Prague
Sunny Camp had been recommended to us as a good place to stay and it certainly was. It is in the city suburbs and we could get into the city centre by metro which is about a 10 minute walk from the camp site. Sunny Camp is only a small size but has very nice facilities and a small restaurant and we would recommend this place to anyone thinking of coming to Prague.
On our first day we saw the Old Town: this is the area that included the old town hall with the astronomical clock which draws the crowds every hour. The clock consists of two clock faces – one may tell the time and the other is a bit like a calendar that gives you the month or season – it is very complicated and fortunately there is a regular clock on another side of the tower. On the hour a skeleton rings a bell and little doors above the clock open and the twelve disciples appear at the doors in turn – history has it that the original maker was blinded when he had finished so that he could not repeat the work.
On our first day we saw the Old Town: this is the area that included the old town hall with the astronomical clock which draws the crowds every hour. The clock consists of two clock faces – one may tell the time and the other is a bit like a calendar that gives you the month or season – it is very complicated and fortunately there is a regular clock on another side of the tower. On the hour a skeleton rings a bell and little doors above the clock open and the twelve disciples appear at the doors in turn – history has it that the original maker was blinded when he had finished so that he could not repeat the work.
You can go up the tower of the town hall by lift and get a fantastic panoramic view of the city below and the castle and St Vitus Cathedral on the other side of the river. We found Prague to be a lovely city with plenty of beautiful buildings to see, it was relatively quiet while we were there although the astronomical clock on the hour and the Mathias Gate at the castle for the changing of the guard did bring the crowds out.
As well as the old buildings there are the quirky sculptures of David Černý, we saw one called Piss – the description being pretty self explanatory as you can see from the picture and another called Babies which were giant bronze babies near the Kampa gallery but there were so many teenagers climbing on the Babies that we did not get a chance to get a picture of Sheila sitting atop one of them.
Of course no trip to Prague is complete without a walk across the Charles Bridge. The tourism photos of this bridge are brilliant and atmospheric and usually sepia toned. In practice there was some building work at either end and the bridge itself was full of traders.
As well as the old buildings there are the quirky sculptures of David Černý, we saw one called Piss – the description being pretty self explanatory as you can see from the picture and another called Babies which were giant bronze babies near the Kampa gallery but there were so many teenagers climbing on the Babies that we did not get a chance to get a picture of Sheila sitting atop one of them.
Of course no trip to Prague is complete without a walk across the Charles Bridge. The tourism photos of this bridge are brilliant and atmospheric and usually sepia toned. In practice there was some building work at either end and the bridge itself was full of traders.
On our second day we visited the castle which is a huge complex and kept us occupied for several hours, and this was without entering any of the museums. Within the castle complex is the St Vitus Cathedral which has some lovely stained glass windows and mosaics which show the saved being taken to heaven by the angels and the doomed going off to hell.
Franz Kafka is a famous son of Prague and there are plenty of references to him, museums birthplace, childhood homes and the statue you can see here – not sure which one is Kafka though.
Franz Kafka is a famous son of Prague and there are plenty of references to him, museums birthplace, childhood homes and the statue you can see here – not sure which one is Kafka though.
Kafka
Piss
