It wasn't a planned trip.
Just because I'd the Eurolines Pass which expires on 5th April.
I wanted to fully utilise it.
22-hours bus journey to Prague.
Stockholm-Copenhagen-Berlin-Prague
It wasn't as bad as I thought.
I read books.listened to music.slept most of the time.
Prague's settlements is built around the Vltava River.
5 Main areas-Josefov.Mala Strana.Stare Mesto.Nove Mesto.Vinohrady
I went on the free Prague tour at 2p.m after I arrived at 12:30 p.m
It took me on the Left Bank Tour to Mala Strana
Weather was good, sunny and cooling.
The hostel I was staying is just within 5 minutes from Wenceslas Square (new town hall)
The thing about Prague is I don't know much about its history
All the names that were mentioned in the tour were strangers to me.
National Museum
The city is beautiful but congested.
Like Singapore's Orchard Road
You see traffic jams almost everywhere.
Plus, the drivers there are really reckless.
They stepped on the accelerator the moment the light goes green
There wasn't any intention to give way either
Streets of Prague
Typical tourist attractions I visited
1) Old Town Sqaure
Surrounded by churches, Church of our Lady, St James's, St. Nicholas etc.
The same names appear so many times in different cities that I no longer can recall them.
But I learnt something different in Prague.
Architecture.
The guide dwell into the different architecture styles
Gothic.Renaissance.Baroque.
Gothic-Pointed edges.Depicted humans as helpless beings.No control over own fate.
Renaissance-Beautiful images.Depicted world as beautiful.Self-control over one's fate.
Baroque-?? No Idea.
Old Town Hall
Gothic -style Church-Church of our Lady I think
Renaissance-style building
Just another Glokenspiel alike attraction
At every hour, the astronomical clock goes off and the window opens.
Not that fanciful.
But it was populated with tourists,Czechs alike.
Monument of 27 crosses.
Represents the death of 27 students who fought for their religion.
Can't relate the story completely because the guide wasn't a native English speaker
She couldn't explain much.
Just 27 students who protested against the Catholics
Ended up being killed.
Their heads were chopped off and left at a prominent bridge
To remind people loyalty to the state religion
Prague underwent a lot of change of rule
From the Romans.Bohemia.Habsburg (Austrian rule).WWI-Czechoslovakia.WWII-Nazi Rule.Post-WWII-Communism.Independence to form Czech Republic.
Astronomical Clock
27-crosses monument
Everyone talks about how beautiful it is etc.
It looks nice because it's at an elevated ground.
From afar, it looks amazing
It's probably one of the best Castles around.
Going up the Castle steps were amazing because you could admire the scenery along the way. :)
View from the Castle Steps
Prague Castle-Green top, St. Vital's Cathedral-2 towers
To take over Prague, you have had to conquer the castle first. :)
the Czech President's office was right in the Castle.
If he's in, the Czech flag will be flying
If the flag's not up, he's out of office.
That's a funny way of differentiating isn't it?
3rd Courtyard-President's Office. No flag=not in office
4) St. Vital's Cathedral
You can't miss this Cathedral.
Like the one in Vienna, it's amazingly HUGE!
Its construction was done by 2 different architects
Displayed 2 different styles when you look at it from different angles.
Opposite it was the St. George Basilica
Apparently, cathedral and basilica serve different purposes
But as a Non-christian, non-catholic, i can't really explain.
St.Vital's Cathedral-View 1
View 2
View 3-Run-down, of lower quality materials apparently
St.George Basilica
Famous Golden gate to the Castle
Now you must be wondering.
What's the Beatles doing in Prague?
Shouldn't they be in Liverpool?
John Lennon was a peace activist in disguise
He wrote songs, lyrics and books on peace
And later became a pacifist hero among young Czechs when he died
Communism banned western pop music in Prague
However, in 1980s, beatles lyrics secretly appeared on this wall
The secret police never managed to keep it clean
There was a lot of latent political messages back then
When Prague finally broke free from Communism
The wall was kept intact
It signified human's freedom in speech.
Anyone can paint anything on this wall today
Write whatever he or she wants.
Which means it's legal to vandalise but only on this WALL!
Cool!
6) Mala StranaA really quiet and peaceful on the left bank of the river
Houses along the streets here have names
According to their renaissance representations
Picturesque and a fav. movie and commercial set
St.Andrew's Cathedral
House of the Golden Pig
House of the 3-fiddles. Belonged to a family of violin-makers. 
House at the Golden Horseshoe-so-called for the statue of St Wenceslas, whose horse was said to have a gold horseshoe. Check out day 2's post on Wenceslas Square with St Wenceslas statue.
The HOTTEST tourist spot in Prague.
Charles IV brought Prague into its Golden Age
He brought a lot of new concepts into Prague's architectures during his rule
Charles Bridge was built during his era which explains why it's named after him.
It's one of the remaining STONE bridges in Europe today.
Imagine it has been around for more than 600 years!
There were some renovation works ongoing
Millions of statues dominating the bridge
Vendors selling art and crafts
Street artists playing music
To my surprise,
I SAW MY SWEDEN MAHJONG KHAKI on the BRIDGE!
It was such a surprise
Didn't expect to see them
Arranged for dinner but the message didn't get through
Area under Charles Bridge-known as Little Venice. This area was originally just water. People reclaimed land so it looks like it rose out from the water.
Mission Impossible Shooting Scene, Tom Cruise exited from this house. :)
Charles Bridge from afar. See the statues?
On Charles Bridge itself.
More of it...
Busking Music-Spot where I met my Mahjong Khakis
My falafel lunch cum dinner
Ended the day kinda early because everything closed by 8p.m!The city lies dead at 8p.m.
Only the club areas are active.
Headed to the supermarket and guess what I bought?!?EGGS back to STOCKHOLM!! hehe...
Crazy me but it was like half the price in Stockholm so it's definitely worth it. :)
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