Denise’s Dog Dish goes to Prague

So the second of my 2 European posts.  Shasta’s mischief post will hopefully be up tomorrow (we are having internet connection issues at home).

This first shot is from the window of our lovely apartment just steps away from Stare Mesto which means old town.

The view from the inside, yep your seeing it correctly we are at the very top.  Notice the round window.

One of Prague’s highlights is the Old Town Square.  It has been the principal public square since the 10th century.

The Astronomical Clock is a highlight, although when you watch the video below you’ll see it is rather short lived.  The history is what truly fascinates me.  The Old Town Tower was given the clock in 1410, it was improved in 1490 producing what is still seen today.  There are 4 figures beside the clock which represent anxieties of 15th century Praguers. Vanity (a mirror), Greed (with his money bag), Death (a skeleton who rings the bell and inverts his hourglass) and Pagan invasion (represented by a Turk).  Every hour on the hour the 12 Apostles parade past the windows above the clock and nod to the crowd.  On the upper face, the disk in the middle  of the fixed part depicts the world known at the time. The gold sun traces a circle through the blue zone of day, brown zone of dusk, black disc of night and dawn.  There is also a calendar wheel, the lower wheel.  Thanks to Lonely Planet for all the helpful information!

So I’m not sure how this occurred, I’ve reset the thumbnail at least 3 times, but I promise if you click on the link it will be of the clock and not my beautiful friend Brianna and her fiance (their video is a lot of fun but not part of the Prague Post.. LOL) 🙂

We’ve been to Prague now 3 times and absolutely love it!  A bit more history and then I’ll show some scenic photos without dialog.  Prazsky hrad or Prague Castle is Prague’s most popular attraction according to Lonely planet who states it’s according to the Guinness World Records.  It was started in the 9th century as a fortified settlement.  Rulers made their own additions and created quite a mix of architectural styles.  St Vitus Cathedral’s first stone was laid in 1344 and consists of French Gothic, late-Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque.  If you studied Architecture this will all make sense, for me it’s Lonely planet and audio-guides to the rescue!

Now less talk and more pictures.

I can’t post the next photo of the Charles Bridge without a quick thought, again it’s the history that fascinates me.  The first monument was placed in 1657 and the first statue in 1683.  My photos during this trip were mostly taken at night, but there are a few above that also include the bridge.

We have friends who drove down from Germany and others we’ve made in Prague.  Unfortunately we never got a photo with Jan and Blanka.

These two sweet boys helped me come up with an additional Harley’s Story plot.  Amazing to watch them play together one speaking only Czech and one German!

We were also able to catch up with Stefan, Susan and their 2 week old baby May.

I had to throw in some photos of our wonderful IVF clinic ISCARE, Dr. Hulvert is AMAZING!

The escalators are so steep it is easy to become dizzy and I had to take a picture.

I’ll leave you with some other random shots.  Promise more dog related posts are forthcoming especially as we look forward to BlogPaws in Nashville, Tennessee in May!