Pater Patriae, Otec Vlasti, Or Father of the Country

On the second day, we went back along the route we were on the day before, except this time, we added a little more.  First stop was the Astronomical clock.

But look at that really awesome door to the left!  It had the weirdest little goblins and rodents carved into the wood, not to mention the faces that were in the door itself.

After a quick stop at the Starbucks across the street, we moved on to the bridge terrace.  You could see it much better at this time of day, and the castle looked mighty and proud in the cloudy twilight.

The coolest part was this statue off to the right of the entrance gate.  King Charles IV stands atop a pedestal adorned with allegories of theology, medicine, law, and philosophy.  King Charles IV (of whom the bridge is also named after) is known as The Father of the Country, making Prague the capital of the Holy Roman Empire during medieval times, and had many building constructed there.

Taylor quite liked the statue as well.  After spending a good amount of time studying the monument, we continued our journey along the riverbank.  Our goal was to reach The Dancing House, which was quite a ways down, and it was getting colder and colder as the sun went down.

We fought through the cold and walked the entire way.  While the dancing buildings themselves were a little disappointing (with the traffic lights and wires, car and buses whipping by, and the interior lighting not regulated to show off the building), the view back towards the way we came was very pleasing.

And then we started the long trek back, crossing the bridge and going up the other side of the river, of course.  I thought it was prettier from this angle, with the lights reflecting off of the water and the silhouettes of the statues standing above.

And on the way back through Old Town we stopped in a little patisserie named Paul to find something for breakfast the next day.  We also got a little croissant boy for dessert!

(photos by e.hunt)