The views near the Charles Bridge along the Vltava River were right out of a fairy tale. There was even a fence which contained "love locks." Couples attach padlocks to the fence and throw the key into the water to symbolize their everlasting love for each other.
The architecture throughout the city was elegant. Doorways were carved with elaborate plaster ornamentation around them. Buildings had small statues and intricate designs on their edifices. Everywhere we looked we were in awe of the beautiful details and old world charm of the buildings.
There were many churches throughout the old town section of Prague. Each was unique in its building style and ornamentation. Some of our favorites included Saint James Church where the Count Vratislav of Mitrovice has a beautiful Baroque style tomb in which he was accidentally buried alive, the oldest surviving church in Prague Castle, Saint George's Basilica, and Saint Nicholas Church where we saw a delightful classical music concert.
We saw a delightful classical music concert at Saint Nicholas Church. The music was played on a small group of assorted stringed instruments. The most interesting instrument was a theorbo which is a 17th century instrument in the lute family that has a very long neck and two peg boxes.
The people of Prague are very proud of their literary son, Franz Kafka.
Outside the Kafka Museum, there is a a bronze statue of two men peeing while standing in a pool shaped like the Czech Republic. This is a working model and the men's hips swivel while the water sprays out onto the Czech Republic.
There is another unique statue depicting the spiritual split of a character in the Kafka novel "Description of a Match."
There is a cafe in the building that was Kafka's birthplace. On the side of the building there were plaques in commemoration of the event.
There were a variety of unique street entertainers out and about in Prague. In addition to the "levitating" woman, the man making massive amounts of bubbles (to the delight of children of all ages), and the silver man, we saw some children in traditional dress that were going to a street festival.
We have seen many unique wares in shops, but perhaps the most unique was the fish tank that we saw in the window of the massage shop. People could dangle their legs and the tiny fish would eat away any dead skin. Doesn't sound like any beauty treatment that I would be interested in having!
We also saw some beautiful hand made puppets, a kitchen witch, some Jewish statues, and some creative water color paintings.
There were lots of street vendors and open air markets in the old town section of Prague. One local delicacy that we saw all over was the trdelnik, or chimney cake, which is made from dough that is wrapped around a stick, grilled, sprinkled with a sugar and walnut mixture, and then filled with ice cream or whipped cream and strawberries.
Another delicacy was fresh potato chips. The potatoes are sliced, skewered, and dropped into a deep fryer.
We saw an interesting vegetable called a kohlrabi, which is a relative to cabbage and kale, and lots of beautifully displayed fresh fruit.
Our tour guide wanted us to experience a traditional Czech alcoholic beverage called Becherovka. The drink, which is made from a secret recipe of herbs and spices, was first made in 1794. It is, apparently, an acquired taste.
Witness an up close and personal view of Steve bravely tasting the Becherovka.