Nathan's Insights

Saturday 13 April 2024
Highlights: Cruising the Vltara River, exploring the Jewish Quarter, traversing though Prague Castle, walking of Charles Bridge, enjoying a night of Folklore music

A group of us from the tour organised to purchase a 4 activities package that provided us with 1) a hop on hop off ticket, 2) a river cruise ticket, 3) a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter, and 4) a walking tour of Prague Castle. This turned out to be a very big enjoyable day exploring beautiful Prague and learning it’s history.

We hiked down to Old Town Square to commence our day. Being just before 9 am there was barely anyone there which allow us to take in the architecture of this gorgeous area. We then caught the red line of the Hop On Hop Off bus service. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my headset as the audio commentary is now via an app.

Just before we would have completed the loop we got of the bus and walked down to Vltara River for an hour cruise. The cruise provided an opportunity to see Prague from a different angle and to do it on tranquil water. Sitting on the top deck we went under the famous Charles Bridge and enjoyed the sun.

At the end of the cruise we noticed crowds starting to form, starting early was paying off on this Saturday with great weather. Walking back to Old Town Square we walked through a weekend market, also fascinating to see a local market.

Our Jewish Quarter walking tour was very educational. The Jews faced a lot of issues in this city starting in the 13th century when Jews were required to live in a walled ghetto which was locked each night. The ghetto continued until the 19th century.

This then led to the Nazi occupation. In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, over 92,000 Jews lived in Prague by the end of World War 2 this number was 10,000 Jews. Life under the Soviets was much better, with Stalin’s policy to push the Jews out, a lot to Siberia but also allowing them to leave the Soviet Block and go to the new state of Israel. Citizens being allowed to leave a Communist country for a non-Communist country was extremely rare. Today roughly 2,000 Jews remain in Prague.

During the walking tour of the Jewish Quarter we visited the Spanish Synagogue, Maisel Synagogue and the Old-New Synagogue; the Jewish Ceremonial Hall; and the remarkable, the Old Jewish Cemetery (were due to restricted space bodies were buried on top of each other).

Next up was the walking tour of the Prague Castle complex. This is a beautiful and massive complex. The flowers were blooming during this visit. Some of the highlights included Kohl’s Fountain, Matthias Gate, The St Vitus Cathedral (build 1344 with last section completed 1920s), and the Castle Gardens that provided a great view of the city below and across the river.

We then walk to and over Charles Bridge which started constructed in 1357 and was finished in 1402. Now this historic bridge is used for tourists to walk over and enjoy the structure and surrounding buildings.

The crowds at this point were almost overwhelming as we walked back to our hotel.

For tonight most of the tour group had signed up for a Folklore dinner and music experience. This didn’t disappoint. I recall (vaguely) drinking honey mead, 3 beers, and 4 glasses of white wine and at some point I ended up in a conga line. Even Darby joined in. A very fun and loud night 🙂