 |
Christmas Markets and the Giant Christmas Tree at the Old Town Square in Prague
|
Christmas Eve! In Prague! With my family!!!
My second visit to this beautiful city. I was with my husband in May 2018. You may want to check the post here. This time, with our two girls. The famous Astronomical Clock was under maintenance the
last time we were here. More so, this trip is partly Christmas Market tour in Europe. Prague is one to have the best.
Wow! What a view!!! The Astronomical Clock mounted on the Old Town Hall and the Disney like Gothic Church of Our Lady before Týn with the crowd toward the Christmas Markets at the Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Main Square).
We took flixbus from Nuremberg to Prague. There was an hour delay in our schedule, nevertheless, it was a no trouble travel for four hours. I booked the earliest on 08 June 2019, a total fare of 74.18 euros for four. From the Florenc bus station in Prague, we freshened up at the WC that required payments. I had few korunas from the previous trip. We then had a breakfast at the Burger King, purchased more Czech Koruna and left our luggage storage for a fee. Florenc metro was very near from the bus stop. We were going to the Old Town. We bought the short term ticket cost 24 koruna which we could use for 30 minutes. You could use this ticket both for bus and train If you will be using the public transportation for at most 90 minutes, you could purchase the one that cost 32 koruna. 24hrs and 72 hours costs 110czk and 310 czk respectively. The fares mentioned are for adults. Our activity on that day were within walking distance. We needed to take the public transportation to and from Florenc.
We took the metro to Hlavní nádraží, one stop one minute travel. From the metro station, we walked to the Old Town square which took us less than 20 minutes. You could opt to visit the Christmas markets at the New Town, Wenceslas Square, seven minutes on foot from the Hlavní nádraží station. On our way to Old Town, we had a few stops to take photos.
 |
| Jindřišská Tower, also known as St Henry Tower |
 |
Shopping Street in Prague
|
The Christmas Markets in the Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) is the biggest and most visited among the few in Prague such as at Wenceslas Square, Peace Square and the Republic Square. Unfortunately, this year's event at the Old Town Square has been cancelled due to Covid-19 situation. The opening times was supposed to on 28 November 2020 to 06 January 2021. Notwithstanding, check out the photos we have take during our visit last year's Christmas Eve in the city of Hundred Spires.
 |
Prague Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square
|
 |
| Prague Astronomical Clock mounted on the southern wall of the Old Town Hall |
The clock was under maintenance the last time we were here. Pražský orloj or the Prague Astronomical Clock is the oldest clock in the world that is still operating. The clock is a very important symbol in the city, the oldest part of it was built in 1410
Prague is one of the best Christmas destination in the world. We may have not good experience of the food we had in our previous visit, the fragrant smell was tempting. The prices were shown clearly anyway, we stuffed with sausage (again!), tradelink, gingerbread and mulled wine.
Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) is one of the places inspired by the Disney Parks. With he Christmas Markets around the Old Town Square, it's like we were in the Main Street Disneyland towards the castle.
 |
| Trdelník |
Trdelník is a cake or pastry originated in Hungary and have been famous in Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is a dough rolled in a stick then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix.
 |
Prague Style Smoked Ham
|
This ham was really so good!. Be warned though not to be scammed with the price.
Like most of the Old town hall in Europe, the tower also offers panoramic view not only of the square but of the city. Bewildered with the red rooftops, Prague Castle farthest on the right.
Apparent in the photo is the Prague Castle dominated by the spires of the St Vitus and Cathedral. The two white towers is the St George Basilica currently houses the 19th century Bohemian Art Collection, National Gallery in Prague
View of Žižkov Television Tower, an example of high-tech architecture built between 1985 and 1992 designed by architect Václav Aulický .
View of the Baroque Church of St. Nicholas and the Christmas Marekts at the Staroměstské náměstí from the Old Town Hall tower
View of the Christmas Marekts at the Staroměstské náměstí from the Old Town Hall tower
View of the memorial of Jan Hus from he Old Town Hall tower. Jan Hus ( 1369~1415) was a Bohemian priest reformer who was burnt to death for what Martin Luther told his students, "defying the Pope". Jan Hus somehow had redefined the bible scriptures.
View from the Prague Old Town Hall Tower: Giant Christmas Tree and Christmas Markets at the Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Main Square)
I really felt like I was in the Disneyland. Much better version of the park though.
 |
| Prague Old Cars |
Prague Old Cars use for Sightseeing city tour.
 |
Horse Carriage at Prague Old Town Main Square
|
Romantic Horse Carriages use for sightseeing city tour in Prague.
 |
Old Town Bridge Tower
|
Entry to the Charles Bridge from Old Town. Charles Bridge is one of Prague's symbol, lined with 30 Baroque Statues on both sides.
Charles Bridge is one of the bridges span Vltava River in Prague. It connects the city to the Prague Castle
This medieval stone arch bridge is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Wandering again in this very busy historical bridge. Further behind is the Malá Strana Bridge Tower, entrance to Malá Strana (Lesser Town of Prague) from Charles Bridge.
The statues on the bridge have been replaced to replicas n 1965. The originals are in the Lapidarium of the National Museum.
Overlooking the Prague Castle from the bridge.
Family selfie before we leave the bridge.
Beauty under foot in the cobbled street. Prague coat of arms on the manhole cover. The coat of arms features the Kingdom of Bohemia lion and Moravian eagle
Poems and short messages against the regime were painted on the wall from 1960. After the assassination of John Lennon in 1980, an unknown artist painted the image of the late artist.
The wall frequently undergoes changes. Even the authorities repainted the wall into white, the next day it is full of poems again. The latest changes was in October 2019. John Lennon Wall is supposed ot symbolize global ideals such as peace and love.
Three bronze sculptures babies are displayed in a park next to Kampa Museum. These statues are the same babies climbing on the Žižkov transmitter by David Černý. Latter is a Czech sculptor known for his controversial works displayed around Prague. David Černý is internationally known rebellious artist in Prague.
David Černý's fiberglass babies crawling upward on the Žižkov Television tower. There are 10 of them, we just captured 8 from the Old Town Hall tower.
We literally walked around Prague.
View of the Prague Castle after sunset
Back to the Old Town to see its magical beauty at night.
The Pragie Old Town Hall and the Astronomical Clock at night.
We almost forgot to get Hard Rock Cafe fridge magnet, my collection. I did in the previous visit. Our eldest collects snow globe in every city she visits (not from Hard Rock).
 |
Wenceslas Square at New Town in Prague, Czech Republic
|
Apparently, the people were in the Old Town. Only few market stalls were there and not that interesting. Some could have closed early to prepare for the Christmas Eve.
 |
National Museum (Prague)
|
At the upper end of the Wenceslas Square is the National Museum in Prague. This building was originally built between 1885~1891 by a neo-renaissance architect, Josef Schulz. Thereafter, suffered damages from the bombing during the WWII, Soviet's machine gun during the 1968 Warsaw Pact intervention and damaged from the construction of metro from 1972~1978,. The museum was closed in 2011 and partly reopened in 2018. Major renovations were still ongoing and was to fully opened in 2020.
We just stayed in Prague for a day. We had a scheduled travel to Vienna by Flixbus at 21:20. Expected to arrive in the destination at 01:20 the following day, Christmas day.
From Wenceslas Square, the nearest metro station was the Muzeum station, two stop to Florenc. Before the bus arrived, we had cleaned up so we could have a good sleep in the bus.
See you in Vienna!
Continued from Holiday Season in Nuremberg, Germany / Christmas Market Experience with Family 22~23 December 2019
Continues to Christmas in Vienna, Austria with Family 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment