Europe Tour 2024 (Series Part 4)

(Part 4 of a Series)

Day 4 of the tour
The next day of the tour, we're going to see the Prague central. The itinerary for the day: Prague Castle and its complex and a walking tour of the city center.

In the spirit of being unaware and forgetful of the places I went to, a lot of the places' names I can't remember.

We had the usual breakfast at the hotel, and by usual, I mean bread, juice and coffee, cold cuts, sausages, cheeses, and some grains. At this point I still haven't gotten used to surviving solely on this types of food, but heck, I still enjoy eating. It's the type of food I can eat a lot of.

And also, I wasn't able to take photos of the breakfast as we had to hurry a bit.

Good thing we were able to get ready earlier than the rest of our companions, so we were able to have the mandatory posed photos:

Prague Castle

That morning was excited for me because it was a foggy morning. On the way to the castle we passed the flyover the central station (Hlavní nádraží). It was amazing to see a major train hub from this perspective. (Makes me compare what my country has--or doesn't have.)

The photo doesn't show the fog, but when we got to the castle bridge, the fog is very visible. I think we got in from the castle's rear entry where the tour drop-off is. I also took a photo of DK with the Hogwarts-esque view.

DK's wearing her black trenchcoat, something she always wanted to wear, but there's always no occasion to wear it.

Upon entry to the castle, there's a large square or plaza. I took a photo of the fountain and the gate. The Cathedral of St. Vitus is also in the castle complex. The cathedral was closed that day, so we didn't get the chance to go in. I can't remember if it's open to tourists on some days.

Even from the outside, the cathedral is HUGE! I don't know if I was able to see the inside from movies. But the exterior had a lot of intricate details. Details such as the time is 9:15am. ;)

And there's also St. George's Basilica. It was open that time, but we were on limited time so I just took a photo of the façade.

There's a long walk in the castle complex and the end of it is an overlook of the city. Apparently, the castle is located in a high area, as all castles usually are.

Here's an overlooking view of the city. This is looking east, judging by where the sun is.

We were also able to catch the ceremonial changing of guards. In our travels, we were able to catch a few ceremonies such as this one. The most "touristy" one is in the King's Palace in Seoul. That one has a lot of participants and it's more aesthetic. We also witnessed a guard changing ceremony in Taipei. The guards for that one had their families full of pride as once the guards were in position, their family members fix their uniforms for them since they are not allowed to move at all. This changing of guards ceremony in Prague is more of a functional one as the Czech president resides in the complex and there are restricted areas where the public (and tourists) are not allowed to visit.

Part of the tour is strolling through the city until we reach Charles' Bridge. This bridge is Prague's famous landmark, connecting the old town with the new town. It's quite a long walk, too. Lots of tourists walking over the bridge.

I took a photo of one of the archs, and snapped a photo of DK as we're about to get in the center of the bridge. There were lots of people that time as the weather was pleasant. After another round of walk, we were able to reach the Astronomical Clock. It's another one of the city's landmarks. It's also a square surrounded by restaurants, but we failed at finding a less busy place around here so we explored within the streets and alleys.

At this point I was enjoying seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of the thousands of people exploring Prague, but I was overwhelmed at the same time. It just sunk in me that I was in an entirely different world. I had this desire to explore more, but the time was limited. At least I got to see a lot of the landmarks.

It was a day tour of the city, and we left Prague early in the afternoon. The travel plan indicates that we're heading to Bratislava in Slovakia.

And ooh... Just hearing the name reminds me a about a lot of things.