Prague was until relatively recently cited as one of the last undiscovered gems of Europe - not any more, as it has been well and truly discovered. It's also a bit of a diamond-in-the-rough, as it is in desperate need of a damned good clean - I'm sure all of those years of relative neglect under communist rule have quite literally left their mark, with a lot of buildings, and most statues black and it looks like it's from pollution.
After the Mucha Museum, I went through the Old Town to the river, and then a roughly 2.5km walk upstream (southwards) to Vysehrad, a historical fort located on a hill overlooking the river, most likely built in the 10th century.
This is the view back to the Prague Castle from along the walk:
It was nice to take some time out from the busy tourist areas, as there are lovely park-like gardens to just wander around, and views back along the river downstream to the city centre.
Along the way, there was quite a lot of nice, and varied, architecture; this one (dated 1930) I thought was quite nice, so took a picture to share.
Named after Czech writer, journalist and poet Svatopluk Čech, Čechův Bridge is the shortest bridge on the Vltava river in Prague with a length of 170m and a width of 16m.
Built 1905 – 1908 as part of the project creating the Prague inner ring road, a large part of the Jewish Ghetto had to be destroyed to make room. As the only Art Nouveau bridge in the country, it has a status of a protected technical monument.
It really is lovely when you find things by accident - I just happened upon this bridge by taking a route that I knew would get me to the river, but I didn't know exactly where; I thought that I'd come out well away from where I wanted to be, but it turns out that I wanted to be here - I just didn't know it at first.
However, before heading to the tower, I wanted to go back inside the cathedral, as I found out that one of the windows was designed by Alfons Mucha - it is one of his larger works, but by no means his larges: that honour goes to his major work "The Slav Epic", which covers 20 huge canvases.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get straight-on, as the inner areas of the cathedral are cordoned off, but hopefully this will give you an idea.
Of course, it was then up the tower!
I can only imagine how glorious the views would be on a fine day, however then it would also be a much hotter climb to the top.
However, as I seem to be following him around Europe, I though that I'd better include him here too.
I must be a heathen, because this is what the "experts" tell us about this statue:
"The bronze statue, whose original is in the National Gallery, was cast in 1373 by the iron founders George and Martin of Cluj (this copy dates to 1967). It is considered probably the oldest surviving, free-standing statue in Bohemia sited in the open air. Gothic statues are normally connected to walls of cathedrals and monasteries, forming only an addition to the decoration and frequently not even finished at the back. The statue of St George however was regarded as a work of art in its own right, with its own merit and therefore worthy of being sited independently."
Crossing the Charles Bridge during the late afternoon is a bit like being on the Dodgem Cars at the show, except it's with bodies - with tourists and some locals flocking across the bridge, or just standing in large groups across the middle, it's an interesting experience. Lining the sides are all sorts of items for sale.
However, this isn't even the high season - I'm starting to wonder if it's called the high season because of the high smell from all of those sweaty bodies in the heat of summer!