Day 44: Touring Prague (Part 2), Dobra Cajovna, and the Astronomical Clock Tower

Our second tour in Prague started off in the Wenceslas Square, a main square in Prague famous for being the traditional setting of major demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. It is dominated by the large Wenceslas monument, and situated right in front of the National Museum.

From there, we proceeded down to the Old Town Square, where we had briefly passed by the previous day to see the Astronomical clock. We got a little more information on it from our local tour guide, who explained how the upper face was designed based on a geocentric model of the universe, with the sun and moon hands moving around the earth. There were zodiac symbols around both faces and the lower one had circular pictures representing each month, each depicting the farming duties that corresponded to that time of the year. Around the lower face were also 366 minuscule plaques, each inscribed with the corresponding name for each day of the year. The golden arrow at the top points to the day's date. The design of the clock was so magnificent that the creator was blinded by his own people to prevent him from ever making another one like it.

The clock tower was situated right on the edge of the Old Town Square, a very beautiful and lively part of town, surrounded by beautifully decorated buildings, with a statue of Jan Hus in the centre.

We headed afterwards to the Jewish quarter nearby, where we saw some synagogues and the Jewish town hall, which was one of the first buildings to use the Star of David as a Jewish symbol.

Around there was also where Franz Kafka was born.

Amidst all the grandeur and splendour of downtown, our guide also showed us a dilapidated corner as an example of what all of Prague looked like by the end of the communist era.

We finished the tour back in the Old Town Square, and went back to the hotel for a break. It had been sweltering hot in the morning and I was drowning in sweat throughout the tour. We checked the weather before leaving for lunch, which predicted no rain for the coming week, so we headed out with no sweaters, scarves, or umbrellas.

Lunch was at a tea room, Dobra Cajovna, the first authentic Czech style tea room, which actually still felt traditional despite its touristic reputation. I had a very nice Dragonwell tea and vegetable couscous.

We stayed for a couple hours, then went up to the castle again, hoping to do a tour inside. It had started raining lightly by this point, which seems to happen every time to decide to visit a castle -- Versailles, Belvedere, Schönbrunn... It was not too intrusive, however, and we still walked around the garden for a bit, which had some very interesting and old trees. The view of the castle complex from there was lovely as well.

Unfortunately, when we got the ticket booth, we were met with the news that it had just closed. In the light rain, we made our way back down the long street of souvenir shops. That was when the heavens opened and unleashed a torrential downpour, complete with wind, thunder, and lightning. As there was no station in which we could hop in and escape, we ran from shop to shop, taking refuge for a few minutes before making another dash to the next one.

Finally, we hid in a Macdonald's to wait out the storm, emerging to dash across the Charles Bridge back to the Old Town Square. Although the rain had lightened, I was still freezing in a sleeveless dress and Birkenstocks. We met up for dinner with some friends in the square, where I had a nice tuna pasta. Conveniently, the restaurant provided surprisingly warm blankets, which were much needed.

We left the group early to go up the clock tower for a view of Prague, which was the best decision of the day. It was right at sunset when we went up, and for the half hour we stayed up there, we got to see the beautiful pink glow of the sky darken and the lights go on around the city. It wasn't very high up, which I really liked because all the details in the square and on the buildings were still visible.