I made the best of my last day in Prague by hanging out around the Town Square. I got up early and walked up to the St. Charles Bridge so I could enjoy the bridge all to myself, I was surprised to find people out there already, they were mostly photographers trying to capture the sunrise.
The St. Charles Bridge is a historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV and finished at the beginning of the 15th century.The avenue of 30 mostly baroque statues and statuaries situated on the rails forms a unique connection of artistic styles with the underlying gothic bridge. Most sculptures were erected between 1683 and 1714. They depict various saints and patron saints venerated at that time. Beginning in 1965, all of the statues have been systematically replaced by replicas, and the originals have been exhibited in the Lapidarium of the National Museum.View of the Vltava River. It is the longest river within the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Elbe at Mělník. It is commonly referred to as the “Bohemian sea” and the “Czech national river”.I always see brides getting their wedding photos taken all over Prague early in the morning when there aren’t any people out in the square or the bridge. Today I saw 3 brides in the Town Square. I also always see couples taking their engagement photos as well.After getting ready, I had another Trdelník ice cream cone. This was the “Chimney King” with vanilla ice cream, nuts, a brownie, chocolate sauce, and salted caramel.
The production of trdelník has a long tradition in the Slovak town of Skalica near the borders with Czech Republic. The original recipe was brought to Skalica at the end of the 18th century by the Transylvanian cook József Gvadányi, a retired Hungarian general. Check out this clip, I took it inside the Good Food Bakery shop.
After having my ice cream, I crossed the St. Charles Bridge again to visit the post office where I mailed off my watercolored postcard to a friend in the United States.On the way back I stopped at the John Lennon wall. Once a normal wall, since the 1980s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles’ songs. It is located in a small secluded square across from the French Embassy, the wall received its first such decoration following the 1980 assassination of John Lennon when an unknown artist painted a single image of the singer-songwriter and some lyrics.
After my visit to the wall, I crossed back to the Town Square for lunch. I had “Old Prague Ham”. Old Prague Ham is a type of brine-cured, stewed, and mildly beechwood-smoked originally from Prague in Bohemia (Czech Republic). Check out this short clip of the cooking process.
Old Prague Ham is traditionally served in restaurants and from street vendors with a side of boiled potatoes and often accompanied by Czech beer. This is how I had it. It was delicious.Before leaving Prague, I had to have one more Trdelník chimney cone! This was a pistachio cone with orange prosecco ice cream. I ate this by the bridge, you can see the lovers’ locks on the gate in the background.Goodbye Prague, I had a lovely time here. Now it’s time to board the train for our next destination.
