Alison Wanders: Prague: Have You Got the Time?

Good morning!

Today we took a stroll back in time...the the dramatic centerpieces of Prague, the Old Town Square.

Marionettes on the way to the square.

There it is! All set up with a Christmas Market. The Old Town Square has been a market square ever since the 11th century.

The Jan Hus Memorial. In a nutshell, Jan Hus was a precursor to Martin Luther, condemning Church corruption in the late 14th century (about 100 years before Luther.) Luther was burned at the stake as a heretic, but paved the way for Martin Luther and the Reformation and Counter Reformation.

Tyn Church, which became the leading church of the Hussites for 200 years. (But it's Catholic again!)

The famous Astronomical Clock on Old Town Hall! Every hour there is a little show, but today we just kept missing it! It's pretty complicated, involving revolving discs, celestial symbols, multiple hands, Bohemian time, modern time, sunrise, sunsets, zodiacs, saint's names for each day and all kinds of other things to look at.

27 white crosses by Old Town Hall mark the spot where 27 Protestants were beheaded in 1621 after rebelling against the Catholic Habsburgs.

On a happier note, a cute little band was jamming in the square!

The Church of St. Nicolas, currently a Hussite church.

The chandelier inside the Church of St. Nicholas.

Tyn Church to the left and the Old Town Hall to the right.

The Church of St. James. Originally a Gothic church, the inside got plastered with baroque decorations later on and it looks a little weird. I couldn't take pictures inside. The church houses the bejeweled MAdonna Pietatis, one of Prague's most venerated treasures. Above the door to the church, there is a shriveled old severed arm hanging from a chain! According to legend, a theif attempted to rob the Madonna Pietatis from the altar, but his hand was frozen the moment he touched the statue. The monks had to cut off his arm to get the hand to let go. It now hangs in the church as a warning!

Come on. A group of little kids singing Christmas songs in Czech? Unbelievably precious. I love to hear children singing!

We went to the Mucha Museum which was really very, very good. I had a blast, and got some great souvenirs!

The Powder Tower again!

This evening we had tickets to a concert at the Municipal House. Corelli, Pachelbel, Mozart and Vivaldi performed by the Prague Royal Orchestra.

It was a good, but not great performance, and definitley overpriced. But it was very nice to listen to some lovely classic pieces in the gorgeous Art Nouveau Semanta Hall at the Municipal House.

Back at the Old Town Square at night. Gorgeous!

Mike wanted to walk down this high end shopping street with like, Dolce and Gabbana and Rolex, etc. He liked to look at all the fancy cars parked on the street. I saw this leather bag, which I pretty sure is for carrying fancy boots, and I scoffed at the frivolity of such an item, but to each his own!