Prague, Czech Republic

City of a thousand steeples and home of our friend Petr. Graham and I were in Prague December 26th, 2005 to January 7th, 2006.

	The thousand steeples of Prague. A view from the Charles Bridge tower.
	While in Prague, Graham and I rented an apartment in a courtyard just off Wenceslas Square. From the square we had to unlock 3 iron gates to access our door.
	The courtyard that our apartment overlooked. It housed a tea salon which served over 200 different types of black, red, and white teas.
	Wenceslas Square and the Christmas Markets.
	The Charles Bridge is a pedestrian bridge which crosses the Vtlava River. You can see Prague Castle on the top of the hill.
	A view of the river bank from the Charles Bridge.
	These monolithic sculptures guard the gates to Prague Castle.
	Prague Castle surrounds St. Vitus Cathedral, which is absolutely immense.
	Inside St. Vitus.
	Inside St. Vitus.
	Incredible stained glass.
	The Tomb of St John of Nepomuk - in the middle of the church. Excessively baroque.
	The Loretta convent. Home of the Prague Sun - a monstrance made with over 6 000 diamonds. The bells in the tower chime a different song of praise to the Virgin Mary every hour of the day.
	The State Opera House performance hall.
	The Old Town Square, home of the famous Astronomical clock.
	The Church of Our Lady of Tyn in the Old Town Square.
	The Estate Theatre: Mozart premiered his opera "Don Giovanni" here.
	The Old-New Jewish Synagogue and the Jewish Quarter.
	Over 20 000 Jews are buried here. The graves are stacked 12 deep.
	The T.V. Tower. A communications tower with viewing pods. Very strange.
	The view from the T.V. Tower. You can see the overall design of the older part of Prague, including the inner courtyards.
	Vysehrad. The second castle in Prague. It's cemetary houses Dvorak's grave.
	The bridges of Prague from the cliffs of Vysehrad.
	Prague Castle hill at sunset.
	The Rudolfinium concert hall. Unbelievable accoustics. We saw Carmena Burana here.
	The Technology museum house all sorts of antique Soviet machines.

Plzen

Plzen is an hour and a half train ride west of Prague. Home to the Pilsner-Urquell brewery which made the original Pilsner beer.

	The famous gates to the Pilsner-Urquell brewery. The gates appear in the seal on every can of beer they produce.
	Beer World! Also home of the world's largest pub.
	The cellars with fermenting vats.
	A view of Plzen from the tallest church tower. You can see the largest Jewish synagogue in the Czech Republic, located roughly in the centre of the picture.

Karlstejn

The location of Karlstejn Castle, fortress of Charles II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Half and hour by train south west of Prague.

	The castle is hidden amongst other taller hills. It's main defense was invisibility from the distance.
	The three main towers of the castle. The largest tower used to house the Crown Jewels.
	Graham with the falconer.

Kutna Hora

An hour's bus trip east of Prague. Location of a medieval silver mine. The second most important town in Bohemia.

	St. Barbosa Cathedral in Kutna Hora was built to rival St. Vitus in Prague Castle. It took over 700 years to complete and has five naves (St. Vitus has three).
	The Sedlec Ossuary, in a suburb of Kutna Hora, is a UNESCO site. Someone sprinkled a handful of soil from the Holy Land in the graveyard and it became fashionable to be buried here in the 18th C. Around 1850, an artist was commissioned to do something with the bones. Here is the result...
	The chandelier uses all of the bones in the human body.
	Up close and personal with the ornamentation.

Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad)

Three hours by train to the most north western corner of Prague brings you to the spa town of Karlovy Vary. It is known for its mineral springs.

	The valley of Karlovy Vary, with the canals of mineral water.
	The Colonnade is the main public spa. This is me, in the red coat, in front of the pillars.
	Graham sampling one of the five public springs in the Colonnade. Apparently the water is good for your health. Mainly it tastes of iron and sulphur.