Behind the Scenes

We kicked today off with the hotel breakfast. There were too many options on the different buffets available so we just decided to order a la carte. Devin scheduled a tour for today’s event called Prague Behind the Scenes. We caught the tram near our hotel and headed off to the meeting place on the edge of old town.

The Powder Gate

The meeting place for our tour was one of the 13 original gates to the old city. This one is called the powder tower because many years after if was built it was used to store gun powder. Additionally, all the coronation parades for the country’s monarchs have started at this gate.

We typically like small tour groups and this one had promised to be no more than six. When we met Dana, our guide, we were informed that we were the only persons on the tour. She was very prepared and let it be known that she had a portable WiFi hot spot, tissues, and herbal liquor to keep us warm if required.

Cobblestone QR Codes

Most of the streets and sidewalks in the old city are constructed with cobblestone. Dana brought us to a government building that had taken the cobblestones and constructed a QR code that could be scanned by your phone.

The Littlest Brothel

Some days you just need to find the brothel that’s the right size for you. When it stopped being a brothel it is also the smallest house in Prague.

Charles Bridge

Dana kept us off of the Charles bridge to miss the throngs of tourists but we still got some great views of it. See those red shorts in the last picture? Some political protesters replaced the flag that denotes the president being home with a pair of red boxer shorts. Many in the city have put red boxer stickers/stencils on many things in support of their cause.

Up to the Castle

Our accent to Prague castle took us past many embassies including our own. The hike was rather steep but Dana knew all the tricks, including using the WC at the hospital along the way. Devin also met a cat on a leash called Mustafa. In the back of the Germany embassy there is an East German Trabant car on human legs to symbolize the refugees fleeing East Germany in 1989 and leaving their plastic Trambant’s when they were permitted to go to West Germany.

Other Oddities

We were shown several other interesting things along our tour. The smallest street with its own pedestrian right of way signage. This street was needed in the past to allow for river access in case of fire. Now it just leads to a “mediocre” restaurant (Dana’s words).

A bit of modern art with a flair of political statement features two men urinating on the map of the Czech Republic. Their hips move to write letters on the surface which is transmitted to them via SMS texts.

When we crossed over into Lesser Town we saw a water goblin. This is a story that the Czech people tell their children to make them wary of the water. Apparently the water goblin drowns you and keeps your soul in tea pots. Apparently the more soul filled tea pots one has the higher status achieved.

The Castle

Our tour ended at the Prague castle. This is a very popular place for tourists and there is some very fine architecture to be observed. The castle is the largest castle from the ancient world and is a series of wings/halls that are all interconnected. One of the main focal points is the St. Victus Cathedral. It was started in 1344 but wasn’t finished until 1929! Dana pointed out some missing bits and explained that it wasn’t really finished but this was the best it was going to get.

A Toast

To finalize our tour and warm ourselves up we did a shot of Czech herbal liquor, Becherovka, in the castle square. It has an interesting flavor and Dana said it was also good in tonic water. I was warmed up but it was not to Devin’s liking so I got to be extra warm.