My grandpa's family immigrated to American from Czechoslovakia shortly before he was born. I've heard my grandparents talk about Bohemia and various things about the region and was intrigued to visit. I don't know what area/region my grandpa's family came from, but it was fun to visit Prague.
We started our trip with a Sandemans New Europe Walking Tour (this company is in many cities across Europe, and you should check them out!). It's a "free" tour, in that you can choose to give a donation at the end of the tour if the guide impressed you.
One of Prague's main attractions... potentially a little overrated, but still interesting nonetheless. At the top of every hour, people gather around to watch it go off.
Gate to the St. Charles Bridge
An interesting Catholic church. Notice the bell tower on the right hand side is a little wider than the left side? I didn't notice until the tour guide pointed it out. Also, I thought it was weird that the houses in front of the church were built so close the church. Our tour guide shared that the church actually came second, and you have to enter the church through the houses.
Jan Hus
Jan Hus was a key player in the Protestant Reformation. He was burned at the stake at Lake Constance for not renouncing his beliefs.
The Jewish Quarter
Prague has a rich Jewish history. There are several synagogues in the city. We visited the Pinkas, Klaus and Spanish Synagogues. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures inside the buildings. The Pinkas Synagogue is now a memorial for those killed during the holocaust. I wish I could've taken a picture - the walls are filled with the names of victims. They were painted on by hand. The Jewish Cemetery in Prague was quite a site. It's very old (although the one in Worms is a little older), and it's the largest one. It's actually 12 levels deep with at least 12,000 tombs visible on the surface. It's the resting place for over 100,000 people.
City sunset views
The palace cathedral
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Prague castle is the largest ancient castle in the world. The St. Vitus Cathedral was absolutely amazing. Stained glass windows filled the walls.
The Palace
The main meeting hall was an architectural wonder when it was designed. The dome styled ceilings made it possible to have a wide open meeting place, without center columns causing obstructions. It's still used today for official state functions.
We found the castle dungeon!
Torture Museum
We had a few free hours the first night, so I suggested we take a walk through the torture museum. I'd been to one other similar museum in Rothenburg. This one was a bit more graphic in their descriptions of torture methods and a they pictured examples of how the instruments were used. I found it interesting that the majority of the laws/punishments were for women involved in witchcraft.
A friend told me about the bone church a few years ago, and since then I'd wanted to visit it. It sounded really unique and I was having a hard time imagining what it would be like. Legend has it that the monk in charge of taking care of the church went mad, and dug up the graves surrounding the church and used the bones to decorate the church. I also learned that decorating with bones wasn't meant to be dishonoring, but instead, to honor the dead. Their bones, laid out in special formation, is meant to serve as a reminder of beautiful hope for the future/eternity.
A coat of arms, made out of bones
A very large chandelier, made out of a variety of bones. They strung jaw bones for the main hanging portion of the light.
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