What did you today after school, honey?

Oh, I just walked around Prague. The "ushe".

The afternoons, though steamy hot, are times made for adventure. My roommate, Robin, and I like to take advantage of this fact on a daily basis. It is easy to fall into a routine that keeps you captive in your rooms at these hours of the day--but it is an ideal time to cross some items off that long list of places to go in Prague. Today, we decided, would be for conquering Charles Bridge and the Church of St. Nicholas.

The fearless explorers...

Robin, looking incredibly posh, as we sneak under a bridge.



Me, looking like I'm trying to re-take my senior pictures on the Charles bridge.



The first was the church. A beautiful baroque building finished in the 18th century, you can spot it in any skyline that includes the castle by its stunning green dome. From the inside, it is just as beautiful, handpainted with heavenly scenes that I am sure are spilling with symbolism--this fresco is the largest in all of Europe.





Marble gleamed and gold glinted from the sun pouring in the back window--which was gorgeous. However, we later found out that this opulant display of expensive materials was a bit misleading--all of the gold and marble was actually *gasp* faux. You would have thought a sorority girl had just disovered that her $600 Louis Vuitton bag was a fake.

Ah, I have learned many time over that appearances can be misleading. But it was all still gorgeous.





However, what was not feigned, was the beauty and history behind it. The beautiful (2500!) pipe organ sprawled out on the western balcony which I was oogling at the whole time--I later discovered was played by Mozart in 1787. We might swing by a concert played here in the next couple weeks--unfortunately, I don't think our 18th century friend will be joining us.



After our semi-religious sightseeing, we decided to take the main drag (Charles Bridge) instead of the bridge closer to home. Lined with artists and their booths, we, needless to say, were a little distracted. A few korunas lighter, we reached the opposite side of the bridge (Stare Mesto side) and decided to climb up the often-missed tower. Those going to Prague in the future, go in the small door on your left as you begin to cross the bridge from the east--there is a breathtaking view and very interesting film. We learned that details are never spared in construction, back in the day. When the Charles Bridge was built by Charles IV--the stars were aligned so the Sun was in power and it was constructed on the 135797531 (year: 1357, Day: 9, Month: 7-July, at 5:31.) Can somebody say OCD? I thought I had issues.



In the picture below, extra points if you can pick out which building is the St. Nicholas church. I described it earlier...you better have been paying attention.





If the vistas weren't enough, we began to look a little closer at the cold stone that surrounded us...we joked about the inscriptions from various tourists throughout the years--but were taken aback when we saw the date: 1875. Too often, we think of tourists as a modern day phenomenon, but in actuality, tourists and locals alike were enjoying this cosmopolitan city for a long time. Robin and I began our obsessive quest to find other such inscriptions that were discernible by their neat, ornate script and deep grooves.









I don't know what it is, but there is something special about discovering these inscriptions. Beyond imagining how amazing it is to be standing in a 14th century struture--bridging that gap with stories of others' imagining the same phenomenon and seeing the same skyline is definitely a unique experience.