Prague - the city of thousand spires

How beautifully true. We were standing at a view point, near the entrance to the Prague castle (aka Pražský hrad) and in front of us stretched out the city of Prague. The sky was cloudy, with a light fog blurring distant buildings and the horizon and giving the view a slightly ephemeral quality. There is a clutter of orange-brown rooftops and old buildings along the Vlatava. And from this slightly hazy view of the city, were several spires breaking the nearly flat sky line.

Prague from the castle

Escaping the crowds in the Prague castle and in search of the omni-present McD signs, R and I stumbled upon the quiet streets of Mala Strana. The road was narrow, flanked by tall ornate buildings, with huge wooden gates at intervals like each of them held a palace inside them, and the quintessential lantern like street lights along the walls – in the quietness of the streets, I could almost imagine a world from years ago, and could almost hear the clutter of hooves. It wasn’t until after lunch when our stomachs were satisfied and our minds were rolling, there was an ‘oh!’ moment and we realized we were at Mala Strana.

We found the owner of the green dome that had dominated every view from the Prague castle – St. Nicholas Church. On Nerudova street and in its namesake cafe, R had a coffee-shake and I, tasted my first Czech original Budweiser. We then discovered the road to Petrin (a wooded area with a mini-Eiffel like tower which offers yet another, but still different view of Prague). Another walk beckoned and we followed the call – a long day of walks and views! If there was any city where I’d recommend one to climb towers and tough roads all for the views, it would definitely be Prague!

The dome of St. Nicholas

Call it clichéd. Call it touristy. But I loved walking on the Charles bridge (the bridge across river Vlatava leading from the Old Town to Mala Strana. There is something about a place from where one can observe a beautiful sunset and see palaces in the distant horizon. The bridge is lined with statues on both sides. The most notable one is that of St. John of Nepomuk or the statue with 5 stars (I confess, I just googled his name up). Legend has it that if you rub the base of the statue you will come back to Prague . Or you could also get married. These were the versions provided by our tour guide. The website says this statue brings good luck. Sadly, I never got to rub the statue.

Charles bridge