The 14th c Charles bridge with the Prague castle and St. Vitus cathedral towering behind.
Fri. June 1: We had packed up all of our stuff except the small bag for our Prague excursion and left it locked in the hotel garage with our bikes. Peter and Heather had decided to remain in Vienna rather than join us. (We all make choices!) After an early breakfast we took the U-bahn (subway) to the Sudbahnhof where we purchased our tickets to Prague. The group rate worked out to almost 60 euros per person for the return trip. The four hour train ride took us into the hilly Czech Republic. The 400 km trip would have made a tough week of cycling had we chosen to visit Prague on our bikes. We arrived in Prague in mid-afternoon. The suburbs and the areas of the city away from the old central core were a little seedy, perhaps showing the neglect of the years of Communist rule. We found a bank and withdrew 1500 Czech koruna (about $75 Canadian) at the ATM. We saw some nuns in habits coming from a nearby church so we looked into it. Very nice, some gold, nicely carved pulpit, frescoes on the ceiling, very high nave. I asked a young man coming out of a private office at the back of the church what the name of the church was. He said "Saint Ludmilla. She was a chick!" (He might have been saying she was a "Czech", but the pronunciation was definitely "chick".) We took the metro into the old centre of the city. We could see the old Charles bridge a little downstream. The crowds on the bridge reminded me of the Rialto bridge in Venice. We walked into the old town square where the city hall and several churches are. They were setting up for a rock concert there and there was a festival feel to all the activity. We roamed the cobbled back streets for a bit. The old houses here were in good repair. It's a very attractive medieval core, not at all as ostentatious as Vienna's. Since it was getting late we headed back, stopping at a pizzeria for beer and pizza.
Looking over the rose garden in Wenceslas Square at the National Museum
Sat. June 2: We took the tram and the
subway up to the base of the old palace stairs. (Great transit system in
Prague) It's a long climb up the stairs to the entrance to the palace
grounds. The grounds include the
immense palace, the St. George basilica, the St. Vitus cathedral and other
buildings. I was most impressed by the cathedral - more than I had been by any
other church I had seen in my many European trips. The nave is 125 metres long
(about 410 ft - longer than a US football field, including the end zones!) and 37 metres high (about 110 ft) The stained glass is vibrant in
its colours, the most dramatic I have ever seen. There's a spiral cylindrical
staircase that allows the organist access to the huge organ. There are many
statues, particularly in the side altars, and in the heart of the nave are the
marble sarcophagi (16th c) of Ferdinand I, his wife and his son. Perhaps the
most spectacular sight in the church is the sarcophagus of St. John of
Nepomuk,
under a draped canopy and supported by silver angels. The coffin and angels
contain almost two tons of silver! Awesome church! We retraced our steps down
from the castle (much easier than going up) and headed for the
Charles bridge. 
This 14th c bridge is lined on both sides by statues of bishops
and princes and other luminaries, blackened by urban smog. The bridge was
glutted with tourists and lined with buskers, artists, musicians, etc. A man was
playing a large Australian didgeree doo, another turned the crank of a barrel
organ, a five piece jazz band was setting up to perform and there were artisans
and artists selling paintings, engravings, junk jewelry, etc. Perhaps the bridge
would be best seen at sunrise before all the hustle and bustle arrived. We
walked through some winding cobbled streets and stopped at a little restaurant
for a light lunch. A wedding party was occupying the other room in the
restaurant and members of the party (including the bride) passed through our
area to go outside for a cigarette. (We saw lots of smokers everywhere on
this cycle trip, a disappointingly large fraction of whom were young people.
Don't these people read?) We walked down to the busy Wenceslas Square
that is not really a square but rather a wide boulevard with rose gardens in the
middle leading up to the National Museum. As we walked back to check out a
couple of recommended restaurants we found ourselves on streets with apartment
buildings in varied colours with interesting architectural touches, like
balconies or bay windows or other attractive ideas. This area was much nicer
than where our hotel was located. It was a long day with lots of walking but
very enjoyable. Prague is a charming city. Although - I found the Czech language
to be completely undecipherable. It is unlike any other language I have
encountered and it made simple tasks difficult.