Wednesday 2 July 2014 Prague

Mostly Sunny 23C

I was up early this morning as I was determined to see the Charles Bridge and some of the monuments and buildings without the crowds. By 8am I set off and the Old Town Square was nearly empty, just a few ladies attending to the flowers and a couple of people heading off to work or setting up the tables for the coffee shops and cafes.

I reached the Charles Bridge and it was similar with just a few strolling across. My first stop was to see the Infant of Prague, it is in a church just down from St Nicholas Church and opened at 8.30. The doll is inside a glass case and believed to have magical powers, there are prayers in all languages that you can use to ask for blessings from the infant.

The next stop was St Nicholas Church which is a Jesuit Church and considered the most beautiful church in Prague. This I can believe, it was magnificent inside, the carved marble statues on the pillars were detailed and the paintings and alter were very impressive. All very Baroque style with masses of gold and very ornate. It was worth the 70chk to go in.

After this visit we walked to one of the lookouts on the north of the river, I had seen photos of the bridges of Prague all lined up and had asked the guide yesterday where the best vantage spot would be and she had suggested the park. We climbed to the top of the park which is higher than the Castle but still didn't get the view I was after but as we wandered back along the path we came across a Pavilion, this provided us with a great view – see photo.

We walked back over the Cechuv Bridge and found ourselves in the Jewish quarter and among the very expensive shops. It was just a short walk back to the Main Square from here. We bought a Kurtosh - a circular rolled doe cooked then coated in cinnamon and sugar, very tasty.

This afternoon I went to the shopping centre to fill in time before we had our appointment at the BeerSpa… over to you Chris.
Consider this

For around AUD $80, you are given all the beer you can drink in 25 minutes and plonked in a spa bath laced with the good stuff that is used to make beer, with your (BYO) partner.

Afterwards, you are wrapped in sheets and blankets and you lie on a bed of straw and all the beery stuff and moisture drains/evaporates.

At the end of your hour (if you can still stand), you get dressed, you are told your skin will be smoothest if you don't wash the beer bits off until tomorrow and you have to walk up the steps to the door and out onto the street in search of dinner.

It wasn't made clear what would happen if you couldn't walk out. Sorry, but no photos allowed inside the Spa!

What’s not to like about this country????

More details here: http://www.pivnilaznebbbpraha.cz/

(Depending on how good your Czech language skills are, best to use Google Chrome browser and let google translate to English)