Prague lived up to its hype. It is a beautiful city. The majority of the buildings are really well maintained, which is very different from Poland.
Our first day of sightseeing in Prague was dedicated to visiting the Old Town and New Town, which are really just two different sections of downtown. First we saw Old Town Square, which included a stop at the astronomical clock (somewhat similar to our experience with the changing of the guards in Monaco: "Was that it?"). The square is enormous and gorgeous. Here is a picture of one corner.
Next we walked to Letna Park for a view of the river and bridges.
Our first day of sightseeing in Prague was dedicated to visiting the Old Town and New Town, which are really just two different sections of downtown. First we saw Old Town Square, which included a stop at the astronomical clock (somewhat similar to our experience with the changing of the guards in Monaco: "Was that it?"). The square is enormous and gorgeous. Here is a picture of one corner.
Next we walked to Letna Park for a view of the river and bridges.
At the park we found my favourite type of swing (a two person wooden swing, like the one by Oak Bay Marina in Victoria). We went for a swing, until Andrew got sick (3 or 4 minutes), and then left the park to see New Town. Poor Andrew didn't quite recover from the swinging until well into the evening.
New Town Square was really cool too. Although it was more recently built, the buildings look very similar to the buildings in Old Town.
We returned to Old Town Square at night.
We also walked along the famous Charles Bridge for a view of Prague Castle.
July 20 we started out the day walking to the famous 'Dancing House' (which a Canadian architect apparently worked on').
Here is a picture of us crossing a bridge.
We hiked up Petrin Park (it's a very large hill). Poor Andrew had to put up with me, as I complained that I didn't know about our 'hike' beforehand, and had therefore worn the wrong footwear (flipflops).
After descending Petrin Park/hill, we 'hiked' up to Prague Castle.
After descending Petrin Park/hill, we 'hiked' up to Prague Castle.
We walked around the grounds and found a great view of the City.
July 21 we left Prague to go back to Germany. Once we got into Nuremberg, we did what we always do on the first day: check into our hotel and then find the nearest grocery store to find some food.
July 22 we left the hotel to see the city. Nuremberg is a very interesting city because it has a bunch of pedestrian walkways and a few squares where there are markets set up every day of the week.
We walked around Kaiserburg Imperial Castle.
We spent most of the day wandering around the pedestrian streets and found a little pedestrian island in the middle of city center with a bunch of small artsy shops.
July 23 we went to visit the Documentation Center (a museum dedicated to educating people about the rise and fall of the Nazi party), the Nazi rally grounds (which were in Nuremberg and are huge: the term "megalomaniacal proportions" was used to describe it), and the Nuremberg trials. We went for a walk around part of the rally grounds (many of which were never completed or were demolished after the war). Here is a picture of a field where parts of large rallies were held. It is now used for open-air concerts.
Then we went to the Museum, held within a building designed by Hitler to house another part of the rallies.
Once again, we learned a lot. We spent several hours in the museum (until it closed at 6pm). We were going to tour around the old rally grounds some more after the museum closed, but it was raining really hard.
The heat wave seems to be over as the weather forecast is called for a week of rain and for once we are actually looking forward to rainy days.
We are now in Munich for 5 days of exploring.
July 22 we left the hotel to see the city. Nuremberg is a very interesting city because it has a bunch of pedestrian walkways and a few squares where there are markets set up every day of the week.
We walked around Kaiserburg Imperial Castle.
We spent most of the day wandering around the pedestrian streets and found a little pedestrian island in the middle of city center with a bunch of small artsy shops.
July 23 we went to visit the Documentation Center (a museum dedicated to educating people about the rise and fall of the Nazi party), the Nazi rally grounds (which were in Nuremberg and are huge: the term "megalomaniacal proportions" was used to describe it), and the Nuremberg trials. We went for a walk around part of the rally grounds (many of which were never completed or were demolished after the war). Here is a picture of a field where parts of large rallies were held. It is now used for open-air concerts.
Then we went to the Museum, held within a building designed by Hitler to house another part of the rallies.
Once again, we learned a lot. We spent several hours in the museum (until it closed at 6pm). We were going to tour around the old rally grounds some more after the museum closed, but it was raining really hard.
The heat wave seems to be over as the weather forecast is called for a week of rain and for once we are actually looking forward to rainy days.
We are now in Munich for 5 days of exploring.
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