It took almost the entire day to reach the city of Prague from Vienna, and there was only time for a quick walkabout in the city before our buffet dinner cruise last night. This was a three-hour cruise which started in the late afternoon but finished after 10:00 pm, affording us a look in the daytime as well as when the lights were turned on at night, which was truly magical. The large glass windows and ceiling in the boat allowed us to have spectactular views of the scenery as we floated by.

This morning, though, we had a proper city tour with a local guide, and I recognized several landmarks from previous visits here in 2017 and 2018. The Charles Bridge is famous for its statues of the apostles.

The visit to St. Vitus Cathedral made an impression on me, especially the stained glass windows, some of which were in a contemporary style.

I also saw where the Grenzing organ will be installed—that was the instrument I played in Gerhard Grenzing’s factory in El Papiol near Barcelona, and I shared the photos with my tour mates. Apparently the existing organ is in poor condition and one division is completely unplayable.

Of course, no visit to Prague is complete without seeing the astronomical clock, for which we arrived for the 12:00 bells. It is a medieval clock attached to the Old Town Hall. Here’s a description from Wikipedia:

The clock mechanism has three main components – the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; “The Walk of the Apostles“, an hourly show of moving Apostle figures and other sculptures, notably a figure of a skeleton that represents Death, striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. According to local legend, the city will suffer if the clock is neglected and its good operation is placed in jeopardy; a ghost, mounted on the clock, was supposed to nod its head in confirmation. According to the legend, the only hope was represented by a boy born on New Year’s night.

It has been under reconstruction during various years since its installation in 1410, and in fact, when I was here in 2018, it was not running.

Here’s a photo of the astronomical clock from today.

Lunch was at a typical Czech restaurant, and I had a pork schnitzel while Bill had roasted duck. The food in the Czech Republic is very similar to that in Bavaria.

We had free time in the afternoon and Bill and I chose to visit the Jewish Museum, nearby synagogues and the Jewish cemetery where 12,000 tombstones are placed very close together, but it’s thought that there are many more people buried here. The Jewish Museum contained the names, birthdates and death dates of the 6 million Jewish people who were killed in the Holocaust, and when I entered, I remembered being here in a previous visit.

We said goodbye to our fellow travelers in a final cocktail hour before retiring to our rooms. We met in the Red Bar—that’s why everyone looks red, below. Our taxi is coming to pick us up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 am (YOWSERS!) in order to get to the airport for a 6:00 am flight to Amsterdam and then to Bordeaux, France!

Thanks, GoAhead Tours, Paula (tour director) and Piotr (bus driver) for another great tour!