Sat 23 Aug- after an early breakfast buffet, we joined the city tour departing at 8 am. We went first to the Castle, and into St. Vitus Cathedral to admire the huge gothic architecture and stained glass windows. The windows had been destroyed during WWII, but were replaced with windows created by famous Czech artists. They are beautiful with the sun shining in on them. There are a lot of very noteworthy objects of art and history in the cathedral, and it's jam-packed with tourists.
We decided to go off on our own to visit the Palace garden and the Belvedere garden. It was windy and cool, 17-18C, so the sun felt good when it came out. The garden was nice, but more of a park and not so much flowers.
We then walked over to the Schwarzenbersky Palace to see the collection of old masters 'Baroque in Bohemia', which consisted of sculpture and art from the Baroque period. It was quite impressive to see the different styles, mostly of a religious nature.
After the palace, we were getting tired and hungry, so we stopped by a restaurant on Nerudova St. for a draft beer (Budweiser), salad and mixed grill (three different grilled meats: beef, chicken, pork, with sausage added for good measure). We split the salad and grill, and left rested, full and refreshed. Total was CZK 500 ($30).
We continued down Nerudova, past St. Nicholas Church, down Mostecka St. to Karluv most (the famous Charles Bridge) and into Old Town. Kiyomi stopped by several jewelry and Czech glass stores. At the Staromestske nam (town square) we had a coffee, then went to a combined exhibition of Salvador Dali and Alfons Mucha. Stan was familiar with Dali from college days, and also the Oceania cruise featured many works by Dali for exhibition and sale. Rick Steves recommended Alfons Mucha as a very enjoyable native Czech artist, the one who is famous for starting the Art Nouveau style. Both exhibitions were quite extensive and very impressive.
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