More of beautiful Prague

We had a full free day, so we took Lonely Planet's advice and visited Charles bridge (again) at dawn before the hordes arrive. Okay, so 8:30 a.m. isn't exactly dawn, but it was good enough. It was really quite an amazing experience. The usually busy bridge was silent and calm. A handful of people were walking to work or school, jogging, or walking their dogs; the buskers and portrait artists had yet to open for business. We walked along, admiring the views from the bridge, and the thirty 18-century statues on the bridge itself. We took our time taking pictures, and there was plenty of space and opportunity to use the tripod!

A lovely, misty morning...

Going fishing!

Walking right over to the Mala Strana (Little Quarter) area, we caught a glimpse of the famous St Nicholas Church, one of the city's greatest Baroque buildings. To the east was the Wallenstein Palace and Gardens. The gardens were rather interesting; there was a giant Renaissance loggia and a fake stalactite grotto full of hidden animals and grotesque faces.

Next stop was the famous Wenceslas Square- a broad, sloping avenue lined with shops, banks and restuarants, dominated by a statue of St Wenceslas on horseback. We were not really interested to look at the shops, so we just took a few photos, had a quick lunch (KFC!) and went on our way to Vysehrad- an ancient fortress perched on a clifftop above the Vltava river.

In Vysehrad we saw the SS Peter & Paul Church, and the famous Slavin cemetery beside it, where many distinguished Czechs are buried, including composers Smetana and Dvorak. I found the cemetery incredibly beautiful; it wasn't scary or depressing, instead, there was a distinct dignified silence about the place that was most enchanting.

The Slavin cemetery

The spectacular view from Vysehrad's southern battlements

Tired from all the walking, we went back to have a rest before going in search of dinner at the shopping centre next to the hotel. We eventually settled for some traditional Czech cuisine, which was really delicious! Beer this time was Budvar (Budweiser I think it was)- one light, one dark! :)

Beef goulash with Karlovy Vary dumplings

Roasted marbled pork with white cabbage, potato dumplings and bread dumplings