Prague Klementinum

There are some optional tours today that we are skipping. I had visited Prague in 2016, and had some cash left over from that visit that I brought along on this trip. The Czech Republic had changed their banknotes since 2016 to include additional security features and my notes couldn’t be spent. I was able to go to the Czech Central Bank across from the Opera house in the morning and exchange my old notes for the new ones. It was an interesting experience.

The Our Lady of Tyne which is on the east side of the Old Town Square is closed on Monday, so we didn’t see it.

Then we stopped at the Klementinum and got tickets for 3:30 pm at 10:30 am. Already sold out till 2pm.

We walked across the Charles Bridge to the Palace Gardens. There are numerous statues on the Charles Bridge.

The only bronze statue on the bridge is of St. John of Nepomuk who was martyred by being thrown into the Vltava River for refusing to divulge the confessions of the queen to King Wenceslas IV. Visitors often touch a bronze relief of a dog on the statue’s base for good luck or to ensure a return trip to Prague.

Saint Adalbert (956–997 AD) was the first bishop of Prague to be born in Bohemia and is the patron saint of the Czech state.

Once across the Charles Bridge, Google Maps tried to route us through a private building to get to the Palace Gardens. That building does have private access to the bottom tier of the gardens, but only for private parties. Apple Maps properly routed us to the ticketed entrance. The gardens are on the hillside below the Castle complex and there are lots of stairs.

We ate at St. Martin by the American Embassy. The Czech police provide extra security around the American Embassy, stopping cars that drive by and using a mirror to look underneath. We didn’t see this around embassies for other nations.

Stopped at the main wood shop store, didn’t buy anything.

Near the Charles Bridge is Vinárna Čertovka, the narrowest street in Prague. There are traffic lights for the pedestrians to indicate change of direction of foot traffic. The street leads to a pub with views of the river and the Charles Bridge.

The Our Lady of the Chain church is near the Charles Bridge and is connected to the Order of Malta.

In front of the Church in Maltézské Square is a statue of John the Baptist.

The Klementinum houses the National Library of the Czech Repubic.

The Klementium tower has been used for astronomical and meteorological observations since 1752. It’s the longest continuous observations in Europe.

There are 172 steps to climb the tower. You start with the spiral stairs.

The floor below the tower platform has the instruments.

We walked back to the hotel through the Jewish quarter. There is a statue of Moses near the New Old Synagogue and a Kafka statue by Spanish synagogue.

Walked back to the room. Rested a bit then walked to dinner.

We tried the Blue Duckling for dinner. Duck was dry, the venison in the stew was cut too big, either dry or tough. We stopped for trdelník with strawberries and pistachio cream and vanilla ice cream with pistachio cream drizzle on the way back. Passed by the Astronomical Clock all lit up at night.