A Summer of Working and Living in Germany: August 2015

This past weekend (July 21-23) I went to Prague.
I took a train to Nuremberg, then a bus to Prague from there. I had about an hour and a half before my bus, so I walked around Nuremberg while I waited. I made a similar side trip on my way home to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. More on that later. The old town part of Nuremberg (where the coolest stuff is) is pretty small because it used to be walled, so it is all within the former walls, so I was able to get from the train station (one end) to the castle (the other end) and back and still be on time for my bus.

One of the towers from the former wall. Konigstor.

Train station

Walking along Konigstrasse brings you to the first of the cool churches, St. Lorenz.

This fountain has to be the weirdest thing ever. Even worse than the statue of the peeing boy in Brussels.

Then you walk further and get to the Market Square, where the next cool church is. Frauenkirche.

The castle. I didn't have time to go in, but I saw the courtyard, it was pretty cool.

Later that evening I got to Prague, and it is a beautiful city. So many cool buildings and bridges and churches and a river...and all that. And this time I was able to book a room on a Boat Hotel - a Botel!! it was pretty cool.

Even the train station looks cool.

Those spires in the background are from the castle. Actually, from the full-sized cathedral inside the castle walls. but yeah, it looks cool in the sunset.

There's my hotel! Haha, just kidding.

That's my hotel!

The room is a bit small, but I didn't need much room, so it was cool. the bathroom though was bigger than some I've had in "normal" hotels.

This building is called "The Dancing house" or "Fred and Ginger" because it was modeled after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. And it was right across from my botel. And there is a bar at the top :)

In the daylight. You can see Fred and Ginger.

St. Charles Bridge from a distance

bridge gate

There are 32 statues of saints on this bridge.

There is the castle again

the Vltava River

Are those lions or dogs?

St. Nicholas Church

Petrin Park, you can see Petrin Tower

The view from the hill

The entrance to the castle. I'm sure it looks really cool when it isn't being restored.

I think you could probably spend all day in the castle if you wanted to. there are several different exhibits. There is an A ticket, which includes 8 exhibits, and a B ticket, which only includes 4, and several other exhibits you can pay to see separately. I bought the B ticket only because I only had 1 full day in Prague and couldn't spend it all at the castle. You have to pay for permission to take pictures, but it is only 50 crowns, which is about what I paid for a beer the night before. There are a few exhibits where you still can't take pictures, but none of them were on the B ticket.

St. Vitus Cathedral

Since I had to pay to take pictures, you know I took a million. But this was a beautiful cathedral, with several stained glass windows.

The outside looked great too.

Part of the "old palace"

View from the terrace

Crown

The back of the cathedral

St. George's Basilica

"The Golden alley" - where apparently all the smiths and special craftsmen lived

Cool armor

Do any other Dr. Who fans think of a dalek when they see this?

Then I crossed the river again to Old Town. First I walked around the Jewish Quarter.

Maisel Synagogue

Old New Synagogue

Ceremony Hall

Klausen Synagogue

Then off to the Old Town Square

Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

National Gallery

Town Hall

Church of St. Mikulas

These guys were playing some awesome music that kind of reminded me of the Game of Thrones theme song

The Astronomical Clock on the side of the Town Hall

I did not go in, but I did enjoy the decorations

Then I went to one of two breweries the hotel receptionist recommended, U Medvidku.

Then off to Vyserhad, which used to be a fortress.

Tabor Tower

The church in the fortress

Wenceslas Square, because of the giant statue of St. Wenceslas

And it is right in front of a big museum

Then to St. Henry's Tower, a belfry tower for the church next door

They renovated it several years ago, and now it has an outlook on the top floor, a restaurant, a gallery, a whisky cafe, an exhibit about the history of the tower, and an exhibit about all the towers in Prague

Views from the top

Bells

a model of the tower

models of towers layed out on a map of Prague

over 100 towers and spires in Prague!

The Powder Tower. I don't know why it's called that.

Opera house/theatre

The back of the tower

Another recommended brewery, U Fleku, the oldest in Prague (or so I was told). They only have one beer, but it was pretty good. They also had a good mead.

The next morning I walked to Letna Park before heading back.

One last shot of Fred and Ginger before leaving

Now that's what I call a Botel!

Stairs up to the park

"The pendulum"

The guy at my hotel said there was a spot up here where you can see the five major bridges at once. I don't think I found the spot he was talking about, but this shot here made me pretty happy.

Letna Park

Good bye beautiful Prague!

So on the way back, I decided to take the long way home and stop in Rothenberg ob der Tauber, which was highly recommended by my husband. Unfortunately I again only had like an hour and a half (unless I wanted to get home around midnight), so I wish I had had more time, but it was still good to see it. Like many cities in medieval times, it was walled for protection, but unlike many modern cities, it is still walled. But now for tourism. but it is pretty cool.

First gate