 1232. However, stalls selling souvenirs, arts and crafts, toys, leather goods, ceramics, now dominate this place. For fresh foods and Czech home-made delicacies/food, you probably need to head elsewhere.

Lunch was at Cafe Colore located at Palackého street in New Town. Highlight was the plum dumplings in a cream sauce. Delicious and extremely filling. The roast beef with cheese dip was not bad either. Waiters were efficient, attentive and friendly. Good variety of food to choose from. 5 stars to this eatery.

Plum dumplings - traditional Czech desert

In the evening, I headed to the interesting Restaurace Triton (at Hotel Adria) at Wenceslas Square with a dinner booking at 5:30pm. Turns out I didn't need to make any reservation as the place was EMPTY and only two other patrons turned up just before I finished the pretty good meal at 7pm.

Interior of Restaurace Triton, decorated to look like an underground cave

Fake stalagtites and carvings of smiling figures make a cosy setting .. hah!

Cosy restaurant isn't it? The food was good and service likewise although prices were on the higher side. Wonder why it was virtually empty on a Sunday evening.

Wi-fi: Not exactly a good idea at a romantic dinner...

Main course: Leg of duck with potato dumplings

Now, I had dinner at Triton in spite of a bloated stomach as I just couldn't bear to miss viewing such unique decor in an eatery. To hopefully ease the stomach discomfort, I took a short walk up Wenceslas Square i.e. in the direction of the National Museum.

Státní Opera (State Opera) built in 1883 at the behest of the German populace at the time who longed for operas in their language

New building of the National Museum, previously a radio station

Wenceslas Square - technically not a 'square' but more like a boulevard

WOW...from a distance, the National Museum is beautiful lit up at night! But it really is quite run down and is closed until 2015 or 2018 for repairs and renovation

Finally, just before retiring for the day ... a second visit to where the inverted horse statue is ... Lucerna Palac - established in 1907 by Vásclav M. Havel the grandfather of the country's first president (after the fall of Communism) Václav Havel. This was apparently one of the hubs of Czech swing bands in the 1930s and 40s. Jazz luminaries Satchmo and Ella Fitzgerald made guest performances here in the 1950s or 1960s. The cinema here, Kino Lucerna, is said to be the oldest operating cinema in Europe and apparently has a beautiful interior. Too bad I didn't know of this fact when on the tour, else would have caught a movie just to admire the decor.