September 5

Today we had a really busy day - but, hey if you're going to come to Europe you should try to see as much as you can, right?

Walked around the old city and good a good feel for the Old City Center.  While we were there Laurie posed in front of city hall where 27 men were executed for being Protestants.  She is on the site of the beheadings and behind her on the pavement are 27 crosses to commemorate their sacrifice.

I ran into one of my old buddies.....you see when I taught high school economics I themed the entire class around Disney World as a "Case Study In Free Enterprise," and the kids called it "Mickonomics."

One of the coolest stops was in front of the Prague Astronomical Clock - of course it was timed so that it would hit the top of the hour and all the disciples circled by the windows at the top as the skeleton pulled the chain to sound the chimes.

More scenes from our walking tour....

We crossed the famous Charles Bridge, had a photo op, and then walked to meet the bus which took us up to the Prague Castle.  We then stopped in front of the huge cathedral that is part of the Prague Castle complex, and went inside.

The second half of the tour saw us head to the Lobcowicz Palace.  Here we were ushered into a huge ball room where all Viking guests were treated to a "privileged access" lunch.  This was followed by a concert into another ball room.  And then we went on a self-guided tour of all the exhibits in the palace through some twenty rooms.  It was narrated by the current Prince Lobcowicz.  Two of the highlights were seeing a suit of armor actually worn by one of the Prince Lobcowicz's in battle and a music score handwritten by none other than Beethoven!

We ended the tour by heading out to the balcony overlooking the city for the panoramic view and obviously the photo op.

Got home (after walking down a long cobblestone path, that was steep AND slick because it was raining) about 5 pm and regrouped until 7:30 when we headed out on the "Prague After Dark" Tour.

Prague After Dark
We began the tour by heading back to the Prague Castle District, but stopped at a Monastery.  This is not your every day, run of the mill Monastery, oh no.  They have restaurants, bars, observation decks, AND the usual churches, school, library, and monk housing facility.

After a glass of wine and looking at Prague from the overlooking balcony we piled back in the van and headed to "Tower Park" which has "the ugliest building in Prague."  That's what they say, that's not my idea.  It was built during the Communist era and was intended to be used to spy on all the embassies that are in close proximity.  But it wasn't completed in time.  Several years ago someone had the idea to convert what are now the observation rooms into condos.  They only finished the very top level and according to our guide those three condos are booked solid for the next year!  The deck we went to, the red one below, was over 300 feet high (93 meters to be exact).  It was a cool view of Prague and it an excellent end to another great day's adventure!