The next day was dedicated to walking tours. The city is littered with agencies advertising different tours around the city and the neighboring area. I figured the investment in a tour would be wise until I came across a company called "Free Prague Walking Tours". Sounds good to me. There are two 3 hour tours each day, one consisting of Stare Misto (Old Town), while the other frequents Nove Mesto and the surrounding districts. The tours are led by students studying in Prague and are completely free save tip money at the end.
The Old Town tour was fun because they explained the significance and history behind each of the buildings I had seen the day before. They took us to the square's Astronomical Clock, whose claim to fame is that every hour, on the hour, apostles come out and do a little song and dance. This is a very popular site in Prague, and hundreds of people often gather minutes before the hour strikes. The 20-second show was fun, but the fanfare turned out to be more exciting than the actual performance.
One of the highlights from the first tour was going to Wincelas Square, where we saw an opera house and an office building on opposite sides of the street. The enjoyment came from contrasting the difference in beauty between the two structures – built before Communist takeover, the opera house was erected in an Art Nuveau style with ornate facades and vibrant colors. The office building, however, was built under the Communist regime and was Functionally designed. The tour guide explained to us as soon as Czech became Communist, the government decreed that money should be spent on function, and function alone.
The second of the two tours was even more fun. They took us all over New Town, where we walked across the famous Charles Bridge, stood in awe of the Prague Castle and paid homage to Frank Kafka's house at Golden Lane.
The Charles Bridge is apparently Prague's most famous site. The bridge is the divide between Old Town and New Town, and runs along the Vlatava River. The scene is so pretty that hundreds of couples come every summer to get their weddings pictures taken with the river and castle in the background.
Beyond the river is Prague Castle, the biggest of its kind in all of Europe. The castle is still completely functional, so we couldn't go into the building, but the site and the accompany views were more than adequate. We walked around the grounds, whose cobblestone paths are amusement park-pristine, and were lucky enough to be there for the Changing of the Guard.
Last was Golden Lane, a narrow road with the tiniest of houses. The doorways stand about roughly 5 feet tall and are quite fun…until you smash your head.
I went to dinner with two friends I met on the second tour and enjoyed some more meat and dumplings. It was only six o'clock, but I wouldn't be hungry until late afternoon the next day.
The two best stories from the tours were both violence-themed. The second best story was the tale of the deferenstrations, whereby people were executed by being thrown from windows. The best story, by far though, was heard when we visited a cathedral on the Old Town tour. The building is very pretty, and as it turns out, a little too pretty. As the story goes, an architect built it for the king, and the king was so enamored with the structure, that he didn't want anyone else to have anything like it. What better way to ensure this than blinding the architect?
Before Paris Girl came the next day I made sure to check out the Communist Museum, which I found quite informative. They even had an interrogation room of the secret police, who were even more powerful than the government. I felt a little depressed when I left the museum, so I bought a 50 koruna sausage. Problem solved.
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